November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time to heighten awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and show support for the more than 6.2 million Americans living with it.
Sheriff Tim Guider and Chief Deputy Jimmy Davis want to share with you some the ways LCSO is using modern day resources to help families with loved ones living with Alzheimer’s in Loudon County.
Project Lifesaver, overseen by Lieutenent Michael Watkins, is a no-cost tracking solution for loved ones diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer’s that uses radio wave technology and a monitoring bracelet to locate family members who might wander away from their home and become lost due to their disease. This program has proven to dramatically reduce the time it takes to find a person whose disappeared due to this disease ultimately saving lives.
Another way that LCSO is adding more resources to tracking Alzheimer’s patients, is through the addition of our first ever Bloodhound K9 Team. This team, made up of K9 Roscoe and K9 Deputy Brandon Dishner, was a no-cost addition to the sheriffs office through a donation of Roscoe by representatives from the Sevierville Police Department. Along with other community donations and training from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, K9 Roscoe and K9 Deputy Dishner can deploy on tracks to locate missing Alzheimer’s patients, along with other missing individuals such as autistic and missing children. K9 Roscoe provides a tracking solution that is much different than that of our normal multi-purpose patrol K9’s who have a more aggressive tracking approach.
Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that affects many Loudon County Families. At LCSO, we are proud to have programs and resources in place that help bring loved ones who wander home safely.
For more information on our Project Life Saver Program, contact Lt. Michael Watkins at mwatkins@lcsotn.org.
For more information or press photos for K9 Roscoe and his handler, please contact Sgt. Matt Fagiana at mfagiana@lcsotn.org