New scheme helps find missing people with dementia
PA MediaA scheme to help police find people with dementia who go missing is being launched.
Called the Herbert Protocol, the scheme will see information about the person and where they might be made available by their families and collated on a form.
It will also see those with dementia given a wristband or fob with a QR code that can be scanned to reveal their next of kin's contact details.
Police officer Sarah Williams said the initiative, run by Isle of Man Constabulary and dementia charity Forget Me Not, would "speed up the process of getting that person home safely".
"At the moment, those living with dementia are greatly unknown to the police, so if they were to go missing we wouldn't have previous knowledge of where they could be found," she said.
'Life and death'
Information provided will include a person's picture, name, height, weight, whether or not they have medication, daily routine, old addresses and places they are likely to go.
The fob's QR code can be scanned via an app and the person's name, along with contact details for next of kin, is provided.
The £2,000 initiative, funded by Forget Me Not, provided 1,000 wristbands and 1,000 fobs.
Police and charity staff will be in Strand Street outside Isle of Man Bank from 11:00 until 14:00 BST to provide information to the public as part of the launch.
People will also be able to pick up forms, wristbands and leaflets.
Julie Amphlett, from Forget Me Not, said there was a growing number of people with dementia on the island - now standing at 1,800.
People with dementia often go wandering and go back to places they had lived or worked in the past, she said, and the speed of finding someone "can be the difference between life and death especially in the winter".
The forms can be found on the Isle of Man Constabulary website, while the fobs and wristbands are provided by Forget Me Not, police and from Admiral Nurses.
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