Recommendation as submitted by Supervisors Hahn and Barger: Establish the Bringing Our Loved Ones Home Task Force, led by the Director of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services, in coordination with the Chief Executive Officer, the Sheriff, the Director of Public Social Services, as well as the Office of Public Guardian, the Commission on Disabilities, the Los Angeles County Commission on Local Governmental Services, the Commission on Aging, the Countywide Criminal Justice Services Coordination Committee, and the Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles, to explore the feasibility of establishing a voluntary Countywide program that can keep track of adults and children and expedite the recovery of those individuals who wander away from their families and caregivers, and explore the best available devices to be implemented, provide guidance and a timeline for comprehensive training, estimate the cost of such a program, and report back to the Board within 60 days with their findings. (17-1008)
I was invited to speak to this topic and said this:
My name is Kirk Moody and I am here to endorse Supervisor Hahn's motion to study the use of tracking devices for people who may wander from their caregivers, and the associated training necessary for emergency personnel.
Unfortunately, I have personal experience with the need for such devices. My wife, Nancy Paulikas, suffers from severe early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Nancy wandered from a family outing last October 15th and we have yet to find any trace of her. Despite enormous efforts by literally hundreds of volunteers and the police, as well as broad media coverage, we have ye to find single credible clue as to Nancy's whereabouts.
At the time she wandered, Nancy was wearing a Medi-Alert bracelet - the sister bracelet to this one that I am wearing now. These are one of the most common current tools to help find wanderers. Unfortunately, they contain no active tracking mechanism. They simply have instructions for contacting the caregiver if someone should see the person and read the bracelet. It is not uncommon for the patient to remove the bracelets.
My frustration in finding my wife is a situation that promises to repeat with increasing frequency as the overall population ages and Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, and conditions such as autism become more prevalent.
Please consider Supervisor Hahn's motion as a critical step in helping solve this problem.
My name is Kirk Moody and I am here to endorse Supervisor Hahn's motion to study the use of tracking devices for people who may wander from their caregivers, and the associated training necessary for emergency personnel.
Unfortunately, I have personal experience with the need for such devices. My wife, Nancy Paulikas, suffers from severe early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Nancy wandered from a family outing last October 15th and we have yet to find any trace of her. Despite enormous efforts by literally hundreds of volunteers and the police, as well as broad media coverage, we have ye to find single credible clue as to Nancy's whereabouts.
At the time she wandered, Nancy was wearing a Medi-Alert bracelet - the sister bracelet to this one that I am wearing now. These are one of the most common current tools to help find wanderers. Unfortunately, they contain no active tracking mechanism. They simply have instructions for contacting the caregiver if someone should see the person and read the bracelet. It is not uncommon for the patient to remove the bracelets.
My frustration in finding my wife is a situation that promises to repeat with increasing frequency as the overall population ages and Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, and conditions such as autism become more prevalent.
Please consider Supervisor Hahn's motion as a critical step in helping solve this problem.
The motion passed and they are going to get a report back in 60 days.
What you did here was really important. You will have changed lives, helped to save lives and save people from a lot of heartache. Thank you for doing this.
ReplyDeleteThat is WONDERFUL that all of these heads of County Departments will be present in ONE ROOM! Might someone from NIM be at the first meeting and ask all of the following people WHERE THEY THINK A 55-YEAR-OLD, FEMALE CITIZEN WITH NO I.D., NO MONEY, NO JEWELRY, NO COAT, WHO CANNOT SAY HER NAME AND WHO HAS OBVIOUS COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT MIGHT BE SHIPPED OFF TO BY A HOSPITAL OR URGENT CARE? Please ask the head of the Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services; the Chief Executive Officer, the Sheriff, the Director of D.P.S.S.; the Public Guardian, the Commission on Disabilities, the Los Angeles County Commission on Local Governmental Services, the Commission on Aging and the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee! No one will fault NIM for being bold and obnoxious in getting an answer from our County!
ReplyDeleteSupervisor Hahn and the Board of Supervisors should get off their a$$!
ReplyDeleteThe motion was passed and get a report back in 60 days (2 MONTHS!!!!)
Every day is critical. Typical government project!
This should be TOP PRIORITY!!!!!