October 16, 2009

Department adopts 'Project Lifesaver'

       Members of the White River Township Fire Department have spent the past week training in a new search and rescue system called Project Lifesaver.  The primary mission of Project Lifesaver is to provide timely response to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children who wander due to Alzheimer’s, autism, and other related conditions or disorders.  Through special equipment and search techniques, firefighters, law enforcement, and other agencies can better work together to locate a missing individual.  Those individuals enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small LoJack® SafetyNet™ personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that emits an individualized tracking signal.  If an enrolled client goes missing, the caregiver notifies the fire department, and a trained emergency team responds to the wanderer's area.  Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for Project Lifesaver clients average 30 minutes -- 95% less time than standard operations.

         The task of searching for wandering or lost individuals with Alzheimer's, autism, Down syndrome, dementia or other cognitive conditions is a growing and serious responsibility.  Without effective procedures and equipment, searches can involve multiple agencies, hundreds of firefighters and police officers, countless man hours and thousands of dollars.  More importantly, because time is of the essence, every minute lost increases the risk of a tragic outcome.  If you would like more information about Project Lifesaver, contact the department's Public Information Officer at (317) 888-8337 or visit Project Lifesaver online by clicking HERE.  Some photos of firefighters training with the equipment are shown below. 
 

        
(Click on a thumbnail to enlarge photo)
    

---