ABSTRACT
In the Federal Republic of Germany, a network of about 170 personal response centers has developed which has connected about 17,000 persons, most of whom arc either elderly or handicapped. In the Federal Republic of Germany, emergency response service (ERS) is offered above all by charitable institutions and relief organizations and, in a few cases, by private organizations or councils and municipalities. Emergency Response Systems installed in Germany are a telecommunication system by means of which elderly, frail, sick or handicapped people, living alone in their home, can ask for specific help in emergency situations. The development of ERS as an offering in the outpatient services sector is based on the consideration that the proportion of elderly people in the total population has enormously increased during the last few years and will continue to increase until the year 2000. ERS must always be offered in connection with other outpatient social services.
