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By Greg Bartlett

It’s a common occurrence for Sgt. Stuart Harris of the Houston Police. Everyday, he gets calls from families with wandering Alzheimer’s victims. According to Harris, the wanderers generally have a head start and are in excellent physical condition, so finding them before disaster strikes is difficult. Many people feel that GPS tracking devices could solve this problem. Police, rescuers, or searchers would be able to track the wanderer through a personal tracking GPS system masked as a watch, placed in a shoe, or hidden in a variety of different ways.

GPS Tracking & Alzheimers

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 60 percent of all Alzheimer’s patients will, at some point, wander from their caretakers. Of course, families can take precautions and lessen the chances of this wandering happening. One family, for example, hid their grandfather’s favorite hat. He refused to leave the house without it and therefore they were able to keep him at home. Other families put alarms on their doors. However, at some point, even these precautions can fail. If the majority of Alzheimer’s victims will wander then families need to take additional precautions to make sure that they can be found again.

The uses for GPS tracking systems continue to grow. Families use them to keep an eye on children, husbands and wives on their errant spouses, and car dealerships on stolen cars. One of the most interesting uses for these systems is personal tracking. Personal tracking allows families to track loved ones carrying a GPS. For example, a parent can know where his or her teenage driver is and those with family members suffering from Alzheimer’s can tell where their wandering loved one is.

Of course, GPS personal tracking systems can’t stop someone from wandering. Families need guard against that in their own ways. However, if and when a loved one does wander, they can save themselves from unneeded worry and possibly heartache. Many Alzheimer’s sufferers have died before they could be found. Some of the luckier experienced severe health problems and were placed in intensive care.

Although a personal tracking device may seem like too much money to spend, if you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s, don’t write GPS systems off as an unnecessary expense. Better to pay the price for a GPS now then to regret it later. You need to make sure your loved ones are safe and stay safe.