Bracelet Could Help Sufferers Find Way Home

A few people got momentarily lost on their way to Friday night’s meeting about a program to help Alzheimer’s sufferers who have wandered off.

The invitations said the session would be in the St. Joseph Room when it’s actually the Mother Joseph Room. And, well, Sacred Heart is a pretty big hospital. Once you get going in the wrong direction, it can take a while to realize your mistake.

By the time the featured speaker was introduced, about 15 people were spread out at tables in the conference room adjacent to the hospital cafeteria. Maybe half represented law enforcement agencies.

Nobody had chosen to sit in the row nearest the podium. It was just the sort of setting peppy Oprah wannabes often can’t resist turning into a painful and pointless icebreaking session.

But no one felt the need to force everyone to cluster together, introduce themselves and engage in a touchy-feely fest. There was more important business at hand.

After brief preliminary remarks from others, Karie Trumbo, an Alzheimer’s Association staffer based in Portland, stepped behind the microphone. She gave a short course on Alzheimer’s.

An affliction with no cure, it leaves an estimated 10,000 Eastern Washington residents with memory loss, disorientation, inability to communicate, eroded judgment and drastic mood swings.

Then Trumbo, a competent if not spellbinding speaker, explained the Safe Return program.

Basically, it provides I.D. bracelets and other identification devices for memory-impaired persons. There’s a 24-hour, toll-free phone number linked to a national database.

This is important because when people with Alzheimer’s walk away from their families or caregivers, they are often unable to tell anyone their name or where they live.

Trumbo didn’t project a great deal of emotion. She probably gives similar presentations all the time. And eventually, tears or pleading would start to seem phony.

Besides, it’s a fact of adult life that big issues sometimes get discussed at seemingly sleepy meetings.

But you could tell Trumbo believed what she was saying. You could tell she believed something as simple as an I.D. bracelet could make a huge difference for families with someone who has Alzheimer’s.

“It’s a great program,” she said. “Really.”

If you are interested in finding out more about the Safe Return program or about obtaining pamphlets to display, call the Eastern Washington Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, (509) 483-8456.

, DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that looks at gatherings in the Inland Northwest.