Alzheimer Stories

[Richard B the EMT]

Another string mentions an elderly female, covered in 2 days worth of her excrement, asking if she has enough time to put on her makeup before transport to the ER.

In 1999, I had an Alzheimer's patient, found in the middle of a roadway, in a section of the Gateway National Recreation Area, several miles from habitation, couldn't tell us how she got there, possibly walked over 5 miles, at 2 in the AM. She could tell us her name, but not her address.

As a test to determine how good her mental processing was, I engaged her in conversation, asking if she liked the way my partner and I were treating her. She enjoyed the attention from us, the NYPD and the Federal Park Police, all on the scene.

I then asked her if she would write a letter to the department, complimenting us for our work with her. She said she would write a letter to the mayor.

The only problem was, she was going to write to Mayor John V. Lindsey, NYC Mayor back in the mid to late 1960s, and at the time of the incident, already deceased for at least a decade!

She was transported without incident to the nearest appropriate psych facility for further evaluation.