Tracking Bracelets Rescue Alzheimer's Patients Who Wander

Using a Project Lifesaver tracking bracelet can keep an Alzheimer's patient who might wander safe.  Recently, a local family in my town, Pismo Beach, California, was able to breathe a sigh of relief after their missing relative, an Alzheimer's sufferer, was found 20 miles away after a wandering incident.  The person was found due to the tracking bracelet he wore.

 The national news featured the story of the 83 year old man with Alzheimer's, who disappeared, and was found riding a bicycle 20 miles from home. 

He did not have a history of ever having wandered far from home.  When he was missing the search began in his neighborhood.   He was located because he was wearing a tracking bracelet. 

If he had not been wearing a Project Lifesaver bracelet, which can be tracked by land and air, he may not have been rescued.

Once he was located authorities said it was difficult to find his exact position because he was still moving on the bicycle.  His family said nothing like this had ever happened to him before. 

According to the news article in my local paper there are approximately 5,000 Alzheimer sufferers in San Luis Obispo County, California, and only 35 of them have a Project Lifesaver bracelet.   Luckily, this gentleman was one of those 35 people. 

You can go to projectlifesaver.org to see videos of rescues and read about the tracking bracelet. 

The history of this Alzheimer's patient did not include wandering far from home.  This story highlights the fact that behavior can suddenly change in a surpising way.  If someone has not wandered far from home it does not mean this cannot suddenly occur.

Here is another story that indicates the need for safety measures for Alzheimer's patients.  A caregiver agency I worked for sent me to spend a row of 24 hour shifts with a lady who had Alzheimer's. 

Her husband, who had been her caregiver, had passed away over the weekend.  While the family was looking for a facility close to them, 600 miles away, she would need 24 hour stand-by assist.

Previously she had wandered out of the house one day while her husband took his afternoon nap.  She walked through the neighborhood to the center of town, where some tourists picked her up to try to help. 

They drove around town while she kept describing where she lived so they could take her home.  They did not find out till later that she was describing a home she lived in 10 years ago.

Eventually they went into a local business, and amazingly, someone came in who recognized her, and she was driven home.

I arrived and her relatives left to return home.  She was probably more confused and agitated than usual.  She did not understand who "that man" was who had died, or recognize her husband's picture.