The Pilot Club of Fort Myers and the Lee County Sheriff’s office introduced a new program this week that helps find people with Alzheimer’s disease who have wandered away from their homes.
Clients in the Project Lifesaver program will wear transmitters on their wrists like watches. Deputies are now getting special training to use the mobile locater tracking system and to deal with lost people who might be frightened and suspicious of strangers. The Pilot Club of Fort Myers paid 7000 dollars for the equipment. President Alison Hussey says the organization focuses on brain-related disorders and injuries.
“Even if one wanders once a year the likelihood of them being recovered in a timely fashion without some injury is not as great. And project lifesaver – if someone wanders with the bracelet they’re usually recovered in less than an hour and it has a 100% success rate.”
Previously, cases of lost patients involved days of searching, and often ended in tragedy. Nationally, the program’s rapid-response teams have been responsible for more than 1000 rescues.
A new tracking program in Lee County targets Alzheimer’s patients who have the propensity to roam. Project Lifesaver consists of a transmitter worn in a bracelet. The Pilot Club of Fort Myers paid for the equipment. The Lee County Sheriff’s office is going through training Tuesday on how to use it and approach the patients when they’re found. Allison Hussey is president of the Pilot Club.
“The patient wears the bracelet, or the tracking device, which emits a signal. And the sheriff’s department then has special equipment to locate where that signal is coming from. They can use a helicopter to help narrow the search and then on-the-ground deputies can then use the equipment in their cars and then on foot.”
Hussey says Project Lifesaver is in 43 states and several countries. The Hendry County sheriff’s office uses it and the Pilot Club of Naples is looking at implementing it in Collier County. It has a 100 percent success rate in finding people, usually in less than an hour.