Category: Wandering
Lower Merion, PA Police Captain Explains Why LoJack SafetyNet Will Benefit His Force and Community
The Lower Merion, PA Police Department is working in conjunction with the Main Line Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Main Line Program to implement LoJack SafetyNet, a new service that helps public safety agencies search for and rescue people at risk of wandering, including children with autism. The service will be available for caregivers and their loved ones living in Lower Merion Township and Narberth beginning in June 2010.
Captain John Dougherty of the Lower Merion Police Department discusses the value of LoJack SafetyNet and how it will help the Main Line community, as well as how it will benefit public safety agencies in their search and rescue operations
Captain John Dougherty of the Lower Merion Police Department gives examples of how LoJack SafetyNet will benefit his force in their search and rescue operations
Posted on May 20, 2010 | 1 Comment | Category: Alzheimer's, Autism, Caregiving, Search and Rescue, Wandering | Tags: Alzheimer's, Autism, LoJack SafetyNet, Lower Merion County, Main Line Community, Wandering
LoJack SafetyNet Philadelphia leadership forum on wandering, safety
Pictured (from left to right) are John Paul Marosy, LoJack SafetyNet; Councilman-at-large Jack Kelly; Mayor Michael A. Nutter; Kathy Kelleher, LoJack SafetyNet; Michael Tuckerman, Founder of Keeping Individuals Safe and Sound (KISS); and Michal Fandel, LoJack SafetyNet.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and City Councilman-at-Large Jack Kelly spoke at a Leadership Forum on Assuring the Safety of Persons Who Wander sponsored by LoJack SafetyNet on April 29. More than 50 leaders from healthcare and human service agencies in the Philadelphia area gathered for the event. Mayor Nutter praised the progress of the city-wide public-private partnership involving the city’s police department, community organizations, and LoJack Corporation. Police Commissioner Ramsey echoed the Mayor’s comments and praised Councilman-at-Large Jack Kelly and parent/activist Michael Tuckerman for bringing the service to the city.
John Paul Marosy of LoJack SafetyNet
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter
Posted on May 13, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Wandering | Tags: LoJack SafetyNet, Philadelphia, safety, Wandering
LoJack SafetyNet is on Facebook!
LoJack SafetyNet
Come see our new Facebook page. Become a fan, and be sure to let us know if you like what we’re sharing.
Posted on April 14, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Wandering | Tags: Facebook, LoJack SafetyNet
LoJack SafetyNet Twitter Autism Caregiver contest: Win a $100 spa gift card!
LoJack SafetyNet wants to help caregivers keep children at risk of wandering safe with this tip sheet, 10 Ways to Help Protect Your Child From the Dangers of Wandering.
We know that caring for a child with a cognitive condition, such as autism or Down syndrome, that makes them prone to wandering is stressful. So we want to give you a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to a spa. To enter, help us spread the word about LoJack SafetyNet’s wandering tip sheet by retweeting the @SafetyNetSource contest tweet on Twitter.
This contest is in recognition of Autism Awareness Month and runs through April. Here are the complete Rules and Regulations.
Rules:
Posted on April 2, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving, Down Syndrome, Wandering | Tags: LoJack SafetyNet
Understanding and preventing Alzheimer’s wandering
MayoClinic.com
Alzheimer’s disease can erase a person’s memory of once-familiar surroundings and make adaptation to new surroundings extremely difficult. As a result, people with Alzheimer’s sometimes wander away from their homes or care centers and turn up — lost, frightened and disoriented — far from where they started, often long after they disappeared.
Three out of four people with Alzheimer’s will wander at some point during the course of the disease. Wanderers who get lost outdoors may become injured or even die of exposure. This risk increases dramatically if the weather is very cold or very hot.
via Alzheimer’s: Understand and control wandering – MayoClinic.com.
Posted on February 8, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Wandering | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, safety, Wandering
Keeping Alzheimer’s patients safe from life-threatening wandering
This winter, a number of Alzheimer’s patients in the U.S. and Canada have died while wandering — either by getting hit by cars or freezing to death.
LoJack SafetyNet General Manager John Paul Marosy, elder care expert and author of several caregiver books, offers the following advice, “There is no one single strategy that can protect loved ones with Alzheimer’s from wandering.The most effective approach involves multiple strategies, which in combination deliver the best protection for the person with Alzheimer’s and peace of mind for the caregiver.”
TIPS: Here is Marosy’s 10 Step Approach:
PROVIDE INFORMATION TO HELP WITH SEARCH AND RESCUE:
- Advise Local Responders First – Fill out a 911 disability indicator form and submit it to your local law enforcement agency. The information on the form alerts law enforcement that a person residing at that address may require special assistance during an emergency. Also, fill out a more detailed handout with this information that you can provide to first responders and search and rescue personnel in the event of a wandering incident.
- Inform Your Neighbors – Give your neighbors a similar handout with a picture of the person you are caring for, physical characteristics and emergency contact information. You may want to describe the person’s fears, habits and explain how to best communicate with and calm them. Ask them to contact you immediately if they see this person wandering outside their home.
- Tag Personal Items – List emergency contact information on tags in shoes and on clothing in case your loved one does wander.
SAFEGUARD THE LIVING SPACE – INSIDE AND OUT
- Hide Triggers that Might Encourage Departure – Remove items such as hats, coats, boots, scarves, keys and suitcases that may prompt your loved one to go outside.
- Hang a “Do Not Enter” Sign on the Door – This sign may help redirect and discourage the wanderer from opening the door.
- Install a Fence Around Your Property – Set latches on the outside of gates and ensure they are in an area where the person you are caring for can’t reach them.
- Use Simple Monitors, Remote Alerts and Locks – Attach monitors to the door that detects when it opens; use a caregiver chime alert unit, which sounds when the door is open; combine these with locks on all doors including front, garage and basement.
REGISTER AND/OR ENROLL IN PROGRAMS THAT PROMOTE A SAFE RESCUE
- Register Your Loved One’s Information – With information registered in a secure database, such as the National Silver Alert Program, emergency responders are provided with critical information necessary in the event of a wandering incident or a medical emergency.
- Consider an Identification Bracelet – An ID bracelet, like the one offered through the Alzheimer’s Association’s MedicAlert + Safe Return program, helps the police or a Good Samaritan get a missing person back home safely or medical attention.
- Consider a Program that Offers a Personal Tracking Device – Programs that feature personal tracking devices, such as LoJack SafetyNet, are a good way to help protect and locate someone in the event they do wander and give peace of mind to a caregiver. A Radio Frequency device is ideal for people at risk of wandering because, unlike GPS devices, it has strong signals that can penetrate water, dense foliage, concrete buildings and steel structures.
Posted on February 4, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Dementia, Wandering | Tags: Alzheimer's, LoJack SafetyNet, safety, Wandering
Alzheimer’s & Dementia:Night-time wandering
American Health Assistance Foundation
What do you do if your husband just wants to go outside at night all the time?
For your husband’s safety and your own piece of mind, your best bet is to ensure that your home is locked up tightly at night so that your husband cannot easily leave. For this, deadbolts that lock from the inside are useful, so long as your husband does not have access to the key. Windows will also need to be secured by some sort of locking mechanism for which only you have the key. Hang bells or other noisy things on the door handles, to alert you if he is trying to open a door. If your husband’s vision is poor, you can also try placing rugs with large dark-colored block designs in front of door exits. Dementia patients with poor vision can mistake the 2-dimensional floor objects for solid 3-dimensional objects or holes in the ground, and are deterred from crossing them. Motion-activated lights, such as are often installed outside, can be used indoors as another deterrent for the door exit area. However, it is important to keep in mind that these measures, while deterring your husband from exiting, may also serve to confuse or agitate him. So you may still need to guide him safely back to bed after he has “triggered” a safety mechanism.
Posted on January 25, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, Wandering | Tags: Alzheimer's, alzheimers wandering, Caregiving, caregiving stress, family caregiving, safety, Wandering
Man with Alzheimer’s found by using electronic tracker
St. Petersburg Times
TAMPA — A 77-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who went missing Thursday was found by deputies who activated an electronic locator on the man’s ankle.
Carl Chandler of W Hiawatha Street in Tampa goes for a walk around his neighborhood every afternoon. He’s usually gone for about a half hour.
His wife of 55 years, Naomi Fay Chandler, said she got worried when Chandler didn’t come home after about an hour.
Chandler wears an electronic LoJack SafteyNet tracker that is registered with the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office through a nonprofit Virginia company called Project Lifesaver. When Chandler’s wife notified deputies that he was missing, they turned on his tracker.
via Man with Alzheimer’s found by using electronic tracker – St. Petersburg Times.
Posted on January 16, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Search and Rescue, Wandering |
Keep the holidays happy for loved ones with dementia
tampabay.com
Gary Barg, editor of Today’s Caregiver magazine, offers these tips to help manage the holiday mayhem if you have somebody at home with Alzheimer’s disease. But we think they make good sense for any family with a loved one who has physical or emotional challenges.
1. Try to include your loved one in holiday preparations by giving him something to do that is within his abilities and that will make him feel useful.
2. Maintain a sense of familiarity. Changing familiar surroundings can lead to confusion, especially for someone with memory or physical challenges. Extra cords, fragile decorations and piles of gifts can be hazards to those with limited mobility.
via Keep the holidays happy for loved ones with dementia.
Posted on December 22, 2009 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, Wandering | Tags: Caregiving, family caregiving, holidays, Wandering
Sobering Statistics about Alzheimer’s Wandering
Alzheimer's Reading Room
How many people suffering from Alzheimer’s go missing each day?
I have never seen this number reported. There are some educated guesstimates — around 125,000 in a year. However, as far as I can tell, there are only about 30,000 reported cases in a year. So the range in any given day is between 342 and 82. A sobering thought.
via Alzheimer’s Reading Room: Sobering Statistics about Alzheimer’s Wandering.
Posted on December 21, 2009 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, Wandering | Tags: Caregiving