Until Alzheimer’s Cure, Embrace Project Lifesaver

“It can’t happen to me.” How brave we are as we say the phrase aloud or mentally. It demonstrates our mettle, implies we are in control, that we consider ourselves well connected and ready for whatever may come our way.
Among those subjects are accidents, fires, crimes and Alzheimer’s disease. Yes, many readers believe they are immune from such things, but we all know the opposite is true.
Last week, as this column was being written, Middle Township Police continued their search for an 84-year-old Rio Grande man who went missing. His wife reported that he likely suffered from dementia. The man was last seen by a neighbor Mon., July 12 about noon hitchhiking on Route 9 near Maryland Avenue.
Fortunately, that man was returned home safely on Thur., July 15, but there were many tenuous hours of waiting and wondering about his fate.
Certainly, that could never happen to me! Be careful what you think.
Such occurrences are likely to happen with greater frequency, especially here in Cape May County, where there is a large population of senior citizens. However, make no mistake, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is not a respecter of age or gender.
In all likelihood, we all know, or have known someone who is affected by that mind-robbing disease, either personally or to a loved one. It is so difficult to imagine our loved one not knowing us, forgetting where they live, not knowing where to call for help, to be reduced from a once-proud, highly functioning adult to a state of early childhood.
Certainly, that could never happen to me! Be careful what you think.
Chilling as the thought may be, it can and does happen to the best of people, and there is no immunity from Alzheimer’s disease. Te late President Ronald Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
While the search continues for a cure that cannot come a day too soon, and also for that Rio Grande gentleman, there is something that perhaps you or your organization may want to do to assist in some way a family afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, Down’s syndrome or autism.
Unveiled last year by Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer was Project Lifesaver.
By wearing a wrist bracelet with a tiny radio transmitter, the patient who may wander, as did the Rio Grande manfrom home and loved ones, has a greater likelihood of being found by a trained unit from the Sheriff’s Department, armed with radio-tracking equipment.
By forming partnerships with local law enforcement and public safety organizations, Project Lifesaver deploys teams with reliable technology that can quickly locate and return a child or adult who wanders to the safety of home and caregivers.
It is estimated that 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Well over half of them wander and become lost. Within the past month, a resident of Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center wandered away Fri., July 2.
Fortunately, he was located Sat., July 3 by a law enforcement officer not awfully far from the home, wandering, confused, near a wooded area in the Crest Haven Complex. Given the proximity to Garden State Parkway, the outcome could have been a tragic one.
Certainly, that could never happen to me! Be careful what you think.
Sheriff’s officers have been involved in at least two successful searches for patients who wore those transmitters.
One, last year in Ocean City, took place when an 85-year-old woman who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease was reported missing from her home for two hours. She was registered with the Sheriff’s Department under Project Lifesaver.
Because of that, the Project Lifesaver Response Unit and K-9 officers were sent at 8:35 a.m. They were on scene at 9:13 a.m. and, through use of the tracking devices under Project Lifesaver, the person was located within 23 minutes at 9:46 a.m. She was returned to her loved ones.
A similar incident took place in Rio Grande when a man, whose wife went shopping, wandered away from their parked car. Because he wore a Project Lifesaver tracking bracelet, he was located within a half hour, safe and sound.
If your loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, or something similar, wouldn’t you want them to wear a bracelet as the price of insurance to be found in the event they wandered away?
Last year, the Women’s Club of Cape May donated $1,020 to Project Lifesaver. Members of Angelus Chorus donated $1,465 to the program.
In May, the sheriff reported receiving two free transmitters for Project Lifesaver program. They were funded through a grant from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The units are supplied free to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Credited was Sheriff’s Officer Paul Shelton who oversees the program and who helped secure the grant for the additional units.
Sheriff Schaffer reports there are 20 clients participating in the Project Lifesaver program. Contributions from businesses and organizations enable the department to give out more of the units. Transmitters cost $300 and a year’s supply of batteries and straps costs about $80. There is no cost to the client.
Certainly, that could never happen to me! Be careful what you think.
The need exists. I do not know exact numbers, but certainly there are far more in this county who suffer, and who could benefit from one of those bracelet transmitters.
This is a project worthy of widespread support and use. It may happen to you or me or one of your loved ones. If we can improve the chance of finding a wandering person, we may have saved a life, and there is no price tag for that.
(To learn more about the Project Lifesaver Program, visit the Sheriff’s website: www.cmcsheriff.net)