Photo by Boyd Loving
Across North Jersey, police are first to be called to assist seniors
Monday January 14, 2013, 12:11 AM
BY REBECCA D. O’BRIEN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
When 66-year-old Wilbur Primus fell in the bathroom of his Dumont apartment several months ago, local police broke through his locked door to rescue him. In November, Dumont cops twice pushed Primus home after his motorized wheelchair failed him. Another time, it was the local ambulance crew that retrieved him.
“I called the cops, and they sent somebody to get me,” said Primus, who lost his right leg to cancer two years ago and lives alone in a seniors complex. “He got out of his warm car to push me all the way home.”
Primus has resources — friends nearby, a part-time visiting nurse and insurance coverage — but like an increasing number of seniors in Bergen and Passaic counties, he depends on local police when small accidents happen. He is part of a growing population of Americans living longer — well into their 70s and 80s — and living alone.
In Bergen County, 42 percent of residents age 75 and older live alone, according to 2010 census data. In Passaic County, the figure is 41 percent, and statewide it is 44 percent. In some North Jersey towns, the number of seniors age 75 and older living alone increased by 50 percent between 2000 and 2010.
Police are often time the first responders to any kind of med emergency, be it medical, criminal, or a service call for help. Keep cutting their numbers, and response times are going to go up. This is’nt so bad on barking dog, or loud radio calls but if some one is breaking in your house, or beating the hell out you the extra minutes can be critical. With the cops responding to medical emergency’s in most bergen county municipalities it’s easy to see how fast a problem could arise.