9 January 2014

To lose Charles Kogan once is unfortunate. To lose him twice is careless.

| johnboy
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charles kogan

ACT Policing is seeking the public’s assistance to help locate a missing elderly man from Ainslie.

The 84-year-old man, Charles Kogan, was last seen leaving his home at 2pm this afternoon (Thursday, 9 January).

He was wearing grey shorts, a grey and red striped top, a black cap, brown shoes and was carrying a clarinet which he may play to passers-by.

Charles is described as 162cm tall (5’4”), with a medium build and olive skin, balding with white hair on the sides.

Charles suffers from Alzheimer’s. If you see Charles please approach him in a friendly manner.

Anyone who has seen Charles or knows his location is asked to call police on 131-444.

[Courtesy ACT Policing, Charles 2013 adventure is still available]


UPDATE: Police Media report Charles has been found alive and well.

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As Jivrashia said last time Charles went missing and it went up on RA in May 2013 (ya’ll saw the link above right, and that that’s what the headline is referencing?), and c_c touched on this time, a GPS tracker could be useful here. Think something like Ollo Mobile’s “Safe Path” system?

housebound said :

The family is only human – maybe there was only one carer at home that day and they were totally exhausted and let their vigilance slip for only a moment. Maybe there were more, but Charles outsmarted them all at this time. Charles’ wanderings doesn’t make them careless. The whole incident probably made them frantic, with police, family, friends looking for him, and even the bus drivers are asked to keep a lookout. It’s a really horrible experience.

I’m with Masquara. Once upon a time, Charles would have been safe to wander around his village and the family (who probably would have been closely related to at least half the village) would have had most of the village to keep an eye out for him. Alas, those days disappeared from western society with mass urbanisation.

Maybe we can double up on the use of the new dog trucks and make our investment more worthwhile.

The headline is playing with Oscar Wilde:

‘To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.’

🙂

Buzz20 said :

“To lose Charles Kogan once is unfortunate. To lose him twice is careless.”

Please be a little bit more sensitive and show some compassion! Caring for a person with dementia is incredibly tough.

Oh for goodness sake! Can someone tell me how losing all sense of humour is useful when caring for someone with dementia?

Having been there myself, I must admit the title was apt and made me chuckle. I like to think my late father would have laughed at it too.

There aren’t half some professional whiners about.

The family is only human – maybe there was only one carer at home that day and they were totally exhausted and let their vigilance slip for only a moment. Maybe there were more, but Charles outsmarted them all at this time. Charles’ wanderings doesn’t make them careless. The whole incident probably made them frantic, with police, family, friends looking for him, and even the bus drivers are asked to keep a lookout. It’s a really horrible experience.

I’m with Masquara. Once upon a time, Charles would have been safe to wander around his village and the family (who probably would have been closely related to at least half the village) would have had most of the village to keep an eye out for him. Alas, those days disappeared from western society with mass urbanisation.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

IrishPete said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Him escaping from a nursing home is pure incompetence. My family went through a similar thing recently. Not enough staff and the old girl got out many times.

It didn’t say nursing home, CGN, not on either occasion. It said home.

IP

Well then that is even worse. If family cannot look after him, he needs to be in a nursing home. Where he can escape on weekends due to lack of staff and unlocked doors.

Well recovered. Far less threatening to your self-esteem than an admission you were wrong and an apology. What was it you just called Masquara?

IP

Masquara said :

Such a shame people with dementia can’t be free to roam. There was a lovely old guy with dementia in an inner north suburb a few years ago, who still lived at home. He was allowed to go out for a walk quite often, would usually get lost, and would knock on a random door and ask for help. His wife had put an identifying bracelet on his wrist, so it was easy to get him home. I helped him home several times.

Would you let a young child or beloved pet roam the streets?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd12:36 am 10 Jan 14

Masquara said :

Such a shame people with dementia can’t be free to roam. There was a lovely old guy with dementia in an inner north suburb a few years ago, who still lived at home. He was allowed to go out for a walk quite often, would usually get lost, and would knock on a random door and ask for help. His wife had put an identifying bracelet on his wrist, so it was easy to get him home. I helped him home several times.

You are insane…

Let’s advocate for all dementia peeps to roam free. Knock on random doors, get robbed by scum or even worse get run down by cars.

Insane. Fringe. Moron.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd12:33 am 10 Jan 14

IrishPete said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Him escaping from a nursing home is pure incompetence. My family went through a similar thing recently. Not enough staff and the old girl got out many times.

It didn’t say nursing home, CGN, not on either occasion. It said home.

IP

Well then that is even worse. If family cannot look after him, he needs to be in a nursing home. Where he can escape on weekends due to lack of staff and unlocked doors.

Such a shame people with dementia can’t be free to roam. There was a lovely old guy with dementia in an inner north suburb a few years ago, who still lived at home. He was allowed to go out for a walk quite often, would usually get lost, and would knock on a random door and ask for help. His wife had put an identifying bracelet on his wrist, so it was easy to get him home. I helped him home several times.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Him escaping from a nursing home is pure incompetence. My family went through a similar thing recently. Not enough staff and the old girl got out many times.

It didn’t say nursing home, CGN, not on either occasion. It said home.

IP

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Him escaping from a nursing home is pure incompetence. My family went through a similar thing recently. Not enough staff and the old girl got out many times.

My Dad has younger onset dementia. Physically he’s not too bad, so at first glance, he looks like anybody else visiting an elderly parent in a nursing home and easily follows other visitors out the front door. A lack of awareness from other visitors provides plenty of opportunity. Sure its easy to blame incompetence and sometimes it is nothing other than that, but often its simply sheer doggedness and determination from people like my Dad. Inadequate resourcing clearly exacerbates it but who’s willing to give up other services to improve funding for aged care? We can’t afford to pay more ourselves right now. There are no easy answers.

Whilst there are lots of things that can be done to reduce the risk, no system is fool proof (we tried smart phones with tracking apps and other GPS devices but he just threw them away – it cost a bomb!).

I’m glad to hear Charles has been found safe and well.

Any one know if he played any tunes or his favourite genre?

Excellent news.

Raf said :

It’s an incredibly insensitive headline Johnboy.

No it isn’t. Believe me I know the pressures on carers of dementia sufferers. But there are steps you can and should take to make sure someone who has a history of walking off doesn’t get lost. Easiest way is to make sure they have a cellular GPS tracker. there are some specialist devices, or even just a DIY rig with an iPhone and iCloud or equiv.

Really hope this has a good outcome none the less

Queen_of_the_Bun8:09 pm 09 Jan 14

This headline is as sensitive as the Sunday Tele’s effort last weekend: “Bali belly kills mum, daughter”.

Abhorrent.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd7:55 pm 09 Jan 14

Him escaping from a nursing home is pure incompetence. My family went through a similar thing recently. Not enough staff and the old girl got out many times.

A short cap-wearing clarinet playing octogenarian. That’s rather sweet. I hope they find him well.

IP

What Buzz20 said + 1

Dealing with a dementia patient is incredibly tough – terrible for the patient , heartbreaking for their loved ones. Before his passing my Dad , suffering from Alzheimer’s, wandered from his hospital room many times – once into the operating theatre – it was in use.

As a carer you sleep with one eye open and you are always vigilant but sometimes that is not enough.

It’s an incredibly insensitive headline Johnboy.

I hope Mr Kogan is found quickly, especially before nightfall, or it will be a terrible night for his family and a very confusing and distressing night for him.

Charles has been found safe and well.

“To lose Charles Kogan once is unfortunate. To lose him twice is careless.”

Please be a little bit more sensitive and show some compassion! Caring for a person with dementia is incredibly tough. They often have challenging behaviours and can be difficult to deal with. Disappearing is incredibly common. My Dad has dementia and despite being unable to remember our names, feed or wash himself or tell you where he lived – he still managed to get into a small safe and steal the car keys, climb a 6ft fence and drive over 150kms. He managed to ‘break out’ while his carer was taking a quick loo break (careless do you think?). Thankfully he didn’t kill or hurt himself or anybody else.

Even now, he lives in a nursing home and is a well known frequent escapee.

Watching a loved one deteriorate with such a horrible disease is really distressing for family and friends. Carer’s facing a difficult time in looking after their loved one, and coping with the pressure of terrible disease. Its a tough job and often with insufficient care and support themselves.

My heart goes out to Charles’ carer and his family. I hope he is found safe and well. Our family has been there many times before and my heart breaks knowing the despair you must be feeling.

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