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 White Plains, NY - A 76-year-old Yonkers woman with Alzheimer’s disease who recently wandered off and wasn’t found for more than a day has become the first beneficiary of Westchester County’s new mobile tracking system for missing persons.
The pilot Project Lifesaver program announced by County Executive Andy Spano will give transmitter bracelets to 100 local seniors who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and are prone to wandering. Should the person become lost, specially trained and equipped county police officers can locate them using a radio signal transmitted from the bracelets.
“It’s hard enough for families and caregivers to cope with their loved ones having Alzheimer’s disease. Their greatest nightmare is having them wander off and get lost - not knowing if they’ll ever see them again,” Spano said. “We’ve all heard heart-breaking stories about someone who disappears and isn’t found for days or weeks. This program will make it much easier to locate them and, at the same time, give caregivers some much needed peace of mind.”
At first glance, the searching process looks a little bizarre: A police officer walks slowly down the street holding out a rather primitive-looking wire contraption that looks like a large TV antenna. However, the equipment, which communicates using beep tones, actually uses very advanced technology to zero in on a person wearing one of the personalized bracelets. The bracelets can be located within a one-mile radius during a ground search. If the searching device is used in a helicopter, the radius extends up to five to seven miles.
“The device looks deceivingly simple but in fact it has the power to change lives,” Spano said. “There is no question this technology will significantly enhance the quality of life for families caring for elderly people who suffer from dementia.”
To launch the program, the county’s Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) and the Department of Public Safety partnered with Hebrew Home at Riverdale and Project Lifesaver International, a national non-profit organization that provides training and equipment and promotes the use of radio technology to track lost or missing persons. Project Lifesaver has also been used successfully elsewhere in the country with children with autism and Down syndrome.
“We are thrilled to bring this wonderful program to Westchester,” said DSPS Commissioner Mae Carpenter. “Not only does the technology help to ensure the safety of missing seniors, but it gives some relief to the caregivers who can be easily overwhelmed by their 24-hour-a-day responsibilities.”
She noted that people 85 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the county’s senior population. “As our population ages, the number who will experience some form of dementia will also increase,” she said.
Carpenter added that Project Lifesaver also increases recognition of Westchester as a “Livable Community” where people can continue to live in their homes and communities as they age.
The Yonkers woman who made news headlines a week ago when she vanished from a city YMCA was found the next day on the porch of a home in Tarrytown, 13 miles away. She was dripping wet from the rain and was apparently just trying to find her way home. It was the second time in three months she had wandered off. DSPS representatives recently contacted her daughter and made arrangements for the older woman to join the pilot project. The bracelet was put on last Thursday.
The woman’s daughter, Christine Chestnut, said her mother feels bad about making the family worry so much and was willing to wear the bracelet if it would help the police find her if she ever goes missing again.
“I still can’t sleep at night but I do feel better knowing that if it does happen again she would be found more quickly and I wouldn’t be left wondering where she is,” said Chestnut, who waited more than 30 hours for word of her mother.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that as many as 22,000 Westchester residents who are 65 or older suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. However program participants must meet certain criteria: they must be Westchester residents, dependent upon the person they live with and have a history of wandering. It is not open to seniors who live in nursing homes or similar facilities because such places have their own safeguards.
The county will outreach to caregivers and agencies throughout Westchester so all 100 bracelets in the pilot program will be in use by the end of the year. So far six people have received bracelets and about 10 additional candidates are being assessed.
The Hebrew Home in Riverdale will administer the program.
“We are delighted to partner with Westchester County on this vitally important program,” said Daniel Reingold, president and chief executive of the Hebrew Home. “Project Lifesaver will make an enormous improvement in the lives of the many families caring for elderly relatives who suffer from dementia.”
The process starts when a Hebrew Home representative meets with any prospective clients and their caregivers in their homes. The client’s picture will be taken and information collected for a personal profile. Typical questions would be about their likes and dislikes, the language they speak, their nickname, if they wear eyeglasses, use a hearing aid or cane or have distinguishing features, such as a limp.
If deemed appropriate for the program, the client will get a wrist bracelet with a small battery-operated transmitter that emits an automatic tracking signal every second. Clients are assigned a specific radio frequency that can be used to track them in an emergency and the caregiver is given a card that contains the frequency code. The county police will maintain a database of all Project Lifesaver clients, their frequency code and other identifying information, including the photograph. The families will also get a how-to instruction sheet and a fact sheet about the overall Project Lifesaver program.
“This technology will assist police officers in finding people in the most timely way possible to return them safely to their homes and families,” said Police Commissioner Tom Belfiore. “Project Lifesaver is a great resource for caregivers and families that are coping with so much.”
Caregivers are required to check the bracelet’s battery every day to ensure it is working. Every 30 days, staff from Hebrew Home will change the band and battery at various adult day care centers in the county. For now, clients must be brought to Our Place ElderServe in Yonkers, an adult day care center run by the Hebrew Home. Other sites will be designated as the program moves forward.
In the event that a Project Lifesaver client wanders away from a caregiver, the following would occur:
The caregiver would contact the local police department, which begins an immediate search;
The local police would contact the county police, which would deploy specially trained officers and the
tracking equipment to the area where the missing person was last seen;
The frequency assigned to the bracelet of the missing person would be entered into a hand-held device that is connected to a radio antenna. Officers on the ground would begin tracking the radio signal in the effort to locate the person.
The county police helicopter could also be deployed to assist in the search. The transmitter in the wrist bracelet can be tracked from the air for a radius of six to seven miles.
According to Project Lifesaver officials, the technology has been used successfully in more than 1,000 searches. On average, it takes 30 minutes to safely recover the person who is being sought.
The initial cost for training and equipment is $54,440. The final cost will depend on whether any searches are conducted and how many. An additional $25,000 federal grant will pay for Hebrew Home’s administration of the program.
The bracelets are free to the first 100 clients in this pilot program. Additional people who enter the program will pay an initial fee of $385 - $300 for the bracelet and $85 for the first year of battery changes. Depending on the senior’s income, that fee would be waived or paid on a sliding-scale basis.
Depending on a positive review of the pilot program, the county plans to expand it to autistic children in 2009.
Caregivers who are interested in obtaining bracelets should contact Nancy D’Auria, project coordinator, at (914) 683-7530 or
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for more information.
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