'Minutes matter': Winnipeg police partner with MedicAlert to help find missing vulnerable people

Winnipeg police hope a new partnership will help them quickly reunite people living with autism, Alzheimer's, dementia or a cognitive brain injury who get lost or go missing with their loved ones.

The Winnipeg Police Service has announced a new partnership with the MedicAlert Foundation. The non-profit company's MedicAlert Connect Protect service, which launched in Winnipeg Thursday, gives officers 24-hour access to a photo, identity, past wandering history and other emergency information about registered subscribers found wearing MedicAlert IDs.

"This is an application that really has the potential to provide more real-time information to police and other people that are looking for people that may have wandered or become lost in the community," said Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth at a press conference Thursday.

"That's really important, particularly in a place like Canada and Winnipeg where we're subject to real harsh climates and minutes matter."

Launched in 2015, the MedicAlert Connect Protect service is already in use in several Canadian cities.

Through the program, officers can contact MedicAlert any timeto access information about a subscriber using the identification number found on their MedicAlertID, which is worn on a bracelet.

MedicAlert president and CEORobert Ridgesays the program was used over 500 times last year.

"Today the Winnipeg Police Service is taking the lead in keeping those most vulnerable in Winnipeg safe," Ridge said at Thursday's news conference. "This information will help officers create their search more efficiently, ensuring those who have gone missing are reunited with their loved ones sooner."

Norma Kirkby, program director at the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba, says more than 22,000 Manitobans live with dementia.

"We know that a person with dementia who is lost for an extended amount of time whether it's summer, winter or any type of weather is at great risk of potentially losing their lives," she said.

"This really just enables a better chance of survival."

MedicAlert is signing people up for the program with three registration sessionsthis week at local shopping centres:

• Polo Park Shopping Centre from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday.
• St. Vital Shopping Centre from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.
• Kildonan Place Shopping Centre from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.