Jim wandered off many times after he
developed Alzheimer’s. The first thing I learned as a caregiverwas
immediate action was necessary to find him. I can’t count the
number of times he disappeared. It only took a moment of inattention,
or the misconception that someone else had eyes on him. Whether he
disappeared mid-morning at a mall in Columbia, early afternoon at
Silver Dollar City, late afternoon at the airport in Las Vegas, or
from our home in the middle of the night, a search began immediately.
Unfortunately, wandering is a common
problem for people with Alzheimer’s. Sixty percent of people with
dementia will wander causing anxiety for the caregiver and creating a
life threatening situation for the wanderer. Beginning the search
immediately is key to finding your loved one safely. Statistics are
on your side since ninety-four percent of the time they will be found
within one and a half miles of where they disappeared.
You can take a few steps to help find
your loved one. Alert neighbors of the situation and ask them to
call you if they see your loved one walking alone. When searching,
look in the direction of your loved one’s dominant hand—that is
the direction they will usually go. Use Medic Alert+Alzheimer’s
Association Safe Return or Comfort Zone (an electronic device). If
you don’t immediately locate your loved one, call 911 and report
them missing.
To ensure that when you call 911, the
appropriate steps are taken to activate an immediate search,
legislation should be in place. Legislation geared toward a Silver
Alert should encompass all persons with dementia regardless of age.
Jim had early onset dementia and would have been too young for the
Silver Alert in states that identify only persons sixty-five
or older with dementia. Missouri has an “Endangered Person
Advisory” which could include anyone who may be in danger because
of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather
conditions.
If you have a loved one with dementia,
it is important to know the laws in your state and work toward
legislation to make sure anyone with Alzheimer’s is included
regardless of age. The law should also have provisions to activate
the system based on a caregiver statement since many people wander
before they have a formal diagnosis.
An important part of legislation is
training for all emergency personnel. Proper training can make all
the difference in finding the person with Alzheimer’s quickly using
search techniques specifically tailored to persons with dementia. The
immediate emphasis should be on a search of the local area. Quick and
educated response is key to survival.
Silver Alerts are state programs
designed specifically for vulnerable adults who have wandered. The
search for adults is different than those used for AMBER alerts.
AMBER alerts use statewide alerts which are not typically needed when
searching for an adult wanderer. Also, since most wandering adults,
like Jim, wander repeatedly, alerting everyone statewide each time an
adult wanders could cause the public to become desensitized. This
could do more harm than good by reducing the statewide response in
cases where it is needed.
The goal is to find wanderers within
twenty-four hours and reunite them with their families. The longer
the person with dementia is gone, the chances of finding them
unharmed is correspondingly diminished.
More than 125,000 search and rescue
teams are activated each year to search for missing persons with
dementia. This does not include the countless times that family
members search for and find their loved ones. Kimberly Kelly with
Project Far From Home estimates that as many as three million people
with dementia wander away from home each year.
We were fortunate and Jim was always
found quickly by either family, friends, neighbors, and during the
mall disappearance, security guards. I was young enough to go
searching for Jim, but not every vulnerable adult has a caregiver who
can look for them. A system needs to be put in place, nationwide,
that will activate an immediate search for vulnerable adults with a
goal to provide safe return to their homes.
Copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S.
Fisher
Http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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