Elopement (or wandering) can happen to any nursing home patient.  In recent news, a 70-year-old man in a bike race in Rochester, N.Y. suddenly went missing. The man suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and could not function due to a weak cognitive function. Luckily he was found alive and in good health.

What is elopement?
The American Health Care Association states “elopement occurs when a resident leaves the nursing home without authorization or appropriate supervision, according to federal regulations.” Researchers from the International Research Consortium on Wandering found that 1 in 5 patients were prone to walk aimlessly through nursing home centers. Repertoiremag.com reported that 50 percent of nursing home residents suffer from sort of dementia. These situations put the patient, who is cognitively impaired, at a serious health risk. Here are some things to consider to make sure nursing homes can care for these types of residents:

• The nursing home has a good staff per resident ratio

• The nursing home staff is properly trained to supervise residents

• The nursing home installed alarms and other safety devices to prevent elopement

Project Lifesaver is an organization that fights to find your loved ones who’ve wandered. Citizens enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear small personal transmitters around their wrists or ankles that emit an individualized tracking signal. Once missing, the caregiver notifies their local Project Lifesaver agency, and a trained emergency team responds to the wanderer's area. Most are found within a few miles from home, and search times are an average of 30 minutes. Nationwide, more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies are members of Project Lifesaver, nearly 2,000 successful searches have been made to date, and they have a 100 percent success rate.

Without these important factors in place, your family and friends may be subject to elopement from the nursing home. This can lead to:

• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Exposure to harsh heat or cold climate
• Patient vanishes

At The Rasansky Law Firm, we are committed to being a champion for nursing home rights. If you feel that a loved one eloped due to nursing home negligence, do not hesitate to fill out our free case evaluation form. Or, you can us at 1-800 ATTORNEY (288-6763) or (214) 747 - HELP (4357). Our team will gladly review the facts of your situation.