In the light of press reports of a woman in her nineties with dementia being tasered by law enforcement officers in Australia, it’s important to talk about what happens when a person with dementia has created a really dangerous situation. 

Only those who were there would know how dangerous this situation was.

There are lots of times when the person with dementia is making a lot of noise, but not necessarily causing a significant risk.  Tensions get high, and people who have had no training in dementia care may be at a loss and decide to do something that is unnecessarily aggressive or violent to try to curtail the escalating situation.  Shouting back or trying to manhandle someone only makes things worse.  Sometimes you can just walk away and leave the situation till the person gets tired or settles down. The behaviour might be because they are frightened, hallucinating, or suffering from a horrible delusion that they are at risk from you.  These things can’t always be talked out but will wear off if the person can be safely left alone for a bit.

Rare occasions where a person is at serous risk

But other rare times the person is at serious risk.  If they are brandishing a very sharp knife or broken glass, they are a risk to themselves, even if no one else in the area is seriously in danger because the older person with dementia is probably frail and could be overpowered if they made an attack.  The dilemma is how to defuse the situation before something horrible happens.  You can’t just leave it.

On the face of it, the reaction in this story was disproportionate, because it left the old lady in hospital. But people who work in dementia care can show you the scars from an unexpected scratch or bite from a frightened and confused resident or patient. People can present a risk.  

Overreacting to those risks has been a long-standing problem.  From my own early days in nursing, I remember an old man being brought to our hospital with a police officer holding on to each of his four limbs, screaming and shouting.  He had dementia and there was no need for that manhandling.

Education key IN understanding how to respond

Fortunately, these days police officers have more education and training in how to handle people with mental distress, confusion, or uncontrolled behaviour.  Working out whether the person is ill or malevolent is a moot point in any incident if the people confronted themselves are afraid and ill prepared for what is often predictable behaviour.  You can find out more about dementia strategies on this website. 

Education is key.