Angus Council provide a Community Alarm Service. They can fit an alarm unit in your home that operates through your phone line. If the alarm is activated, a member of their call centre will contact you and assistance can be provided from community alarm teams who are based in Arbroath, Brechin, Carnoustie and Forfar.

The Community Alarm Service provide a 24-hour service, every day of the year. A community alarm can be provided if you have an illness, are frail or have a disability which limits your ability to live at home alone, have been in hospital and need some extra support when you come home, or have someone caring for you who needs extra support. There is a weekly cost associated with the community alarm service but we will explain this to you.

A range of accessories can also be provided with your community alarm system, such as a falls detector.  A falls detector will raise an automatic call to the monitoring centre, who in turn will arrange assistance through a responder. There is an additional charge of £1.00 per week for accessories.

There are also a few items which you can trial for a period of 4 weeks if you are not sure whether they will be suitable for you - ie an Echo dot, remote control plugs, night lights.

To request a community alarm or to find out our more about the accessories or equipment items available to trial, you can discuss this with your community care worker or contact the the ACCESSLine on 03452 777 778.

If you have fallen, or are worried about falling, you can contact the Falls Service in Angus for information and advice on 01356 666 085.

For information on how to stay safe at home and to help prevent falls please follow the link: www.scie.org.uk/carers/informal-carers/staying-healthy/falls

A new online fire safety quiz has been launched by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to support people to stay safe at home – and potentially save lives.

The ‘Fire Safety in the Home - Self Assessment’ survey asks a series of simple questions and then automatically generates a home fire safety report.

To complete a self assessment please visit the following website: www.firescotland.gov.uk/your-safety/online-hfsv-checker.aspx

You may benefit from arranging a fire safety check.

If you would like to request a free fire safety check, please contact the fire service by using the details below.

Contact information
Website: Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Phone: 0800 0731 999

When phoning, please state that you are requesting a fire safety check. The waiting list for this service is dependent on how busy the fire service is at the time.

There is no charge made for this service at the current time and they will fit smoke alarms free of charge if required.

If you are worried about how you would hear a smoke alarm at night without your hearing aids, you can discuss this with the fire service. There are a range of solutions available that may assist you, with some of these solutions being linked to a community alarm provided by Angus Council.

The Upwards and Onwards film can be found on NHS Inform and explains several things to do with falling.

For example:

• How to get up from a fall.
• What to do if you can't get up.
• How to prevent falls.

You can either watch the whole film or a specific section.

Visit www.nhsinform.scot and search for 'What to do if you fall' to find the videos.

There is also a leaflet attached which describes how you can help someone if they fall.

Associated materials

• What to do if someone falls