Police, group partner for Medic Alert service

ROGERS — Caregivers and families now have more support and options available when someone with Alzheimer’s, dementia or autism goes missing.

The Rogers Police Department and the Alzheimer’s Association of Arkansas recently partnered to bring free Medic Alert services to those who have family members prone to wandering.

“We do have people wander off, and we have to find or locate them. We’ve had several cases of that over the years,” said Keith Foster, public information officer for the Rogers Police Department. Medic Alert “helps with identification of people who wander. It helps us get them back home.”

People can apply with the Police Department, which then registers them in a database and orders an identification bracelet from the national program. The bracelet is sent out within a few weeks.

“Really it’s a win- win to offer the service, but we hope they never have to use it,” Foster said.

Applications can be accessed in person at the department or sent by email attachment, Foster said.

Similar services are available.

The Bentonville Police Department and Benton County refer families to Project Lifesaver, another national service. Project Lifesaver provides wrist or ankle bracelets that act as small, personal transmitters. The project is locally funded by the county and St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church of Bella Vista.

Project Lifesaver reports an average recovery time of 30 minutes, according to its website.

The Bentonville Police Department typically issues a Silver Alert when an elderly person goes missing. A Silver Alert issued in April listed the person by name, age, and city of residence and provided detailed descriptions of his vehicle and what he was wearing when last seen. The person was located and escorted home by the Carthage Police Department in Missouri, Community Officer Gene Page said. The Bentonville CID division followed up with him and introduced his family to the Project Lifesaver program.

The Fayetteville Police Department has no identification programs like Medic Alert, but all department members are trained to work with residents who have Alzheimer’s, dementia or other diseases, Sgt. Craig Stout said.

“When we have a missing senior, we can do one of two things: issue a Silver Alert through a phone blast or use social media” to disseminate the same information, Stout said. Each public notice includes a photo, description of the missing person, details on where the person was last seen and a way to get in contact with police if the person is spotted in town.

The Fayetteville department receives a missing elderly person’s case about every six months, Stout said. Oftentimes officers will find the person at an old favored location, such as a casino or a Razorback football game.

Rogers is the first law enforcement agency in the state to sign up for Medic Alert, said Shevawn Dillingham, community outreach coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Association of Arkansas. Page said the Bentonville department plans to learn more about the service.

The advantage of Medic Alert is the availability of additional emergency response no matter how far the wanderer is from home, as well as no cost to the family, Dillingham said. Costs are covered by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, Dillingham said.

The charity reports a 98 percent success rate for locating missing persons with Medic Alert, according to a news release.

Medic Alert will replace Locate and Return, an internally run program started by the Rogers Police Department in 2015.

The national program provides better monitoring and comes with the added benefit of identification jewelry, Foster said.

“We felt like it was better for us to be a middleman and to direct people to a resource we’re able to provide,” Foster said.

The department will work to switch families who were registered with Locate and Return to the Medic Alert system if they opt in.

The city is organizing a sign-up event that will take place at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center, he said.