The Phone on the Nightstand Is Part of the Route: Keep It Charged, Audible and Owned by One Person

The phone on the nightstand is part of the bed-to-toilet route, even though it never shows up on the floor plan. A phone that is dead, silenced or out of reach at 3am is no help to anyone. Keep it working with a short weekly routine and one named owner.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Keep it charged overnight

Set the phone on a stand or charger at the nightstand every night, not on the floor or under a pillow. Check that the cable is in good shape and runs along the nightstand, not across the floor where a foot can catch it. Confirm once that it charges fully overnight.

Keep it audible

Turn the ringer on, raise the volume, and check that vibration alone is not the only alert. Review the do-not-disturb or focus settings and make sure calls from her emergency contacts can get through at night.

Keep it in reach from the bed

Place the phone on the side she gets up from. Test the reach from bed, without standing, and confirm she can pick it up without turning on a lamp.

Keep the emergency contacts current

Put the people she would call first at the top of the contact list, using names she recognizes. Call each one once a month or so to confirm the number is still live and the person still answers.

Name one owner and one backup

Pick one person who runs the weekly check and one backup who covers when the owner is away. Write both names on the list so nobody assumes someone else did it.

The weekly check

Once a week, confirm the phone is charged, the ringer is on, the cable is intact, and one test call goes through from the bed. Write the result on the list.

What to write down

Write down the week, the charge result, the ringer setting, the test call result, the cable condition, and who did the check. A phone is not a monitoring system or a medical alert, so ask her physician and the local help resources what else her night route needs. The Start here reading path puts the rest of this desk in order.