November 26, 2009

Project Lifesaver pays off in search

      Firefighters were prepared when an 82-year-old rural Bargersville man wandered away from home.  They had outfitted the Alzheimer's patient with a tiny transmitter and trained for the scenario a dozen times, trekking through fields and woods to test new tracking equipment.  Bargersville firefighters found the man in the woods near a creek a mile from home after about half an hour, using a portable antenna to hone in on his tracking bracelet. That rescue was the first made using the countywide Project Lifesaver program, which lets firefighters track people with autism, Alzheimer's and other conditions that cause them to wander off.

         Firefighters had looked for Fred Thompson six to 10 times before he was signed up for the program in June. He normally wanders along the streets but cut across a farm field this time since the crops had been harvested, Bargersville firefighter David Porter said.  He had been missing for about 20 minutes before his absence was reported, and a crew of about six firefighters was able to pinpoint his position and find him walking along the creek. Without the technology, the search could have gone on for hours and required an intensive manhunt with help from every other department in the county, Porter said.  Residents who wander off because of brain injuries, dementia or other conditions face risks, such as being struck by cars or being exposed to the elements, Porter said. Tracking someone down quickly is especially important in the winter when a person could succumb to hypothermia in less than half an hour if the temperature drops below zero.

         The Bargersville and White River Township fire departments take part in Project Lifesaver, which is a countywide program that helps public safety workers track people who suffer from disorders that can lead them to wander away from home. They will respond to missing people who have wandered off anywhere in Johnson County.  So far, nine people have been enrolled in the program.  Autism Advocates of Indiana, the Johnson County Autism Support Group and the Johnson County Community Foundation have provided grant money for the program. The fire department needed $5,000 to buy tracking equipment and certify firefighters to train others how to use it. Each tracking device costs $3,000, and each bracelet costs $300, plus $10 a month for batteries and maintenance, Porter said.  The fire department plans to apply for a second round of grant funding and hopes for donations for the program, which uses no tax dollars. The future of the program will depend on private funds, Porter said.  More than 750 diagnosed Alzheimer's patients live in Johnson County, and more than 500 autistic children are enrolled in county schools. The fire department hopes to sign up anyone family members are concerned about, and they don't have to live in the Bargersville fire district, Porter said.  "People with certain conditions can lose track of time and place and just disappear, which is of great concern to their families," he said. "We want to ensure that we can get them all back home safe as quickly as we can. We want to be able to do that without calling in a lot of firefighters from other departments, who have to stand ready for other emergencies."

         About 40 Bargersville and White River Township firefighters are trained to use the tracking equipment. The Johnson County Sheriff's Office directs all emergency calls about missing people who have Project Lifesaver bracelets to those departments, Chief Deputy Doug Cox said.  The sheriff's office also can use a Florida company to call all homes within a certain radius of where the person went missing, to alert residents to be on the lookout, Cox said. The company can make automated calls to residents in a particular area that's picked out based on how long the person has been missing and how far the wanderer might have gone.  Anyone who wants to sign a family member up for Project Lifesaver should call either the Bargersville or White River Township fire department. They will have to fill out a questionnaire with vital information, and then firefighters will give a lightweight bracelet about the size of wristwatch to the person prone to wandering off.  Grant money has been covering all the expenses for families.  See a related story HERE.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 
    

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