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Any
time a victim of Alzheimer's disease wanders away from home, it's a
race against time to find them
Twenty
percent of all missing Alzheimer's patients are found dead. Another 35
percent require hospitalization once frantic relatives and caregivers
find them, a national Alzheimer's Association study found.
For the past decade, nursing homes and some search and rescue teams
have used electronic monitors, the same technology developed to tag and
track endangered species, to locate endangered people.
Now, through Project Lifesaver Emanuel, the technology is
being
provided for use in private homes. The idea is that a caregiver,
usually a spouse, and the person with dementia could safely remain home
and out of costly nursing homes.
It
will allow older couples to stay together or stay at home longer.
The device consists of a Care Trak miniature transmitter, purchased by
the family, worn in a case resembling a wristwatch and a receiver used
use by law enforcement.
When a person with dementia leaves his home or wanders off, the
transmitter sends a signal to a receiver. (Dementia is an umbrella term
used to describe the loss of cognitive or intellectual function.)
With
the use of a mobile locator, which receives a signal up to a radius of
one mile on the ground, specially trained deputies will have the
ability to cut search times down from hours or even days to minutes.
Although rarely required, the receiver can pick up the signal for
several miles by air.
Project Lifesaver Emanuel will also be offering the service to families
of children who suffer from Down Syndrome or Autism.
The
Care
Trak transmitter does not interfere with the wearers’
mobility or
sense of independence and is fully operational 24 hours a day.
Project
Lifesaver Emanuel is a joint project of the Emanuel County
Sheriff’s Office and the Swainsboro Pilot Club.
Funding for
the Care Trak Professional Emergency Response Kit was made possible by
a grant from the Mill Creek Foundation.
Contact the
Emanuel County Sheriff’s Office for more
information on
Care Trak and Project Lifesaver Emanuel: (478) 237-7526.
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