ID Bracelets Urged for Alzheimer’s Patients

Eighty-five-year-old Abraham Abramson slipped through a door left open by a repairman three weeks ago at the West Los Angeles Homes board and care facility in Mar Vista.

He headed in the direction of where his wife lives. They had been together for 60 years until she became ill recently and could no longer take care of him. An hour later, bewildered and confused, he entered a bank. Someone noticed a bracelet on his wrist with the words Alzheimer’s Assn. Safe Return on it and an 800 number.

Now, Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn wants all 56,000 Alzheimer’s patients in the city to register with Project Safe Return. At City Hall on Thursday, Hahn announced the joint effort by the city’s 11 victim assistance offices with the Los Angeles Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Assn. program.

“People with Alzheimer’s don’t belong in the criminal justice system,” Hahn said, referring to problems encountered by police when they find people with impaired memories. “With the bracelets, law enforcement saves time identifying the individual, and we all feel safe and secure about people we love,” he said.

Only 600 Angelenos are registered in the association’s national database. Seventy-five wandered from their residences last year, but all were returned safely. According to Peter Braun, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter, more than half of Alzheimer’s patients will wander away at least once.

The association claims a 100% recovery rate nationwide since Project Safe Return began 18 months ago.

To register, family members or caretakers must take the individual to one of the participating registration centers to be photographed and to provide information. Project Safe Return gives registrants identity bracelets or necklaces, clothing labels and wallet cards for identification, and registers them in a national database linked to a 24-hour, toll-free telephone number.

The association also provides education, training and support for families and care givers of Alzheimer patients.