MedicAlert Foundation Joins the Alzheimer's Association to offer MedicAlert® + Alzheimer's Association Safe Return® - Live 24-hour Emergency Response for Wandering and Medical Emergencies

Turlock, CA , November 1, 2007- In a move to improve significantly the safety and well-being of Alzheimer’s patients, MedicAlert, a leader in emergency medical information service, has joined the Alzheimer’s Association a world leader in Alzheimer’s research and support, to offer MedicAlert® + Safe Return®.  Currently, there are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and almost 10 million people caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.   

MedicAlert + Safe Return will provide enhanced services including assistance when a person wanders or is lost and access to vital medical information in time of need.  A call to the MedicAlert + Safe Return hotline will activate a community support network, including the local Alzheimer’s Association Chapters and law enforcement agencies, to help reunite lost persons with their caregiver.  Additionally, once they are found, wanderers often require medical attention.  MedicAlert enables first responders to access the wanderer’s personal health records and quickly treat the individual.

Beginning November 1, 2007, both MedicAlert and the Alzheimer’s Association will begin marketing the new purple colored MedicAlert + Safe Return identification bracelet specifically designed for persons afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. 

In addition, caregivers will also have the option to obtain a “caregiver bracelet or pendant” including all the benefits of the MedicAlert Advantage program.  This caregiver program ensures that in an emergency, first responders are alerted that they are treating a caregiver for a person with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.  Caregivers can easily obtain and update personal information in the system, including medication dosages, allergies, implanted devices, physician and family contacts, insurance information, and advance directives.

"Our enhanced service offerings in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association will empower caregivers, law enforcement, and medical professionals by facilitating instant access to vital medical records in emergencies,” said Martin Kabat, president and chief executive officer of the MedicAlert Foundation.

“The Alzheimer's Association created its Safe Return program 14 years ago, because more than 60 percent of those with Alzheimer’s will wander at some point during the course of the disease,” said Harry Johns, CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association.  “Our new partnership with MedicAlert enhances the proven Safe Return program by enabling first responders to access the wanderer’s personal health records and quickly treat the individual.”

About MedicAlert
MedicAlert Foundation pioneered the first personal health record and medical identification service in 1956 as a way to provide people with a simple but effective method for communicating about their medical conditions.  Since the organization’s founding, MedicAlert has provided services and products that protect and save lives of its 4 million members. For more than 50 years, the organization has relayed vital medical information on behalf of its members to emergency responders so they receive faster and safer treatment. MedicAlert emblems, worn as bracelets, pendants or other forms of jewelry, alert emergency personnel to a member’s primary health conditions. In addition to our 24-hour emergency response service, MedicAlert also provides family notification so that members can be reunited with their families. For more information visit www.medicalert.org

The Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research.  Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.  Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s.  For more information, visit www.alz.org

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