On the night of December 25th to 26th, an alert was sent to the phones of several residents of the Lanaudière region. What is this pilot project that has been running for almost a year?
• Also read: SILVER Alert: a new tool to search for seniors
The SILVER Alert pilot project, launched on January 23 and valid for one year, is an initiative of the Ministries of Health and Human Services and Public Safety.
In the three MRCs Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Lanaudière and Centre-du-Québec, sending SILVER notifications will help to find missing people with a severe neurocognitive disorder more quickly, states the Sûreté of Quebec (SQ).
“The SILVER alert is sent to the population via an emergency alert from Québec En Alerte when all trigger criteria are met. “The project will be deployed in the Drummond, Joliette and Vallée-de-l'Or MRCs over a period of one year, from January 23, 2023 to January 23, 2024,” the police website says.
The SILVER Alert was triggered on the night of December 25th to 26th in Lanaudière and aimed to find a septuagenarian who was “disoriented”.
The SQ had reason to fear for his health and safety.
The alarm was lifted just before 4 a.m., nearly three hours after it was triggered.
Since the launch of the pilot, the SQ has been monitoring the effectiveness of sending SILVER notifications before expanding the means of communication across Quebec.