Alzheimer Society's Online Registry And Free Training Courses Help To Save Lives

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 26 Nov 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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When someone with Alzheimer's disease becomes lost, finding them quickly is key to preventing a tragedy. In fact, research has shown that if the person is not found within 12 hours of last being seen, there is a 50 per cent chance that they will be found injured or dead from dehydration, drowning or hypothermia.

To help speed up search and rescue efforts, the Alzheimer Society, in partnership with the RCMP, developed a nationwide wandering registry. To date, 30,000 Canadians have registered. Now, people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers have the option of enrolling in the Safely Home program online, and managing their record through a new and improved website at http://www.safelyhome.ca.

Also, to ensure everyone is best prepared, the Alzheimer Society has also introducing two online courses to serve as a centralized resource for training people nationwide.

The first course, "Plan to be Prepared! Bringing people with Alzheimer's and related diseases Safely Home" is meant for care facilities' staff to help them better understand the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease, concepts of emergency preparedness and how to plan for and carry out search emergency procedures. The second course, "Search is an Emergency: Bringing people with Alzheimer's and related diseases Safely Home" was created for police and emergency services.

"Preventing people with Alzheimer's disease from becoming lost is our primary goal," says Mary Schulz, Education Director at the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "However, if they do, we want to ensure that everyone who supports people living with the disease, from family to health care workers to police officers, have the training and resources to find them as quickly as possible."

In March 2007, with the support of the RCMP, the Alzheimer Society of Canada received funding from the Search and Rescue Secretariat to implement a two year project known as the Safely Home Community Action Plan to increase public awareness and enhance the ability of the Safely Home program nationally.

About the Safely Home Registry

Developed in 1995 in partnership with the RCMP, Safely Home is a nationwide program intended to assist police in finding a person with dementia and returning them safely to their home. By enrolling in the program, vital information is stored in a secure database to be retrieved by police, from anywhere in Canada when search and rescue efforts are launched. For more information about Safely Home or Alzheimer's disease, please visit http://www.safelyhome.ca.

The on-line training courses can be found here.

About the Alzheimer Society

The Alzheimer Society is the leading, nationwide health organization for people affected by dementia in Canada. The Society is a principal funder of Alzheimer research and training, provides enhanced care and support to people with the disease, their families and their caregivers, while acting as a prominent voice in the call for policy change within all levels of government. Active in more than 140 communities across Canada, the Alzheimer Society is also at the forefront of worldwide efforts to fight dementia as a founding member and affiliate of Alzheimer's Disease International.

Alzheimer Society