......and to make matters more embarrasing, they both have Alzheimer's and dementia.....the facility will be fined $2,000.....


......the way the article is written, it seem more like he used his military training to figure out the numbers by the sound....not sure how 'morse code' was used but that is how the article is phrased....



Elderly Couple Use 'Morse Code' to Escape Assisted Living Facility

....An elderly couple in Tennessee briefly escaped from a secure memory care unit at an assisted living facility earlier this year after cracking the code for the electronic door, according to a report on the incident.

The unnamed couple have dementia and Alzheimer's disease respectively. They successfully figured out the door code and walked out of the facility in Lebanon, Tennessee. They were found by a stranger about 30 minutes later and returned to the home. They were not harmed during the short excursion, which occurred on March 2.

The man later explained that he had "previously worked with Morse code in the military" and had used that experience to decipher the code to open the door leave, according to a report from the Tennessee Board For Licensing Health Care Facilities.

The facility in question, Elmcroft of Lebanon, has been fined $2,000 following the incident and has changed all the codes for its exits.

"The safety of our residents is the top priority at our senior living community. We are thankful both residents were returned to the community safely," Elmcroft said in a statement to The Tennessean.

"We reported the situation to the state and their family immediately after it happened and fully cooperated with the state during its review."

The Tennessee Board For Licensing Health Care Facilities' report, published on April 7, described the couple's brief escape from the Elmcroft as an "elopement" and recounted the residents' explanation.

"Resident #1 stated that he was able to listen to the code when staff punched in the numbers and was able to figure out the number for the numeric to exit the memory care unit," the report said.

The man had reportedly "exhibited wandering behaviors" in the past but that was not the case for his wife, whose file "contained no documentation of attempted elopements."

The care facility will now schedule "walking time outside the facility with a staff member present" for the man in order to "decrease these exit-seeking behaviors." His daughter is also taking him out of Elmcroft more regularly.

Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph. It is a method of encoding text in a series of dots and dashes that can be communicated through sound or using light. It was once a common and very important method of transmitting messages but has fallen out of favor in the age of personal telephones and computers. The most famous Morse code sequence is probably SOS, a distress call.


code.....of silence........?!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2021 09:01PM by NewtonMP2100.

Nice!!! maybe they should not be in there in the first place

Newton,
I agree with you on determining the security code by sound, not Morse code.

His skill with Morse Code probably enabled him to decipher the code. He didn't use Morse Code.

That's like saying his ability to speak a foreign language helped him 'break the code'. The article makes no sense.

The man later explained that he had "previously worked with Morse code in the military" and had used that experience to decipher the code to open the door leave, according to a report from the Tennessee Board For Licensing Health Care Facilities.

BS... The door was probably unlocked and someone who is not suffering from dementia is trying to cover their ass. If they were able to figure it out, they do not belong in a memory care unit.

......this article is clearer.....it say they used his experience with military morse code to listen......


Elderly couple uses military Morse Code training to escape Tennessee assisted living facility

.....They listened and listened until the beeps and boops finally made sense.

And then it was time to go.

A husband and wife briefly escaped from a secure memory unit at an assisted living facility in Lebanon last month by using military experience with Morse code to decipher and memorize the code to an electronic door lock, according to Tennessee Department of Health documents obtained through a public records request.

The couple, who have dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, are not identified in the state records. They went missing from Elmcroft of Lebanon for about 30 minutes on March 2 before a stranger found them walking down a road two blocks from the facility, according to the documents.

Once back at the Elmcroft, staff were curious about how the couple had escaped from the facility’s memory unit, which is secured by a locked door with an electronic keypad, documents state.

The man said he “previously worked with Morse code in the military” and was able to use this experience to learn the door code by listening as staff punched numbers into the keypad, documents state.

As a result of the escape, Elmcroft of Lebanon was fined $2,000 by state officials. The assisted living facility told state regulators it will prevent similar incidents by checking on residents more frequently and scheduling the man who escaped for “walking time outside the facility with a staff member present," according to state records.

Elmcroft of Lebanon also changed all its exit codes, according to a statement provided by the company.

"The safety of our residents is the top priority at our senior living community. We are thankful both residents were returned to the community safely," the statement said. "We reported the situation to the state and their family immediately after it happened and fully cooperated with the state during its review."


this article is clearer........?!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2021 09:06PM by NewtonMP2100.

It gives me hope for if/when our daughter locks us away in an assisted living place!

So knock three times?

On the ceiling if you want me.

Twice on the pipes?

Means you ain't gonna show.

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space-time
Nice!!! maybe they should not be in there in the first place

People with dementia can be surprisingly lucid for brief periods, especially in the morning. Every case is different.