PENSIONER Vera Chapman believes she would not be alive today if it was not for Worcestershire Telecare.

The disabled 81-year-old collapsed and lay unconscious in her bathroom for two hours one night, but when she came to she used her personal alarm to contact the Telecare response centre.

Telecare's operator contacted her son, who lives nearby, and he called for an ambulance. She was taken to hospital, where she was kept in for two nights.

She said: "They saved my life. I went unconscious. My blood pressure had dropped and I could not get up. If I had not got the button I would have been lying there all night and maybe all the next day if I didn't have any visitors."

Mrs Chaplin, who is partially sighted and lives in Malvern, has been using the service - a joint venture by Worcester City Council and Wychavon and Malvern Hills district councils - for 13 years.

She said: "The service is marvellous. The people are so nice. They are so patient and understanding. Nothing is too much trouble. I have never been let down."

She says she would recommend the service to anyone, old and young, and particularly to those people who live on their own.

She said: "I spoke to one lady the other day who had fallen in her garden. Nobody would have known she had fallen if she didn't have Telecare. You just do not know how long you are going to be there. It is like having a friend. It protects you. You do not have to be ill or old to need one. I would recommend it to anyone."

Worcestershire Telecare was set up 20 years ago and is based on a small business park on the edge of Malvern Wells. It has 16 operators who work in shifts to provide a 24-hour response service to its 7,500 customers. There are also two staff members who go out to install alarm equipment.

Most of the customers are in south Worcestershire and the operators take an average of 330 calls a day, 15 of which are emergencies and the rest are non-urgent calls, messages from wardens checking the service is working and engineering tests.

Customers pay a one-off installation charge for their equipment and then a weekly charge for the equipment rental, maintenance and 24-hour response service.

There is a range of equipment apart from the alarm pendant or brooch with its emergency button that subscribers carry.

There is a fall sensor which detects when someone has suffered a serious fall; a flood detector which can be placed by the bath, shower or sink; a smoke detector; a movement detector which can detect the presence of an intruder; a bogus caller button which is placed near the door; a wireless carbon monoxide detector; a temperature extremes sensor and an epilepsy sensor which can tell when someone is having an epileptic fit.

When activated, these alert the response centre and the customer's details are shown on the operator's computer screen. In an emergency. the operator can alert the nearest keyholder to the property and also summon the emergency services if necessary, while staying in contact with the customer.

Sue Williams, response operators team leader, said: "We have young customers who have epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. When relatives live a long way away it gives them reassurance that help is on hand. We also put in equipment where there is domestic violence.

"We have a lot of instances where people are having a heart attack. People are very reluctant to dial 999. Some people just do not like making that emergency call. We build up a rapport with people and they are happier talking to us.

"People fall in the garden and they could be there overnight or somebody could get stuck in the bath and be there for a long time."

One telecare customer pressed the alarm button on her pendant because a burglar was in the house. The operator called the police but the intruder fled when the operator spoke to the customer through the receiver in her home.

On another occasion, a telecare smoke detector went off in the home of a blind customer. The house was full of smoke when the fire brigade arrived because the customer had unwittingly left something on the stove. "It could have been very serious," said Mrs Williams.

The service can also offer a reminder to customers who have a medical condition and need take medication.

"They will get a bleep from the machine and they have to take their medication. When they have taken it, they cancel the machine. If the machine isn't cancelled, we give them a call and ask if they have taken their medication," she said.

Mrs Williams said the service is growing and is enabling many people to live in their own homes longer than they would if it was not available.

For more information about Worcestershire Telecare - which is a self-funding not-for-profit organisation - ring 0845 130 1469, log on to www.worcstelecare.org or e-mail info@worcstelecare.org