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 White Plains, NY - Project Lifesaver - a program that uses radio-frequency technology to find seniors with Alzheimer’s disease who wander from their homes - is holding two open enrollment programs this month to jump start the program in the new year.
Through Project Lifesaver, eligible seniors are fitted with bracelets with special batteries. Should they wander away from their homes, specifically trained and equipped police from Westchester County’s Department of Public Safety can find them using radio signals that the bracelets transmit.
The programs will take place Jan. 8 and Jan. 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ElderServe Safe Center for Seniors, 6 Executive Plaza in Yonkers. They are free and open to the public but reservations are required by contacting Melody Keel, program specialist with ElderServe at (914) 368-5506 or at
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The two sessions are being presented by ElderServe in conjunction with the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) and International Project Lifesaver.
County Executive Andy Spano launched Project Lifesaver in August. Twenty-five seniors are now wearing the bracelets, additional candidates are being assessed and about 75 people have called for more information.
So far Project Lifesaver has found the one senior who had been reported missing – a woman with Alzheimer’s, who had wandered away from her home in September. Fortunately, she had been fitted for a bracelet just the week before, and the county police were able to find her a half-mile from her home in about two hours. Without the bracelets, that search could have taken much longer – possibly days. Spano said that Project Lifesaver is essential to ensure the safety of seniors and to try to give some peace of mind to their families. .
“When seniors wander off their families suffer horrible stress and anxiety,” Spano said. “They worry that they may be harmed or that they may never see them again. Ideally, Project Lifesaver gives them a bit of confidence that their nightmares will not come true.”
DSPS Commissioner Mae Carpenter said it is good that the county can offer these bracelets at this time.
“The population is rapidly aging so these bracelets are essential,” Carpenter said. “The need for them will only increase in coming years as the number of adults who experience some form of dementia continues to grow.”
The bracelets are free to the first 100 clients in the program. Additional participants will pay an initial fee of $385 - $300 for the bracelet and $85 for the first year of battery changes. The fee is waived or paid on a sliding scale basis for low-income seniors.
For more information about Project Lifesaver, contact Nancy D’Auria of the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, which administers the program. D’Auria, the project coordinator, can be reached at (914) 368-5506 or at
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. D’Auria said similar programs will take place in February at dates to be announced.
Project Lifesaver’s presence in Westchester is expanding to protect children with autism who wander. Spano announced this new program in December and said the county’s Departments of Community Mental Health and Public Safety would offer the tracking bracelets. The program will be similar to the one for seniors with dementia, and will be run in conjunction with Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS). For more information on the autism program call WJCS at (914) 761-0600, ext. 228.
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