Having an emergency is stressful to begin with, but having a situation that requires first responders just adds to the anxiety. Now imagine if you were caring for someone with an intellectual or developmental disability, cognitive impairment or serious medical condition.
People with any kind of disability or impairment often need a different kind of response for their needs.
How are first responders supposed to know that someone with dementia may not comprehend what they are saying or an older autistic adult displaying behaviors is upset by the confusion and does not know how to express their fear?
Special Needs Registries
Special Needs Registries are typically housed at the county sheriff’s office and are used by law enforcement and first responders with vital information regarding a registrant’s disability, emergency contact information, a physical description and may include a current photograph of the registrant.
The registry is open to any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities due to a physical and/or intellectual disability. This includes a wide swath of conditions such as cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, cognitive or degenerative diseases in addition to intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In Monmouth County, any person who lives, works, or goes to school in Monmouth County and has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities due to a physical and/or intellectual disability is eligible to register. The Ocean County Special Needs Registry is available to all citizens with special needs who reside, attend school or are employed in Ocean County.
“This collaborative effort is designed to assist our law enforcement officers and first responders with critical knowledge regarding impending interaction with citizens of the communities they serve,” said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. “The more our officers and first responders know on their way to a call or on a motor vehicle stop the higher the likelihood is of a more positive interaction – for the officer and for the citizen,”
The registry, which is confidential to the Sheriff’s Office and only accessible by first responders during an emergency, includes registrant’s personal identifiers such as their name, address, date of birth, height, weight, their emergency contact information, some details about their special needs and a recent photo. Registrants can add additional details about their condition if they choose.
Special Needs registration can be done at the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office or local police departments.
Blue Envelope Program
A new initiative called the Blue Envelope Program to help individuals on the autism spectrum while at a traffic stop was unveiled by the Monmouth County Police Chiefs Association in April 2023.
“Every individual on the autism spectrum deserves an opportunity to succeed in life,” said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden. “It’s our job to assist them during their journey, to teach them that first responders support them and will help bring them closer to all that they can accomplish.”
The program issues a blue envelope to individuals who enroll. The driver will keep their motor vehicle documents, such as driver’s license, vehicle registration, vehicle insurance, and an emergency contact card inside the special blue envelope.
The outside of the blue envelope contains instructions for the driver, like keeping hands on the wheel, the officer may shine their flashlight in the car and the police car may have flashing lights. If a driver with autism gets pulled over, the driver hands the blue envelope to the officer.
On the reverse side of the envelope, it reminds the officers of their special needs training, such simplifying requests, adjusting their approach and if the driver becomes upset contact a person on the emergency contact card. A check-off box will indicate whether the driver is verbal or nonverbal.
To obtain the Blue Envelope, the participant must register for the Special Needs Registry.
Gold Star Travel Program
Another safety program for Home Care Monmouth County seniors is the Gold Star Senior Travel Card. For this program, seniors fill out a card with their name, address, telephone numbers, whom to contact in an emergency, allergies to medications, medications they currently take and physician’s telephone number. The card is placed in a card carrier and then placed in the glove box of their car. A “gold star” is then affixed to the rear windshield of the car. Should the driver of the car become ill or disabled, first responders can look in the glove box and find important information about the person, as well as whom to contact if the person is not conscious when responders arrive.
A smaller, wallet-sized version of this card is called the Gold Star Medi-File.
Ident-Adult
Ident-Adult is an emergency identification card provided by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, specifically for senior citizens. The card contains the senior’s name, address, telephone number, whom to contact in a medical emergency, doctor’s name and phone number, illnesses, and allergies. Should a senior become incapacitated by sudden illness and cannot speak or remember, the Ident-Adult card can speak for the cardholder, providing vital contact and medical information.
Project Lifesaver for Elopement & Wandering
There is a specific program available for individuals that elope or wander from their familiar, safe places.
Elopement, a fancy term for running away or purposely leaving somewhere unnoticed and unsupervised to fill a need, is a relatively common problem for individuals diagnosed with dementia and intellectual disabilities. Individuals with autism and those who have more significant intellectual and communication deficits may be more likely to elope.
Half of all persons with autism over the age of 4 have attempted to elope at least once and 24% of elopements were in danger of drowning and 65% were in danger of traffic injury, according to the National Institute of Health. The risk of elopement increases with the severity of autism.
Elopement is very different from wandering. Wandering is when someone leaves a safe area or a responsible caregiver, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Most times they have no concept of their personal safety A person living with dementia is likely to wander or become lost or confused about their location at some point, even in the early stages of the disease. Six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once; many do so repeatedly, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Elopers and wanderers can both be chronic offenders, repeating their behaviors.
These intentional or unintentional escapes from safe places are not just limited to people with autism or dementia. Individuals with Down Syndrome, stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, head injuries or psychological diagnosis have been documented wandering or eloping.
The Project Lifesaver Program uses radio signals to track people with autism and Alzheimer’s disease when they wander and become missing. A specialized group of Project Lifesaver sheriff’s officers respond to emergency calls involving persons with dementia, autism, Downs Syndrome or other conditions that make it difficult to find their way back to safety after wandering away or elopement.
A program participant wears a battery-powered bracelet that emits a radio-tracking signal 24 hours a day and weighs about one ounce. When police receive a call about a missing person enrolled in the program, Project Lifesaver officers activate a receiver that picks up the unique radio frequency emitted by the bracelet to locate the missing person effectively and safely in minutes, not hours or days.
Fifteen minutes is the average search time in Monmouth County once a call is received, which is half of the national search time of 30 minutes. “As long as we get boots on the ground in the first five minutes, as soon as we flip on the receiver we can tell where the person is and how far away they are,” said Monmouth County Sheriff’s Officer Patrick Luke, who runs the Project Lifesaver program for the county.
Bracelets have a battery life of about 60 days and the device does not need to be removed for charging. The sheriff’s office takes on the responsibility of maintaining the equipment, changing the battery and ensuring that it works properly, said Luke.
The bracelet can send a signal that is picked up from about four miles away on foot or seven miles by air.
There are 1,600 member agencies from all 50 states and some Canadian providences that participate in the program. Participant information can be transferred from state to state for snowbirds.
To enroll seniors over age 60 with any form of dementia or their caregiver can call:
- Monmouth County Office on Aging at 732-308-3770, ext. 8780 to review the eligibility requirements and ask to be sent an application for the Project Lifesaver tracking bracelet. All others may call the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office at 732-431-6400 ext. 1129.
- Ocean County, please call 732-557-4427 for information and an application.
- Mercer County residents should call the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office at 609-989-6109.
