Register to help lost, families

POLICE are urging the family and carers of people with a cognitive impairment to sign up to a new register to help ease the suffering in lost person cases.
Impairments such as autism, intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injury and dementia often affect a person’s ability to understand and process information.
There have been many recent cases where people with these disabilities have become lost and could not remember where they lived or who they were, making it difficult for police to locate their addresses.
Cranbourne Leading Senior Constable Peter Pryce-Lewis said by registering the name of someone at risk of becoming lost and attaching their photo, police could easily identify that person and notify their family or nursing home of their whereabouts within minutes.
Leading Sen Const Pryce-Lewis said recently a local 17-year-old boy with autism woke up at night and could not find his mum.
Police were notified after he turned up at a house two kilometres away, and said he was very agitated and scared by the time police could determine who he was.
“Especially people with dementia or people who come from non-English speaking countries and suddenly forget English … it makes it very difficult,” Leading Sen Const Pryce-Lewis said.
“With this register we could find their next of kin straight away.”
Leading Sen Const Pryce-Lewis said he had already been around to local retirement homes to inform them about the register and they thought it was a great idea.
“If it saves even a bit of grief then it will be good value,” he said.
Details on the register will be held for two years and then must be updated.
Any inquiries can be made to Leading Sen Const Pryce-Lewis at Cranbourne Police Station on 5991 0600.