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Keeping Us Safe, a national organization based in Cleveland, Ohio has unveiled its newest educational program titled “Driving Under the Influence of Dementia”. This continuing education program is being made available to law enforcement agencies nationwide, and will be available to them at no cost.

Keeping Us Safe provides services to America’s senior drivers and to their families. Keeping Us Safe also provides continuing education programs to nurses, social workers and other geriatric professionals on the topic of the older driver.

Matt Gurwell, Founder & CEO of Keeping Us Safe, retired from the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 2005 as an Assistant District Commander. Gurwell explains that “On a daily basis, officers from across the country are faced with the challenges older drivers with diminishing skills can present. As a retired Trooper, I see this as one way Keeping us Safe can give back not only to law enforcement, but also to the communities they serve”.

This continuing education program has been developed specifically for the law enforcement community. Keeping Us Safe has exercised due diligence to make sure this program is properly tailored to the unique needs of the law enforcement community. The program includes such topics as:

• What role does Alzheimer’s Disease and/or dementia play in the older driver?
• How do I know if an older driver is suffering from cognitive loss as a result of the aging process?
• What can I do with the driver I have come across that should not be driving, either because of diminished physical skills or because of cognitive decline?
• What resources are available to families in our community that are concerned about an older driver’s safe driving abilities?
• As an agency, how can we minimize our liability as it relates to age-related driver contacts?

When asked what the ultimate motivation was for starting Keeping Us Safe, Gurwell explains "There was never one particular event. It was the result of 20-plus years of holding dying people in my arms at terrible car accidents, and delivering dozens of death notifications to families. I would much rather work with families to bring a peaceful resolve to this sensitive and uncomfortable issue now, rather than have them deal with it when a State Trooper is knocking on their front door".

Gurwell adds that the scheduling of these sessions will be coordinated with other training opportunities in your area. Many of the actual training sessions will be conducted by Keeping Us Safe’s team of Certified “Beyond Driving with Dignity” Professionals, who are now deployed throughout the country.

More information on this continuing education program for law enforcement is available at:
http://keepingussafe.org/drivingundertheinfluenceofdementia.htm


More information on the “Beyond Driving with Dignity” Professional Certification program is available at:
http://keepingussafe.org/linked/brochurebddprofessionalcertification020712.pdf

One Comment

  1. Gravatar for Marvin E. Hill
    Marvin E. Hill

    I would love to receive the training. I am a certified OPOTA special needs instructor. This would be great additional info to teach students at KSU Police Academy. My cell is 330 646-1400. Great Program sir. God Bless, Marv

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