Alzheimer’s disease causes its victims to wander off. Getting lost places them at great risk. They can die – of those lost more than 72 hours, only a few will survive.
More than 300 Alzheimer’s sufferers wander and/or get lost each day. Each year there are as many as 125,000 reports of victims of Alzheimer’s disease wandering away …many more go unreported. Experts estimate that 60 percent of persons suffering from Alzheimer’s will wander. This puts the potential pool of wanderers at an epidemic 3,000,000 individualsMost of those who wander don’t get very far. As a result, they are found quickly and only local residents get involved in their search. Of those found within 12 hours, most percent survive –however, one in 14 doesn’t make it home. Of those lost more than 24 hours – 67 of 100 die. Of those lost more than 72 hours, 80 percent never make it home.
When it happens, caretakers find themselves in a total state of confusion — feeling helpless. Although most Alzheimer’s sufferers that wander are found within a mile and a half of their home. These wanderers are often on foot. Nevertheless, finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack and very costly to the community. Their search endangers others in the community that might need the assistance of those resources.
When the victims wander they rarely ask for help. They don’t tell anyone they are lost. And in most cases, they don’t leave any physical clues that will help you find them unless they are wearing GPS enabled tracking shoes developed by GTX Corp and marketed by Aetrex Worlwide. Wearing these discreet 2-way Alzheimer’s wandering devices their every footstep can be tracked and mapped in real-time on a web enabled mobile phone, notebook or computer.
For some GPS is about global positioning satellites. For the 12 million Alzheimer’s caregivers it is a Great People Saver.