Personal Emergency Link Service: Hong Kong Options and Costs
A personal emergency link service is a monitored alarm: a home unit or wearable button that reaches a 24-hour call centre when pressed. In Hong Kong the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association is the long-running operator, the operator publishes monthly charges from $168, and the Social Welfare Department, the Housing Society and Care Teams each run subsidy routes.
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A personal emergency link connects a button in the home to a monitored 24 hour call centre. Generated illustration. No real person is depicted.
On this page
- What a personal emergency link service is
- The three types of personal emergency link service sold under one name
- Who operates a personal emergency link service in Hong Kong
- What happens after the button is pressed
- What a personal emergency link service costs and who may be eligible for a subsidy
- How it relates to a 999 call and to a wearable fall alert
- Common questions
What a personal emergency link service is
A personal emergency link service is a monitored alarm service. The user keeps a home unit nearby or wears a remote SOS button; pressing it in an emergency reaches a 24-hour call centre rather than an ordinary telephone. The Government calls the equipment an Emergency Alarm System, commonly a Safety Bell.
The operator describes its Care-on-Call service as more than a 24/7 emergency hotline: its team stands by around the clock and is reached through the one-press SOS button on its Care-on-Call service pages. A vigilance function monitors activity level through the mobile device, and some devices add location tracking and medicine reminders.
The three types of personal emergency link service sold under one name
The same market name covers three different purchases: hardware, a monitored service, and a detector that raises an alert without a button press. Home devices used alongside the service are covered in the smart home technology guide.
| What is sold | What the buyer gets | How the alert starts | Subsidy treatment |
|---|
| Pendant or alarm call device | A home unit, or a wearable remote SOS button linked by Bluetooth. | The user presses the button. | A one-off installation fee of up to $2,500, or monthly charges of up to $100. |
| Monitored emergency link service | The device plus a 24-hour call centre offering emergency aid, care calls and medicine reminders. | The press reaches the call centre. | The operator marks all three products as subsidised. |
| Automatic fall detection | A sensor or smart device that raises the alert without a button press. | The device triggers the alert, even when the user cannot press anything. | The Government states the grant covers all emergency alarm systems in the market, and a pilot began in March 2026. |
Who operates a personal emergency link service in Hong Kong
The operator of record is the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association, which has provided its Care-on-Call service since 1996. The Social Welfare Department designated the Association as the service provider for its Subsidy Scheme for Provision of Emergency Call System Service.
The Housing Society lists three services for eligible tenants: the Personal Emergency Link Service of the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association, the Easilink Social Alarm Service of Chubb Hong Kong Limited, and the 366 iilink SOS Services of 366 Caring Services Company Limited.
The government-linked route runs through Care Teams. The Scheme on Supporting Elderly and Carers began in March 2024 in Tsuen Wan and Southern District and covered all 18 districts from April 2025. By the end of December 2025, more than 450 Care Teams had contacted over 79,000 households, and more than 2,700 had received subsidies.
The steps below are the operator's description of its own service. No Hong Kong body publishes a response time.
- The user presses the SOS button on the unit or on the wearable remote button.
- The alert reaches the operator's 24-hour service centre.
- The centre identifies the user, whose medical details and address the operator states that it holds.
- The centre acts: the operator states its team provides assistance, books outpatient appointments and gives medicine reminders.
- The operator states its staff contact an ambulance where needed and pass the medical history to the emergency room.
- The Social Welfare Department told the Legislative Council in April 2026 in a written reply on the Emergency Alarm System that it holds no records of the average time taken by emergency alarm system call centres from receiving a distress signal to dispatching services.
The responder network is whoever acts once the alert arrives: the centre's staff and the emergency services they contact.
What a personal emergency link service costs and who may be eligible for a subsidy
The operator publishes monthly fees of $178 for the Wireless Personal Emergency Link on a 12-month contract, $178 for the New Mobile Link on a 24-month contract and $168 for the eCare Link app on a 12-month contract, all available on subsidised plans in its product comparison table.
Who may be eligible for a subsidy
- Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients aged 65 or above who are single or live with family members unable to care for them may apply to the Social Welfare Department for a grant of up to $100 a month or $2,500 once. The Department designates no service provider or certification standard.
- The Department reported 26,653 grant recipients in 2023-24, 25,543 in 2024-25 and 25,053 for 2025-26 as at the end of December 2025.
- In the Housing Society's rental estates, the Elderly Careline Service Subsidy has been provided since 1997 and now covers indoor fixed, mobile app and wireless connections.
- That subsidy requires the tenant to be the authorised person on the tenancy agreement, not a Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipient, aged 65 or above and living alone or with family members all aged 60 or above. Tenants aged 60 to 64 may be considered with a medical certificate.
- The Society pays the careline charge directly to the provider; the resident pays the telecommunication fee and the fee for the fixed line, SIM card or mobile phone. The provider generally makes contact about 14 days after the referral.
What to check before signing up
- The contract period (12 months for the Wireless Personal Emergency Link and the eCare Link app, 24 months for the New Mobile Link), the extra fee if installation at home is requested, and which subsidy route the household falls under.
- Whether the vigilance function and location search are included; location search covers the New Mobile Link and the eCare Link app.
- For Housing Society tenants, whether the Estate Office has been told of any household change, which the Society requires for suspension or termination.
- Related explainers are collected in the Agetide guides hub.
How it relates to a 999 call and to a wearable fall alert
The Police Force publishes response standards for 999 calls: it endeavours to answer all 999 calls within nine seconds, and its average response time is nine minutes on Hong Kong Island and in the Kowloon area and 15 minutes in the New Territories, measured from the console receiving the call to the arrival of officers.
The difference is who already holds the information: on a 999 call the caller describes the situation, while a monitored service reaches a centre that the operator states holds the user's medical details and address.
A pendant helps only when the user can press it. The Government describes devices that can trigger an alarm when a person is unable to press a button; these are explained in the fall detection technology guide, with products listed under AI care systems. A two-year pilot began in March 2026, installing intelligent accident detection systems for no fewer than 300 high-risk carer households free of charge.
Common questions
Who operates the personal emergency link service in Hong Kong?
The Senior Citizen Home Safety Association has provided the Care-on-Call service since 1996 and was designated by the Social Welfare Department as the service provider for the subsidised route through Care Teams. The Housing Society lists the Easilink Social Alarm Service and the 366 iilink SOS Services for its estates.
How much does a personal emergency link service cost in Hong Kong?
The operator publishes monthly fees of $178 for the Wireless Personal Emergency Link on a 12-month contract, $178 for the New Mobile Link on a 24-month contract and $168 for the eCare Link app on a 12-month contract. All three are available on subsidised plans.
Who can get a subsidy for an emergency alarm system?
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients aged 65 or above who are single or live with family members unable to care for them may apply to the Social Welfare Department for a grant of up to $100 a month or $2,500 once.
Does a personal emergency link service publish a response time?
Not in Hong Kong. The Social Welfare Department told the Legislative Council in April 2026 that it holds no records of the average time taken by emergency alarm system call centres from receiving a distress signal to dispatching services. The Police Force does publish standards for its 999 service.
Topics
- personal-emergency-link
- emergency-alarm-system
- elderly-safety
- schsa
- care-services
- hong-kong
Related on Agetide
Related guides
Sources
- Information Services Department, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. LCQ19: Emergency Alarm System, Reply. https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202604/01/P2026040100296.htm. Published: 2026-04-01. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Information Services Department, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. LCQ2: Enhancing elderly support networks in the community, District Services and Community Care Teams, Scheme on Supporting Elderly and Carers. https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202602/04/P2026020400328.htm. Published: 2026-02-04. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. Care-On-Call Product Comparison, Product comparison table. https://www.schsa.org.hk/en/care-on-call-service-introduction/coc-product-comparison. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. Care-On-Call Products, Care-On-Call Service Description. https://www.schsa.org.hk/en/care-on-call-service-introduction/products. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. Wireless PEL (Personal Emergency Link), About Activation. https://www.schsa.org.hk/en/care-on-call-service-introduction/coc-wpel. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. Subsidy Scheme for Emergency Call Service Rolled out to All Districts for One Year, SCHSA Ready to Help 4,000 Scheme Beneficiaries, Press release. https://www.schsa.org.hk/en/about-us/latest-news/20250411. Published: 2025-04-11. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Hong Kong Housing Society. Elderly Careline Service Subsidy Scheme, Eligibility Criteria; Application Procedure; Service Providers. https://www.hkhs.com/home/upload/pdf/Eng_V05_02.2025.pdf. Published: 2025-02. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Hong Kong Police Force. Operations Wing (999 Emergency Calls) Performance Pledge, Performance Standards. https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/01_about_us/pp_operation.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
Written and edited by the desk collective The Longlight Desk. No individual is named as the author. Agetide editorial standards.
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