The Sun
Friday March 11, 2016
Senior Living Enjoying your rEtirEmEnt
Gift for new tracking pendant Story and photo by Celeste Alexander Alzheimers Marlborough received a welcome donation yesterday that will pay for a new ‘Wandatrak’ tracking system, used for people living with dementia. The pendants are given out to those in the community who are at high risk of wandering and enables Marlborough Land Search and Rescue to find them. A cheque for $250 to pay for a new pendant was handed over to Chrissy Maher, Alzheimers Marlborough community worker by Blenheim Club 41 president Les Rogers. Club 41 is a group of retired Round Table members that meet regularly for friendship and co-operation. The Blenheim club has 28 members and at times will help the Blenheim Round Table when needed, and in return will receive a ‘donation’ as a thank you for their services. It was from this that Club 41 drew the money from for the donation. “It is our absolute pleasure to help Alzheimers Marlborough by making this donation,” Les says. The decision to donate toward the purchase of a pendant came after Russell Montgomery of the Marlborough LandSAR gave a demonstration of how they search for those who have wandered.
Shaun Crabb of Marlborough Land Search&Rescue, Chrissy Maher of Alzheimers Marlborough and Les Rogers of Blenheim Club 41. Les presented a cheque for $250 to Alzheimers Marlborough yesterday.
According to Chrissy Alzheimers Marlborough has to completely fund the pendants and currently has 15 out in the community. “Because we are a charity and rely on donations, this amount from Club 41 means a huge amount to us as each pendant costs us $250. “In the instance of someone with dementia wandering, it could literally be a life or death situation so these pendants are so important,” she says.
How they work: The pendant is worn by the person with dementia. It emits an electrical pulse at a specific frequency, so when the person goes missing their frequency is dialled into the tracking unit. This pulse is detected using both a radio tracking unit and a directional finding aerial. The pendants reduce the amount of resources required by LandSAR and Police when searching.
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