Guro-gu Installs 'Smart Dolbom Plug' to Prevent Solitary Deaths

Real-time Measurement and Transmission of Power Consumption and Illuminance Using IoT for 222 Middle-aged and Elderly Single-person Households... Risk Alert Text Sent if No Change in Measurements... Welfare Planners Check Well-being and Take Preventive Actions

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) is launching the ‘Smart Care Plug Support Project’ to prevent solitary deaths among middle-aged single-person households.

Guro-gu stated on the 19th, “With welfare visits becoming difficult due to COVID-19, concerns about care gaps have increased. Therefore, we are installing IoT (Internet of Things)-based ‘Smart Care Plugs’ targeting middle-aged single-person households at high risk of solitary death to prevent dangerous situations.”

The Smart Care Plug is a device that measures the electricity usage and illuminance of the target household in real time and transmits this data through an IoT network. It operates by plugging into an electrical outlet like a power strip and connecting the power of home appliances such as TVs.

Guro-gu plans to select a total of 222 households, including middle-aged single-person households and residents of gosiwon (small, affordable rooms), through recommendations from each community service center, and complete the installation of care plugs within this month.

The care plugs installed in each household have alert intervals set according to the risk level of the target: 24 hours for high-risk, 36 hours for risk group, and 50 hours for general group. If there is no change in the measured values during the set time, a risk alert message is sent to the welfare planner.

Upon receiving the risk alert, the welfare planner checks on the individual’s wellbeing via phone or visit to prevent dangerous situations in advance.

A Guro-gu official said, “Through this project, we can efficiently manage the safety of middle-aged single-person households even in the non-face-to-face era caused by COVID-19,” and added, “We will continue to strengthen the social safety net for vulnerable residents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.