Project Lifesaver & McGruff Partner on New Safety Initiatives
(Port Saint Lucie, FL, July 21, 2016) Project Lifesaver International is happy to announce a partnership with McGruff Safe Kids on the creation of new safety initiatives that include the development and distribution of “A Caregiver’s Guide to Wandering” – a family and community dementia tool specifically designed to help protect individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
“We’re excited to be partnering with McGruff Safe Kids on the development of a wandering guide for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia,” said Gene Saunders, CEO and Founder of Project Lifesaver.
Saunders continues, “We believe this new guide can be an important part of the enrollment kit for new Project Lifesaver member agencies and a significant additional tool for existing member agencies that will serve as an another layer of protection and safety for individuals who are prone to wandering”.
“A Caregiver’s Guide to Wandering” is an inexpensive and comprehensive personal ID kit and action plan. It is available as both a hard copy handbook and a mobile app. The kit provides caregivers and first responders with important background information, safety tips, and exclusive personal information about the “at risk” individual including; a current photograph, personal profile, fingerprint, and a DNA sample. This important information will aid law enforcement officials in the recovery should an “at risk” loved one wander off and become lost.
It is a powerful tool that can help a person with a cognitive disorder stay home longer, more comfortably, more securely and more affordably. Through our partnership with Project Lifesaver International we will be able to help caregivers of persons with dementia, autism and other cognitive disorders understand the threat of wandering, prepare for that possibility, and have an action plan in place that dovetails with both Project Lifesaver and local first responders,” said Kurt Boerner, Founder of McGruff Safe Kids.
The guide will be available to caregivers, Project Lifesaver members, and the general public on McGruff Safe Kids store at http://www.mcgruff-safe-kids.com/shop/a-caregivers-guide-to-wandering. Project Lifesaver member agencies have the option to personalize the guide for their agency program.
Contact McGruff Safe Kids team at melissa@mcgruff-safe-kids.com
About McGruff Safe Kids:
McGruff Safe Kids and Plan, Prepare, Share are subsidiaries of McGruff Kits, LLC, an officially licensed company of the National Crime Prevention Council. McGruff Safe Kids develops safety and crime prevention products sold to parents, police departments, sheriffs’ offices, businesses, military installations and educators to promote safety in communities across America. www.mcgruff-safe-kids.com
About Project Lifesaver:
Project Lifesaver is a 501 (C) (3) community based, public safety, non-profit organization that provides law enforcement, fire/rescue, other first responders and caregivers with equipment and training to quickly locate and rescue individuals with cognitive disorders who are prone to the life threatening behavior of wandering, including those with Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, and Down syndrome. To date Project Lifesaver agencies have conducted over 3,777 successful rescues. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for Project Lifesaver clients average 30 minutes — 95% less time than standard operations. Nationwide there are over 1,400 Project Lifesaver agencies throughout 48 states, six provinces in Canada, and Australia.
Project Lifesaver is also a subject matter expert and adviser on the wandering issue for:
- Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s disease (LEAD)
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children,
- International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
- Alzheimer’s Foundation of America
- National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA)
- National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners
- International Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners
To learn more about Project Lifesaver visit:
http://www.projectlifesaver.org
Or contact:
Joseph Salenetri
Assistant Chief, Special Operations
Project Lifesaver International
josephsalenetri@hotmail.com
(609) 672-1441