Rescuers study Alzheimer's
A presentation explains the behavior associated with the disease and how to handle the patients.
By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published September 6, 2005
When an Alzheimer's patient wanders from home, Henry Cancel says it's important for rescuers to know whether they're searching for someone who is left-handed or right-handed.
That's because when coming to an intersection, the patients will turn in the direction of their dominant hand 88 percent of the time.
And after two hours of being lost, they will likely become fearful and seek out a shed, some bushes or another place to hide.
That's when things get critical, he said. Patients will suffer a major injury or death 46 percent of the time if not found within 24 hours.
Cancel should know. He's a program specialist for the Safe Return Program of the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
A St. Petersburg Times correspondent recently listened in as Cancel discussed Alzheimer's disease with firefighters and paramedics at the Tarpon Springs Fire Department.
Cancel has also trained members of the Tarpon Springs Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. He plans to train members of other police departments in the county.
"Unless they have been trained, they may not recognize an Alzheimer's sufferer," he said.
To identify an Alzheimer's patient, you have to understand the disease. What may appear to be intoxication or lewd and lascivious behavior may actually be a progressive, irreversible brain disease.
"The brain of affected persons will eventually shrink up to one-third the normal size," he said. "Mentally, they will likely experience memory loss, stress, bouts of depression, confusion, loss of communication skills.
"They live in a different reality than their caregivers," he said.
Sixty percent of persons with dementia will wander, and law enforcement officials often are called into the search. Firefighters got the training at the suggestion of Tarpon Springs police.
"We have a large number of Alzheimer's patients throughout the county, and periodically we get calls from caregivers and nursing homes about people who are lost, or we may encounter them during a traffic stop," police Sgt. Jeff Young said. "We have to understand their individual needs."
Pinellas County has more than 34,000 cases of the disease, nearly double any other county in the 17 counties that constitute the Florida Gulf Coast chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. By comparison, Hillsborough has more than 18,000 cases.
Cancel told firefighters that sufferers are likely to be found delusional, agitated, fearful or angry. They might be dressed inappropriately for the weather or occasion.
Some might be found circling an intersection or going the wrong way down a road, trying to return to a place they can't find or remember.
They might shoplift or shed their clothing without realizing what they are doing. Moments later they might forget the incident even happened.
Cancel warned that sometimes they might find these individuals in a state of "psychological terror."
"You need to talk in a calm soothing voice and use short sentences to avoid escalating the situation," he said.
Communicating with signs can help.
"Reading is one of the last cognitive skills to go," he said. In one case, he said, police held up a sign through a window to a man who was wielding a .357-caliber Magnum pistol.
"Sir, please put down the gun," the sign read.
"When he realized what he was holding, he put it down," Cancel said.