40 years of home emergency calls: Gerd Rauhut ensures safety in old age!

40 years of home emergency calls: Gerd Rauhut ensures safety in old age!

The importance of the home emergency call is undisputed and is underlined by the impressive story of a man who has been fighting for the safety of people in Lower Saxony for 40 years. Gerd Rauhut, now 76 years old, played a key role in setting up the Johanniter home emergency call (HNR) in 1985 and continues to provide technical support and maintenance of the systems in the Hameln-Pyrmont district to this day. The dedicated technician has had a remarkable career that has always been characterized by the desire to enable seniors to live safely in their own four walls.

Originally started as a rescue assistant at Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. in Hanover, Rauhut got to know the system in the early 1980s. He began his commitment with just three customers and has since developed impressively. “The first devices were big and bulky,” he says. “Back then there was no computer support and you had to document everything manually.” Rauhut looked after his customers personally - even at night and during his emergency service operations. As demand increased, he decided to switch entirely to home emergency services in order to meet the increased demands.

A life for security

Rauhut's work has changed significantly over the years. The technical devices not only became more functional, but also more user-friendly. The handheld transmitters, which are now mostly worn around the neck, are a good example of this. “With a home emergency call system, seniors feel safer and more independent,” says Rauhut. These systems enable users to quickly call for help in emergency situations, thereby increasing the safety factor for older people and their relatives. According to ambulante-pflegedienste.net, home emergency call systems make a decisive contribution to the quality of life of most seniors.

Another important aspect is security through additional services, including fall detection and key storage. These offers enable HNR users to receive quick and targeted help in an emergency and have proven to be indispensable. The monthly costs for a home emergency call system are usually around 25 euros, and many care insurance companies cover the fees if there is a level of care. Nevertheless, Rauhut has also struggled in the past to finance its service for people without long-term care insurance.

Future plans and legacy

For the future, Gerd Rauhut has planned to retire on December 31, 2025. Despite his retirement from active service, he remains connected to the emergency number and offers to provide advice in the background. His wife is also active in the HNR team and has been providing customer advice for 20 years. In a notable step, Rauhut even set up a home emergency call for his 101-year-old mother to ensure her safety.

Over the last 40 years, Rauhut has not only worked on the technical development of the HNR, but also built a dense network with nursing services and housing companies in order to provide the best possible support for seniors in Lower Saxony. Today over 50,000 people in the region use the Johanniter home emergency number. The central emergency call center, which coordinates all alarm messages, is located in Berne, in the Johanniter district of Stedingen. This valuable facility ensures that help is always on site quickly and efficiently, thereby ensuring that life becomes safer for many older people in Lower Saxony. [bg-press.de].