Alzheimer’s Patient Freezes to Death in Canada
Could GPS Tracking System Have Prevented Tragedy?
In Montreal, Canada, an elderly woman’s death by freezing has renewed debate about the legalities and implications behind GPS tracking of dementia patients.
Dozens of police searched for missing Alzheimer’s patient Maria del Carmen Serrano when the 73-year-old wandered from her Montreal home last month, during the first blizzard of the winter. Her body was found three days later, just a few miles away. The woman’s frantic family had warned police that their loved one had a tendency to disappear. Ironically, the woman died in the elements, not far from where her family found her on a previous occasion.
The tragedy is causing many to wonder if some sort of vehicle tracking device, converted into a personal tracker, could have prevented her death. The family said Ms. Serrano often denied having a failing memory and completely rejected the idea of wearing a GPS tracking product, even though many affordable options are available on the market, such as GPS tracking watches, ankle bracelets, waistband units and GPS tracking pendants, worn around the neck.
The question perplexing Canada police authorities, medical experts and sympathetic readers to this sad news event is: At what point should a lawful individual be forced to submit to GPS tracking and surrender their will and privacy?
Certainly a GPS tracking device – if operating properly – would have been an incredible help in the search for Ms. Serrano. But Ms. Serrano refused the GPS tracking technology. Is that the end of the story?
Not exactly. There is a tendency to bring up the “could have” “should have” “would have’s” in an attempt to rewrite history. It will not change the outcome for this woman, but it might others like her.
- Should the family have tried harder, even to the point of forcing Ms. Serrano to wear a GPS tracking system?
- Should police respond with more urgency to the disappearances of people with serious medical conditions?
- Should the government pass laws ordering GPS tracking devices on all people who fall under a certain level of intelligence or physical ability?
- Would government-regulated GPS tracking of the elderly be discrimination based on age? Why not slap a GPS tracking device on every obstinate teen as well?
There are those who would argue that it is inappropriate for government to mandate GPS tracking of the elderly. The opposite side of the argument maintains that it would not be the first time politicians got involved in the rights of the elderly.
A parallel can be seen in senior citizen driving laws.
Anyone who has ever tried to convince an aging parent or grandparent to hang up his car keys due to diminishing driving skills will understand this dilemma. Driving is a freedom few people in any age group will willingly surrender. Driving laws for senior citizens vary by state. Many require elderly drivers to renew their licenses more frequently or take an additional vision exam to prove their driving competency.
Transfer that same line of thinking to Alzheimer’s cases and the GPS tracking issue gets more cloudy. The forgetfulness, for many sufferers, is intermittent. Periods of complete lucidity can be followed by a 180-degree change in mental capacity: the complete loss of short term memory and sense of presence, agitation or depression, withdrawal from human contact and sometimes, the inability to communicate.
If a GPS tracking device were placed on a dementia patient at a time when they could not make informed decisions for themselves; and that individual later regains his cognitive ability and becomes aware of his surroundings, he or she might fight the GPS tracking technology put in place for his or her protection.
Another viewpoint is from the Alzheimer’s Association. There are experts in that national organization that fear GPS tracking might instill a false sense of security. If a person can be quickly tracked on a computer, will family and caregivers cut back on a compassionate level of human care and interaction?
If someone with medical issues needs to be located immediately, the GPS tracking solution of choice is a real-time vehicle tracking system. Real-time tracking systems, also known as “live” GPS tracking, use satellites in space to determine the exact position of the GPS tracking receiver. That data is then transferred via modem over a wireless network to a server which can be accessed over the Internet.
Some real-time GPS tracking devices collect and record location data at regular intervals – seconds or minutes – as long as the GPS tracking receiver is in motion. Other GPS tracking devices are activated by a prompt or a “ping” to collect GPS tracking coordinates.
Potential users should invest a good amount of research in order to choose the best GPS tracking system for their application. Besides the manner in which the GPS tracking device collects data, other variables from product to product are price, engineering and the accuracy of readings. Some people are sold on the GPS tracking unit’s design and purported ease of function, and later discover that the sampling points or position updates are “off” by hundreds or thousands of yards.
The LandAirSea Victoria GPS Tracking System gives GPS tracking readings that are accurate within a few meters.
Whether you feel GPS tracking of the elderly should be government mandated and government funded, or a personal decision made by family, all would agree that we want our elderly relatives to be kept safe. Studies show that, in addition to diminishing physical and mental abilities, old age results in poor risk evaluation and overall decision-making. Medications can affect physical and mental ability as well.
“My brother is schizophrenic,” said Hany Khoury of Montreal, a recent convert to GPS tracking. “Many years ago, when he went missing, we would spend hours looking for him. Now with GPS tracking, most of the time we can find him quickly and easily sitting at our computer and using a Web site operated by the system provider.”
GPS tracking is a practical and affordable way to monitor senior citizens that are prone to wandering. Just how we are to get GPS tracking technology to work on a wide scale in this application is the matter of debate.
Source: The Montreal Gazette, Canwest Publishing
Tags: alzheimer, canada, debate, dementia, freeze, GPS Tracking, tragedy
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