By Greg Bartlett

Alzheimer’s Disease is a condition in which elderly people can gradually lose their short term memory. The trouble with this is that everything we do involves our short term memory. When this happens to the elderly they become much more easily confused and disorientated. They forget why they are in the place they find themselves and can sometimes wander off in search of a long lost childhood home. It is vital to keep track of these vulnerable individuals.

GPS tracking systems use satellite technology to track the position of something on the Earth. There are over twenty satellites in space which allow for tracking positioning by transmitting signals back to Earth. These continuous signals have certain information including the exact position of the satellite and a time stamp, etc. The GPS systems that we use often use four of these satellite signals to find their own exact location. Although three signals would be enough, the fourth one confirms the signals from the other three. If it was not there, then even a tiny mistake could be exaggerated hundreds of times.

Did you know that there is a personal gps tracking device for Alzheimer patients to wear? Recently in Canada, a residential home was alerted because one of its patients had gone missing. Mr. Thomas has been an Alzheimer sufferer for eight years now and is very easily confused and disoriented. The alarm was raised at five o’clock when his nurse came to give him his medicine before tea. No-one had any idea how long he had been gone and no-one had seen him leave. Mr. Thomas was fitted with an Alzheimer GPS bracelet.

The personal GPS tracking device has a perimeter alarm. That is, if the wearer goes outside a certain secure zone, then alarms sound in the central control centre. It also has a geographical positional locator which can pinpoint the exact location of the wearer. These bracelets also have SIM cards with a transmitter and receiver attached so that the missing person can be addressed through the system.

The alarms had not sounded because Mr. Thomas had not actually wandered outside the secure zone. But he was completely missing and concerns for his health were growing because he had missed his medication and there was only a window of a few hours to find him. Using the communicator, they were able to question the still-conscious Mr. Thomas and ask him to describe his surroundings. He had stumbled into the store room of the residential home, where no-one thought to look for him but once this was realized, he was soon found.