Avon and Somerset Police’s Dementia Safeguarding Scheme is issuing dementia patients in the west of England with NFC wristbands that enable them to be identified and quickly returned to their family or carers should they get lost or go missing.

The wristbands are provided to patients free of charge and enable anyone with an NFC smartphone who finds a lost or missing person to access that person’s name and the details of their next of kin.

“The passive device is not used for tracking and contains non-personal data to ensure the safety of the wearer,” Avon and Somerset Police says.

“Anyone who has an NFC-enabled phone can retrieve information from the wristband, meaning getting someone to safety doesn’t always require intervention by emergency services.”

More than 1,000 wristbands have now been distributed in the Avon and Somerset Police area since the rollout began in September 2020 and “many other forces across the UK and internationally have been in touch with an interest in launching a similar service”.

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