Falls Alarm Guide: Do You Need a Personal Alarm with Fall Detection?

Why Falls Are Such a Serious Risk for Older Australians

Falls are not a minor inconvenience for older Australians. They are one of the most serious health risks the age group faces - and one of the most preventable, provided the right support is in place.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalisations in Australia, accounting for 43% of all injury hospitalisations. People aged 65 and over are hospitalised from falls at roughly 12 times the rate of adults aged 25-44, and the risk increases sharply with each decade of life.

Healthdirect estimates that 1 in 4 Australians aged 65 and over has at least one fall per year - and around 60% of those falls happen within or immediately around the home.

Common injuries include broken hips, wrist fractures, and head injuries. Recovery is often long and difficult. For some people, a single fall marks a turning point from which they never regain their previous level of independence.

But the fall itself is often not the worst part. It is what happens afterwards.

When an older person falls at home alone and cannot get up, they may lie on the floor for hours - or longer - before anyone realises something has gone wrong. This is sometimes called a "long lie," and its consequences can be severe: dehydration, pressure injuries, hypothermia, and in some cases, kidney damage from prolonged immobility. A fall that might otherwise be manageable becomes life-threatening simply because help was too slow to arrive. This risk is highest for older Australians who live alone - our article on personal alarms for people living alone explains exactly why the response gap matters and what a personal alarm does to close it.

This is the problem that personal safety devices are designed to solve. But when families start researching options, they often encounter a confusing range of products - personal alarms, fall detection devices, GPS trackers, medical alert systems - and a natural question arises: does your parent need a personal alarm, a falls alarm, or both? And are those two separate things? And if you have seen 'medical alert' come up alongside 'personal alarm' in your research, our comparison of the two explains the difference and why it matters when choosing a device.

What Is a Personal Alarm?

A personal alarm is a wearable device that allows the user to call for help at the press of a button. When activated, it alerts a list of nominated contacts - family members, friends, or a professional monitoring service - and opens a two-way voice call so the situation can be assessed and help organised quickly.

A well-designed personal alarm is genuinely effective. It gives older people the confidence to move around their home and go about their daily routines knowing that help is always within reach. For families, it removes a significant amount of background worry, particularly when their relative lives alone or has limited neighbours nearby.

The KISA Personal Alarm is a lightweight device worn around the neck on a lanyard. It features a large, clearly labelled button, a built-in loudspeaker and microphone for two-way communication, GPS tracking so contacts can see the wearer's location, and the ability to alert up to five nominated contacts in sequence. It works both at home and out in the community.

But a button alarm has one important limitation: it depends entirely on the user pressing the button.

In most emergencies - a dizzy spell, a sudden chest pain, a moment of panic - pressing the button is exactly what happens. But falls are a different kind of emergency. A hard fall can knock someone unconscious. It can cause immediate disorientation or confusion. A person with dementia may fall and not understand what has happened, or may not recall that the device around their neck can summon help. And in some falls, the physical impact itself prevents the person from moving their arm or reaching the button.

A button alarm in those situations offers little protection. The device is there - but without someone to activate it, it cannot do its job.

What Is a Falls Alarm?

A falls alarm is a personal alarm that can tell when the wearer has had a hard fall and send an alert without anyone pressing a button. Most also have a button the wearer can press to call for help at any time. In Australia the terms falls alarm, fall alarm and fall detection alarm are used for the same kind of device.

A falls alarm is different from a bed or chair sensor alarm, which only alerts a carer in the same home when someone gets up. A falls alarm is worn by the person and raises the alarm after a fall, wherever they are.

The KISA Personal Alarm is a falls alarm and a button alarm in one device. You can read how the feature works across all KISA devices on our KISA fall detection page.

How a Falls Alarm Works in Practice

Automatic fall detection responds without any input from the user - no button press, no voice command, nothing. When the device detects the signature of a hard fall, the response begins automatically, whether the person is conscious or not. Here is what happens with the KISA Personal Alarm:

• A hard fall is detected. Once the device comes to rest, a blue light flashes and the device buzzes, and it may also speak a message. The wearer has 15 seconds from when the light starts to cancel if it was a false alarm.
• If not cancelled, the device automatically sends an SMS alert to all of its fall detection contacts, up to five people. The message includes a Google Maps link showing the user's current GPS location.
• If the contacts are set to SMS and call, the device then calls them. With more than one number, it calls them one at a time, moving on to the next number if a call is not accepted.
• When a call connects, the contact can speak directly with the user through the device's built-in loudspeaker and microphone - even if the user is unable to hold or operate the device themselves.

The entire sequence requires no action from the person who has fallen. By the time a family member sees their phone light up, the fall has already been detected and the location has already been shared.

Fall detection can also be turned on or off through the MyKISA app by a family member or carer when needed.

Do You Need Two Separate Devices?

This is one of the most common points of confusion when families start researching personal safety options. They find personal alarms on one website and fall detection gadgets on another, and assume they need to buy, charge, and manage both.

The answer is no. Modern purpose-built safety devices like the KISA Personal Alarm include both a manual emergency button and automatic fall detection in a single device. There is no separate unit and no additional setup for the person wearing it. One device worn around the neck on a lanyard covers both scenarios:

• If the user needs help and can press the button - they press it. The SOS contacts are alerted immediately.
• If the user falls and cannot or does not press the button - the device detects the fall automatically and alerts the fall detection contacts with a GPS location link.

Both responses use the same GPS tracking, and both can open a two-way voice call. The fall detection contacts and the SOS contacts are set up separately, so each can have its own list. The user and their family only need to manage one device.

If you have been looking at a standalone fall alarm in addition to a basic personal alarm, it is worth knowing that one device can usually do both jobs.

Falls Alarm Pendant or Watch?

Falls alarms come in two main styles: a pendant worn around the neck and a watch worn on the wrist. A pendant sits on the body rather than the arm, and it is easy to grab and press. A watch is less likely to be left on the bedside table, which matters because a falls alarm only helps if it is being worn.

The KISA Personal Alarm is worn on a lanyard around the neck and cannot be worn on the wrist. Whatever style you choose, check that fall detection works without a button press, that the wearer can talk to contacts through the device, and that it shares the wearer's location. Our guide to medical alert pendants versus purpose-built safety devices compares the options in more detail.

Charging is the other practical point. Any falls alarm needs regular charging, so it helps to build it into a daily routine, such as charging it while you eat breakfast or watch the evening news. The KISA Personal Alarm can send low-battery notifications to carers or nominated contacts, so someone is reminded when it needs to be charged.

Who Really Needs Fall Detection?

Whether fall detection is essential or optional depends on the individual. Here is a practical way to think about it.

Fall detection adds the most value for people who:

• Live alone. If no one is home to witness a fall, automatic detection closes the gap between the fall happening and help arriving. This is the most common situation where fall detection makes the difference between a manageable event and a medical crisis.
• Have a history of falls. A previous fall is the strongest single predictor of a future one. Anyone who has already fallen once is at significantly elevated risk, and the next fall may be more serious than the last.
• Are aged 75 or over. Fall risk and fall severity both increase with age. The consequences of a fall - broken hip, head injury, extended hospitalisation - become more serious and harder to recover from in older age groups.
• Have mobility issues, vertigo, or balance problems. Any condition that affects steadiness on the feet increases the likelihood of a fall happening without warning and without time to press a button.
• Have dementia or cognitive impairment. Cognitive changes reduce the ability to respond after a fall - to recognise what has happened, to remember the device, or to operate it. Automatic detection removes the need for any of that.
• Are recovering from surgery or illness. The weeks following a hip replacement, stroke, or serious illness are a period of increased fall risk, reduced strength, and sometimes unsteady balance. Fall detection provides a meaningful safety net during recovery.
• Take medications that affect balance or alertness. Certain medications - including some blood pressure drugs, sedatives, and diuretics - increase fall risk as a side effect. This is worth factoring into the decision.

A basic button alarm may be sufficient for someone who is highly mobile, rarely alone, and genuinely at low fall risk. But the factors that typically lead a family to consider a personal alarm in the first place - age, health conditions, living alone - are exactly the same factors that make automatic fall detection genuinely important. In most cases, the two go together. How GPS tracking works alongside fall detection for families managing dementia, and which KISA device suits different funding pathways, is covered in GPS trackers for people with dementia.

What About False Alarms and Missed Falls?

This is the concern that holds many families back from switching fall detection on, and it is worth addressing honestly.

Fall detection sensors work by detecting a rapid downward acceleration followed by a hard impact. In most situations, this pattern means a fall. But occasionally it can be triggered by other sudden movements - sitting down heavily in a chair, bending quickly to pick something up, or dropping the device on a hard surface. These are known as false positives, and no current sensor technology eliminates them entirely.

The KISA Personal Alarm addresses this with a 15-second cancellation window. When a possible fall is detected, a blue light flashes and the device buzzes, and it may also speak a message. If the wearer is fine, they press any button on the front of the device while the light is flashing. No fall alert SMS or call is sent.

The 15 seconds count from when the light starts flashing, so there is no need to wait for the voice message. Do not press the SOS button to cancel, because it does not cancel the alert and starts an SOS call instead.

If false alarms become a recurring issue, fall detection can be turned off temporarily through the MyKISA app and re-enabled when needed - though in practice most people find the 15-second cancellation window is enough to manage the occasional false detection without turning the feature off entirely.

The practical question to ask is: which is worse - an occasional false alarm that is cancelled in 15 seconds, or a real fall where no automatic alert is ever sent? For most families, the trade-off is clear.

No falls alarm detects every fall. A slow slide from a chair or a gentle stumble may not look like a hard fall to the device. That is why the help button still matters, and why it is a good idea to wear the alarm and press it whenever help is needed.

Fall Detection Paired with Professional Monitoring

A falls alarm becomes more robust still when paired with a professional monitoring service.

When a fall alert goes out to family contacts, there will be times when no one responds immediately - a family member is in a meeting, asleep, or has their phone on silent. With a 24/7 monitoring service, there is always a trained response operator available as a backup, at any time of day or night, regardless of whether contacts are reachable. What happens at each stage of that response - from fall detection trigger through to operator action - is covered in how 24/7 monitoring works in Australia.

A trained operator can speak with the person through the device, assess the situation, and coordinate emergency services if needed. KISA's monitoring service is staffed by an Australian-based team, available around the clock.

For people who live alone, have limited family nearby, or whose adult children work demanding hours, this layer of professional backup means the system works even in the scenarios where personal contacts cannot respond quickly enough. It is not a replacement for family involvement - it is the safety net beneath it.

Can You Get a Falls Alarm Funded in Australia?

Government funding can cover much of the cost of a personal alarm with fall detection. For Australians aged 65 and over, the Support at Home program includes a dedicated assistive technology and home modifications budget - known as the AT-HM scheme - which can cover safety devices including fall detection alarms. The KISA Guardian, which includes built-in fall detection alongside GPS tracking and a manual emergency button, is designed specifically for this audience and can be funded through Support at Home. You can find more detail on the Support at Home and Home Care page, and a separate guide explains the official AT-HM List and where personal alarms sit on it.

For eligible veterans, the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) may fund a personal alarm through its Rehabilitation Appliances Program. If you or your relative is a veteran, check with DVA whether a personal alarm qualifies under your current entitlements.

NDIS participants under 65 may be able to use their NDIS funding. The KISA Companion is our device for NDIS participants and includes fall detection, GPS tracking and an emergency button. Our guide to NDIS assistive technology explains what can be funded.

Funding usually covers the device, while ongoing costs such as a monthly plan or 24/7 monitoring may not be covered. For a full breakdown of what a falls alarm costs, see how much a personal alarm costs in Australia.

If you are unsure which pathway applies to your situation, our guide to government-funded personal alarms walks through each program, and the KISA team can talk through the options with you during a free video consultation.

What to Look for When Choosing a Falls Alarm

If you are now looking at specific devices, here are the features that matter most - and what to verify before buying.

• Genuinely automatic detection. Confirm the device has built-in sensors that activate without user input. Some cheaper devices advertise "fall detection" but actually require the user to press a button to confirm - which defeats the purpose entirely if the person cannot respond after a fall.
• GPS location sharing. When a fall is detected, nominated contacts need to know exactly where the person is - especially if the fall happens outside the home. Confirm that location is shared automatically as part of the alert, not only when manually requested.
• Two-way voice communication. A device that can only send an alert has limited value. Two-way audio allows a family member or monitoring operator to speak directly with the person who has fallen, even if they cannot pick up or hold the device.
• A false alarm cancellation window. A brief window to cancel a false detection before any alerts are sent is a practical and important feature. It prevents unnecessary contact notifications while still allowing the automatic response to proceed when needed.
• Multiple emergency contacts. A device that can alert multiple contacts in sequence - rather than just one - provides significantly more resilience. If the first contact does not accept the call, the device moves on to the next.
• Remote management for carers. The ability for a family member or carer to check battery status, track location, or turn fall detection on or off remotely through an app makes day-to-day management considerably simpler. It also means the person wearing the device does not need to manage anything themselves.

If you are still working through the broader question of which personal alarm is right for your situation, the guide How to Choose a Personal Alarm in Australia covers the full set of features and questions to consider before buying.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a falls alarm?

A falls alarm is a personal alarm that can detect a hard fall and send an alert to family or carers without the wearer pressing a button. Most falls alarms also have a button for calling help at any time. The KISA Personal Alarm does both in one device, and shares the wearer's location by SMS when an alert is sent.

Does the KISA Personal Alarm detect falls automatically?

Yes. The KISA Personal Alarm includes built-in fall detection sensors that automatically detect a hard fall and alert nominated contacts - without the user needing to press a button. When a fall is detected, a blue light flashes and the wearer has 15 seconds to cancel if it was a false alarm. If not cancelled, an SMS with a GPS location link is sent automatically to the fall detection contacts, up to five people.

What happens if a falls alarm goes off by mistake?

When the KISA Personal Alarm detects a possible fall, a blue light flashes and the wearer has 15 seconds to cancel. Pressing any button on the front of the device while the light is flashing cancels the alert, and no SMS is sent. Do not press the SOS button to cancel, because it does not cancel the alert and starts an SOS call instead.

What is the difference between a personal alarm and fall detection?

A personal alarm alerts the SOS contacts when the user presses a button. Fall detection alerts the fall detection contacts automatically when sensors detect a hard fall - no button press required. The KISA Personal Alarm includes both features in the same device, so the user is protected whether or not they are able to press the button after a fall. You do not need two separate devices.

Can fall detection be turned on or off?

Yes. Fall detection on the KISA Personal Alarm can be turned on or off through the MyKISA app by a family member or carer. This means the feature can be disabled temporarily if needed and re-enabled when required - without any action needed from the person wearing the device.

Does fall detection work when I am away from home?

Yes. The KISA Personal Alarm uses GPS tracking, so fall detection works wherever the user goes - at home, in the garden, in a shopping centre, or out in the community. When a fall is detected, contacts receive a Google Maps link showing the current location. This makes the response just as useful when a fall happens away from home as it is indoors.

Can I get a personal alarm with fall detection funded by the government?

Possibly. Australians aged 65 and over may be eligible for funding through the Support at Home AT-HM scheme, which covers assistive technology and home safety equipment. Eligible veterans may also have access to funding through the Department of Veterans' Affairs. The KISA team can help you understand which pathway applies to your situation during a free consultation.

Is a falls alarm the same as a bed or chair sensor alarm?

No. Bed and chair sensor alarms are pressure pads that alert a carer in the same home when someone gets up, so the carer can help before a fall happens. A falls alarm is worn by the person and sends an alert after a fall, at home or out in the community. Some families use both, with a sensor pad at night and a wearable falls alarm during the day.