SILVER Alert: what to do if a person with Alzheimer’s goes missing

It is the equivalent of the AMBER Alert, but for adults with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The law exists because wandering is part of the illness: its own statement of motives cites the Alzheimer’s Association that 60% of people with dementia have gotten lost at least once. What the law gives you is a deadline and a list of requirements you can prepare in advance.

The alert covers a person diagnosed, by a physician licensed to practice medicine in Puerto Rico, with Alzheimer’s or some type of dementia. Whoever reports may be any citizen, so long as they can accredit the condition and provide the information the law lists.

• A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia.Verified against the official source
• That because of those conditions the person lacks capacity to consent and there is an imminent danger of bodily harm or death.Verified against the official source
• That the Police of Puerto Rico have determined the person meeting those requirements has disappeared.Verified against the official source

• A letter certified by the person’s physician accrediting the Alzheimer’s or dementia condition — or, alternatively, evidence of medications prescribed to treat the condition.
• Name, age, diagnosis, physical description, clothing when last seen, the time last seen, and all other information useful to identify and locate them.

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   Step 1: Have the evidence ready before you need it

   This is the most useful advice in the whole guide. One of the five criteria is that whoever notifies the Police “must accredit that they suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia, by a letter certified by their physician or by presenting evidence of medications prescribed to treat the condition.” These are two alternatives, not two requirements: either one works. Keep a copy of the doctor’s letter or have the prescribed medication bottles at hand.

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   Step 2: Report to the Police: they are the primary agency

   The law says it without ambiguity: “The Police of Puerto Rico shall be the primary agency responsible for operating the Plan and issuing the alert,” in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and Public Works and the Health Department. It is not a filing at Health or the Advocate’s Office: it starts with the Police.

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   Step 3: Six hours is the deadline the law sets

   The alert must issue “within a period of six (6) hours after the last procured sighting of the person reported missing or from receipt of the complaint.” The broadcast article repeats the deadline: alerts must be broadcast within no more than six (6) hours from when the complaint is filed with the Police. That deadline carries an express condition: the alert issues so long as it does not compromise the person’s safety or so long as that is the most appropriate mechanism for the ongoing investigation, as determined.

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   Step 4: The information you must give

   The fifth criterion is a list, and it helps to have it written down: name, age, diagnosis, physical description of the missing person, clothing when last seen, the time last seen, and all other information that may help identify and locate the missing person. The alert will then include the person’s description and the address of the place where they were last seen.

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   Step 5: How the alert sounds and where it shows

   After a distinctive sound, the alert must read: “This is a SILVER Alert for a missing person.” Alerts shall be repeated frequently, following the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines. And in the case of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, electronic signs must be placed on public roads primarily destined for issuing these alerts.

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   Step 6: Media participation is voluntary

   We say this so the expectation is right. The Police “shall notify Puerto Rico’s media and broadcasters of the SILVER Plan’s activation and invite them to participate voluntarily,” and it is the participating media and entities that “shall voluntarily agree to broadcast the alerts.” Any public entity, private company or media outlet may voluntarily join this effort.

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   Step 7: After the alert, the Police keep updating

   It does not end with the broadcast. After the alert issues, it shall be the Police’s duty to supplement and update the information available to participating media and entities. The alerts shall also give the public specific information on how to contact the authorities to help clarify the case. And regardless of whether the case is resolved, the alert may conclude at any time the Police request it.

The Police of Puerto Rico is the primary agency: the complaint is filed there and the alert issues from there. The Police also designate a SILVER Plan coordinating committee that issues the necessary rules, and the Health Secretary is designated to disseminate those rules through informational brochures, conferences, public service messages on stations that voluntarily wish to participate, and non-profit and community-based organizations supporting people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia. If what you need is protection for an older person living in dangerous conditions, that is another guide; if it is abuse or financial exploitation, the complaint goes to the Office of the Advocate for Elderly Persons.

• Arriving without accrediting the condition: you need the physician’s certified letter or evidence of the prescribed medications.
• Going first to Health or the Advocate: the primary agency is the Police.
• Not bringing the time and clothing of the last sighting: they are part of the information the law requires.
• Assuming every outlet will broadcast the alert: media participation is voluntary.
• Assuming the alert always issues: the law conditions it on not endangering the person’s safety.
• Believing the alert ends the case: the Police must keep supplementing and updating the information.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Policía de Puerto Rico

  Policía de PR

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov