Elderly Man Walking Slowly on Road with IV Drip in Heatwave... What Happened?

Dementia Elderly Wandering Streets in Patient Gown
Safely Returned to Family Thanks to Police Vigilance

Thanks to the sharp eyes of a police officer, an elderly dementia patient who left the hospital and got lost was safely returned to their family.

A police officer patrolling spotted an elderly dementia patient walking along the roadside in patient clothing under a heatwave nearing 35 degrees Celsius and safely returned them to their family. [Image source=Captured from the National Police Agency YouTube video]

On the 6th, a video titled "Walking slowly in hospital clothes with an IV drip..." was uploaded to the National Police Agency's YouTube channel. The video showed Mr. A, an elderly man wandering on a road in Yesan-gun, Chungnam Province, around 4 p.m. on the 6th of last month. In the video, Mr. A was walking slowly along the edge of a two-lane road wearing hospital clothes and connected to an IV drip. The temperature that day was close to 35 degrees Celsius, making it a very hot day.

A patrolling police officer spotted Mr. A and, finding his appearance unusual, stopped the car and immediately approached him, asking, "Sir, are you going somewhere?" Mr. A replied, "I have to go home. Home," speaking incoherently. He then repeatedly said, "I have to get home quickly," but was unable to answer any questions about his personal information.

Judging from Mr. A's appearance and the fact that he was receiving an IV drip, the police concluded that he had left the hospital and gotten lost. They returned to the hospital indicated on his hospital clothes. After a long drive, the police arrived at the hospital and were able to safely hand Mr. A over to his waiting family.

One netizen who watched the video commented, "My mother, who has dementia, was helped by the police in a similar situation. She left the house in her pajamas late at night while everyone else was asleep, but thanks to the police's quick response, she returned home safely." Other netizens also responded with comments such as, "If he had stayed out in the heat like that, it could have been a disaster. They saved a life," "There is a reason hospitals put their names on patient gowns," and "If the police had just driven by on patrol, they might have missed him. The officer’s sharp eyes are impressive."