You want government regulation requiring induction cooktops for seniors?!? No effing way! You'll have to pry my cold dead fingers off my gas range. Believe it or not, accidents happen to young people too!

Huh no. I know way to many folks in their 70's and 80's that do just fine cooking and I sure hope to be..I do not want or need the Gov telling me what I can cook on and how long I can have a burner on. Or in weissman's words No effin way!

Induction seems like a good fit for many seniors for safety reasons, but I think my mother would've had some difficulty with the technology, electronic controls like the touch pad. OTOH, she used her 1960's gas range until she passed away.

I remember with an old boyfriend, someone (young) in his apartment building locked themselves out with a steak in the oven. Luckily, the fire dept got there in time.

The government has enough say so in things they should NOT have, no way I want to give them that kind of power, rediculous! Next thing you know all us middle kids who have(had) elderly living in their homes but still have kids would not be even allowed to have these items in their house.....no more goverment involvement!

Have to disagree Pamela.

It is a fool's errand to try to legislate away the problems of inattention, ignorance or morality.

However, that doesn't stop the clowns in Washington from trying.

But I repeat my self.

Just to clarify my earlier post, I think it's perfectly reasonable for the family of an elderly person to CHOOSE appliances that enhance the safety of their relative based on their infirmities. What I object to is your suggestion that the government mandate it for everyone.

I think you all jumped to old-fashioned conclusions that I was suggesting government regulation, intrusion, etc. There are more effective ways to make differences in today's world. I just got off the phone with an acquaintance who is developing housing aimed at seniors. He wasn't aware that such technology existed, for no real greater cost, and he is going to look into it. He sees it as a potential selling feature.

I'm going to think harder about how to get the word out. I realize it's very difficult to understand the situation unless you're older and have tried to keep elderly family members living independently for as long as possible.

I don't see putting optional safety governor features on appliances as taking away our personal freedom, but as a tool to insure it.

I keep looking at Pam's original post and nowhere do I see the word 'government' or phrase 'government regulation' in her post.

So let's put the paranoia on low simmer.

Please.

"What if we installed induction cooktops in senior housing" was likely the phrase that got interpreted as regulation, then government, etc.

Being more of a libertarian sort, I think the elderly should have the right to whatever sort of cooking device, marriage partner, assault rifle or marijuana they choose. :-)

But seriously, if my elderly mom needed a new cooktop, I might consider something like the original poster proposed. Not a bad idea at all.

Wow all -- I thought Pamela's was a rather lovely, generous, helpful, thoughtful, kind -- *vital*, potentially life-saving idea. Honestly.... low simmer would be excellent. Linking the idea of stoves that can automatically shut off with potentially fatal "senior moments" (which as we all know, we can all have), is insightful; wise. Heroic even.

I witnessed someone a bit beyond their peek today drive onto a sidewalk after avoiding hitting me just because I swerved and another doing the same ... true that youngsters crash as well, but denying age-related needs is doing no one any favors. Acknowledging an issue can permit potential aids to come to the fore. No one suggested legislating, just consciousness-raising. Frankly it never occurred to me to suggest this appliance for my mother. But she is worried *stiff* about just exactly this problem. She tells me about the fear at least once a week. She would *welcome* removal of the concern. Many might. Thanks, Pamela. It's not as if the technology isn't getting constant raves around here....

I think I would like to actually see the article if there is one? Rereading the post it almost looks more like it was a range malfunction more than human error.
If so this could happen to anyone, any type range.
I personally think induction is way cool, it would also drive my mom nuts and if just one of her fav pans didn't work on it I wouldn't even want to be in the neighborhood:-)

So while it is a nice idea 'by choice' is usually the best way to go.

BTW DM is 85

Thanks for those kind words, aliris19. I think you're someone I'd like to meet. I'm so glad you and the other people escaped harm at the hands of the erratic driver. As my friend says, it wasn't your time.

I have been reading about seniors and kitchen fires. It's the leading cause of accidental death for them. Many die catching clothes on fire, but it appears that nearly 200 deaths each year are solely from burners left on. Many are inhalation deaths. 200 isn't a big number, admittedly, but there are probably that many devastated families each year.

I think I will continue to work on this in my own way. Time to stop talking about it here, I guess.

Here is a link that might be useful: Newpaper article

We chose induction for our forever home for that very reason. If we forget to shut off a burner, it will shut off by itself!

I think it would be pretty simple to invent a smoke detector that was connected to a gas shutoff device, or the breaker if an electric stove.
A device like that could have save this "poor old dear". It's her family that is more responsible for letting her get into her situation, and the neighbor's consequent loss of property.
Casey

I"m actually surprised that induction isn't marketed more heavily around safety issues.

Casey, that's a very good idea. Please let us know when you bring it to market!!

sombreuil, please know that very often something like a parent letting a pan boil dry and burn is the first indication families have that there may be a problem. It's not necessarily neglect on their part: there just may not have been any signs until such a crisis occured.

And I speak from experience.

Is there any data on the number of elders who have died because they couldn't get their "child safe" pill-bottle caps open in time? Or on the number of elders who have been poisoned by water supplies fluoridated to prevent tooth decay in children from impoverished homes?

Such hubris is matched only by its overweening condescension and overreaching authoritarianism.

Give. Me. A. Break. And leave my beloved BlueStar alone, for God's sake.

Elders get non-child-safe pill bottles when they ask for them, as long as no children are in the house.

Fluoridation does not kill people, though it has been reported to cause white spots on teeth.

And I don't give a f... about your bluestar.

Pamela, I agree! I want to get induction in our home (we are 65 and 59 years old now) before we get to the stage where we are leaving burners on and leaving the room. I think induction is brilliant for older people and don't think the trade-off of allowing me to boil something dry in order to discover I'm slipping is worth it.

Fluoride is a carcinogen. No one denies this. Its risk of lethality is vanishingly small. The issue surrounding fluoridation of the public water supply is one of cost:benefit for the population at large. Personally, I come down on the side of mass-fluoridation but it seems to me one of the (few) public health issues where reasonable minds can disagree. This said after a lot of careful study of the problem.

Since in the case mentioned by Pamela legislation isn't suggested, or mass-forcing of elders to install induction cooktops, the comparison isn't really apt. Learning about the safety benefits of the appliance, in particular conjunction with the needs of elders, is basically just a win-win situation (especially for the manufacturers! ;) ). And thanks, pamela, for pointing out this issue of fire-hazards. I hadn't realized it was so big. Frankly, I am guessing many of us middle-aged sorts on this forum are just beginning to learn about the issues surrounding our aging parents. Linking them to more plebeian issues of consumerism is an eye-opener.

And for those of you beyond the divide (of middle age), couldn't you just take in a little bit of the love and concern considered here by your 'children'? There is, maybe possibly, a slight tradeoff to be affected between freedom and safety. But we who care about you place some value on the safety part perhaps at slight expense of the freedom-part. This is the stuff of negotiation, not excoriation. IMHO.

Also, note that the anxiety surrounding the issue for many has its own 'cost' -- hard to quantify for sure. But it does belong in the cost:benefit analysis somewhere, not just the literal numbers of deaths. And that anxiety exists among all, elders and their children and gchildren too. It's a hard thing to tote up but really pervasive. I think that's at the heart (pun winked at if not originally intended) of Pamela's post, frankly.

nice, weedmeister, real nice