I'll tell you what happened in our house. It might give you an idea.

I had had serious back surgery that left me unable to get out of bed by myself or even turn over. My husband had to turn me ever two hours and he was dead for sleep. I needed to be turned, and he had gone to sleep in the recliner in the den. He couldn't hear me. I phoned my DIL and asked her to call the house and let it ring until he woke up. She got her little 3yr old daughter to call him. When he finally anwered, that sweet little baby voice told him "Papa, Mema wants you in the bedroom." He didn't do that again.

Anyway, the result of that day, My DIL brought me a LOUD bicycle horn. One of those with a squeeze bulb thingie..I swear he should have been able to hear it in the back yard. Her grandmother had used it when she was confined to bed. It could be heard all over the house. I kept it on the bed next to my pillow. Everytime I was shifted, the horn was shifted too.

Thanks for the suggestion. Sometimes the best solution is the simplest. The horn would be somewhat of a problem for us. Although I didn't go into more detail (the post was long enough!), my wife is sensitive to loud noises. The doctors think it's most likely a side effect from her medications. That was another disadvantage of the whistle idea. Thanks for the reply!

I can see that a horn would be a problem then.

I can't remember much of the details, but one system I read about had TWO receivers. One was sitting in the charger while the other was being used. Maybe it was two separate phones/buzzers/whatever that were alternated each day. Something like that might work if you can't find exactly what you need.

Good luck. I know that peace of mind is so important for both of you. Take care!
A.

Interesting gadget that you desire to find. I have never heard of anything like that. I'm guessing that anything that can receive a walkie talkie/cell phone type signal is going to need to be charged every couple of days simply because it has to be on all the time.

Can you put the charger somewhere where you will see it every evening on your way to bed, and get in the habit of charging up when you go to bed every night? That's what I do with my cell phone and it works well. Maybe a cell phone in your pocket would hold a charge longer than a walkie talkie would? If the item your using has an old battery or is an older model, a new battery or a new device will probably hold a charge a lot longer, since the technology improves dramatically all the time.

Perhaps you could rig up some sort of wristband or lanyard that would hold your wife's cell phone? If she has trouble with the cell phone being too hard to dial in an emergency, there are simple cell phones designed for the elderly or the technophobic that just dial a couple of preset numbers, and you could program your cell phone into that and carry your cell in your pocket all the time.

Just some suggestions. Maybe someone inventive will design and market a device like you need? I hope so. Good luck.

What about putting the walkie talkie charger by your wife's bed, and when a unit needs recharging, YOU get the fresh one, and the stale one goes into the charger within your wife's reach. If she needs you, there ought to be enough juice for a quick call.

There are baby monitors out there that have a portable set for the parent, some even come with more than one portable which sounds like it might work for you. The portables usually have a belt clip so you can easily take it with you. I am sure if you do an online search you could find one. That way the base is always by your wife and you can move about the home..............
Linda J

Many thanks to all for your wonderful suggestions! I've already adopted some of the walkie-talkie suggestions by watergal and sweeby, and plan to do some research on lindajewell's baby monitor idea. Thanks again!