Caring for a senior parent living with dementia is not easy, let alone during a global pandemic.
The stress of a loved one wandering away from the safety of their home is a serious concern for many Nova Scotians.
That’s why N.S. police have partnered up with MedicAlert, a non-profit foundation that provides patients with medical identification bracelets.
Launched locally Tuesday, the Connect Protect initiative was created to provide first-responders with information about “individuals who have cognitive diagnoses, mental health conditions or other disabilities that make it difficult to speak for themselves in an emergency,” according to a press release.
There are an estimated 17,000 Nova Scotians living with dementia. By 2023, this number is expected to rise to 25,000.
Statistics also show that one in six people living with dementia are likely to wander or go missing.
“In the event of an emergency or search and rescue, time is the most important predictor of success,” says MedicAlert Connect Protect program director Catherine Horlock.
“It helps to ‘stop the clock.’”
Horlock says the province sees around 25 “wandering” calls every month.
The new initiative allows first responders and police to have secure and immediate access to the patient’s information.
“It’s an additional layer of protection” for people with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, communication disorders and brain injuries.
Each patient has a bracelet ID that is linked to their MedicAlert profile. There, responders can see the person’s name, photo, physical description, medical history and most importantly — wandering history.
Chief Julia Cecchetto, president of the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association, says it helps police to know “where they’ve went before, where they’re likely to go and places they like the most.”
Cecchetto works in Kentville, N.S. and says wandering patients “often will go to places they like. In my town, we have Miners Marsh, which is frequented a lot by people who like to look at birds or wildlife.”
She believes this partnership with MedicAlert will help police keep their most vulnerable residents safe.
The program also gives responders tips on how to interact with each individual. For example, it can tell them if an individual is scared of police or prefers a nickname.
This information, Harlock says, can easily save someone’s life when it’s in the hands of first responders immediately.
Across Canada, there are 63 police services partnered with Connect Protect, the first one being in Ontario in 2015.
In Nova Scotia, all 10 municipal police services are now in the program:
- Amherst
- Annapolis
- Bridgewater
- Cape Breton
- Halifax
- Kentville
- New Glasgow
- Stellarton
- Truro
- Westville
Horlock says this has been in plans for the province for a long time now, but is needed now more than ever.
“What they’re experiencing, they’re going to continue to experience,” says Horlock. “They’re not going to pause or self-isolate just because the world is going through a pandemic.”
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