Pendant helped find missing patient

An electronic tracking pendant helped find an elderly woman who wandered off from a Rotorua rest home yesterday.

Staff from the inner-city home searched for the 76-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer for about half an hour after she went missing about 1.30pm.

They were unable to find her despite their best efforts and called police about 2pm, Detective Sergeant John Wilson of Rotorua police said.

The woman had recently been given a tracking pendant, one of about 55 issued in the Rotorua area.

Several police search and rescue squad members equipped with direction finding units took part in the search.

Mr Wilson said it took only a few minutes to narrow down the search area once the signal from her pendant had been picked up.

The woman was found safe inside a Western Heights address, about 4km from the rest home, at 4pm.

One of the searchers said the search would most likely have been long, unsuccessful and resource-intensive without the tracking equipment.

Mr Wilson said the outcome clearly showed the value of the technology.

Most tracking pendants in the Rotorua area have been issued to dementia sufferers, with a few to children with special needs.

- NZPA