ELDERLY MAN WITH ALZHEIMER’S WANDERS OFF; FOUND SAFELY WITHIN 30 MINUTES
First Rescue Using the LoJack SafetyNet/Project Lifesaver Service in British Columbia
What: On Sunday July 5, an elderly man with Alzheimer’s who is a client with LoJack SafetyNet/Project Lifesaver, wandered off from a residential care facility in Victoria where he resided. Within minutes, staff realized he was gone and contacted the local responding agency who dispatched an initial team of three members and immediately began an electronic search for the missing resident. Twenty minutes after the search began and 35 minutes after he was reported missing, the man was found, unharmed, two kilometers from his residence—the first search and return of its kind in British Columbia.
This search and return occurred the day following a similar episode in which four elderly patients with dementia wandered away from another centre. The difference between the man who wandered and the four women was that he was a LoJack SafetyNet/Project Lifesaver client and was found by a small specialized team using electronic equipment and returned to his residence within 55 minutes from the time the team was contacted. It took several hours, the kindness of good citizens as well as the efforts of the local SAR team to help police find the four women.
What: The LoJack SafetyNet/Project Lifesaver service answers a critical need for people with cognitive conditions at risk of wandering, and is a particularly important service for caregivers and family members during the summer months when the life-threatening issue of wandering tends to increase.
LoJack SafetyNet is a comprehensive system that enables a specially trained team to pinpoint the location of a person at risk who wanders. A Personal Locator Unit (PLU) is placed on a band worn around the wrist or ankle by the person at risk. It constantly emits a Radio Frequency (RF) signal, which can be tracked regardless of where the person has wandered. The RF signal enables the specially trained team to pinpoint the precise location of the missing person using a handheld, portable Search and Rescue receiver. The receiver can actually detect the signal from the PLU within a range of approximately one mile in on-the-ground searches and 5-7 miles in searches by helicopter.
Project Lifesaver International, a non-profit organization specializing in search and rescue programs, conducts mandatory training and provides certification, ongoing management and support to public safety agencies that enroll in the LoJack SafetyNet/Project Lifesaver service. The training includes teaching the responders how to use the LoJack SafetyNet System and how to gain the trust of and communicate with people who wander, and to ensure that caregivers are well versed in the service – all of which are essential to a successful rescue.
Who: Search and Rescue Experts Available for Interviews
To arrange an interview with an electronic search specialist with LoJack SafetyNet and/or Project Lifesaver, please contact the following:
CONTACTS: