SUDBURY – A wooded area next to Lasalle Boulevard in Sudbury saw Police, Search and Rescue, EMS, and Fie Services in large number on October 25.
Crews spent the morning conducting a mock search for a vulnerable person who had gone missing.
"A person with early onset of Alzheimer's walked away into the bush here and our search team had to respond to that," said Inspector Dan Despatie, Greater Sudbury Police Services.
It's all in preparation for when this scenario turns into a real life situation, something that happens quite often in the city.
"They say approximately 60% of persons living with dementia will go missing during the span of their disease and just in the past three weeks, we've had three clients who have had to us GSPS who have gone missing," explained Jessica Bertuzzi, Alzheimer Society.
Bertuzzi says those clients were all found safe.
While caregivers and family members can't predict when a person with person with Alzheimer's or Dementia will go missing, they say there are steps thay can take to be proactive.
"There is the vulnerable persons registry with Greater Sudbury Police that we ask our clients to register with, and there's also technology called Project Life Saver through GSPS and North Shore Search and Rescue that we recommend to our clients who are a little more prone to having gone missing," added Bertuzzi.
Police say time is crucial when it comes to reporting someone missing, especially if they are vulnerable or if there is inclement weather.
They say the best thing to do is call 911 first and then you can start searching places you think they might be.
