Fall detection system for elderly with GSM communication and GPS localization

Falls in the elderly represent a very common danger for their health and an important cause of death for people over 65 years old. If an old person falls and doesn't get medical assistance in one hour, the injuries caused by the fall can lead to death after only 6 months. The sooner a fall is detected and the faster the medical personnel offer assistance, the more the mortality rate decreases. This article presents a fall detection system based on a tri-axial accelerometer, which also provides GPS (Global Positioning System) localization and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless communication. This way, in case a fall is detected, family, social care assistants and/or medical personnel are quickly alerted and can easily intervene, knowing the patient's exact location. Also, this paper presents an algorithm for fall detection, which can be easily implemented in a microcontroller.