The nightmare faced by the Noh family after Shin Noh went missing a month ago could be faced by any family. Wandering is common among people with dementia and could be caused by their desire to relive an experience from their past or simply because they have high levels of energy and are used to walking.
In Coquitlam, the Nohs have done the best they could to organize search parties and have received tremendous help from volunteers when Shin went missing. But the search efforts were hampered by the slow pace of information transmission, with leads sometimes coming too late to be effective. People simply didn't know that Shin went missing and some even thought he was found.
What was needed was a quicker transmission of information, such as a "silver alert," similar to Amber Alert for children. It is available in several U.S. states but not yet in Canada, and has been responsible for numerous success stories, including the location of a woman found 750 miles from her California home.
Our seniors aren't less valuable than children. It's time to start a silver alert program in B.C.
