Free track devices for Treasure Coast residents with dementia, autism

A multi-agency search found a missing 86-year-old man with dementia after nearly four days using drone infrared sensors.
Project Lifesaver, a free program, uses radio frequency bracelets to help law enforcement quickly locate missing individuals.
Several Florida counties offer these tracking devices for free through partnerships with local sheriff’s offices and nonprofit organizations.
It took nearly four days and a mutli-agency search to find a missing 86-year-old man with dementia and Parkinson’s disease who got lost on a walk from his Vero Lake Estates area residence Nov. 16.
He was found lying in a wooded area, only discovered after his body heat was picked up by infrared sensors on drones flown by deputies over the pines and saw palmettos less than a mile from his home off Interstate 95 near Fellsmere around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 19.
Despite numerous insect bites and after being treated for possible dehydration he was hospitalized and found to be otherwise uninjured, his family said.
The man was not wearing a Project Lifesaver radio frequency tracking bracelet.
Neither was a 75-year-old man with dementia, who for a second time in three months, had wandered from his Gifford home.
In October when the man went missing while not wearing the frequency bracelet, it took law enforcement “over a day” to find him. Ultimately, he was found safe on the porch of a family member’s residence.
But, when the same man went missing two months earlier while wearing a Project Lifesaver bracelet, he was found in a fraction of the time, concealed in dense vegetation yards from his home.
“That gentleman we found (in) under an hour with the help of Project Lifesaver,” said Lt. Kevin Jaworski. “About a month later (October) … it took over a day to find him.”
Agencies and departments across the Treasure Coast offer the tracking devices for free to family members with loved ones with conditions such as dementia or children with autism.
“For one, it’s an invaluable tool for us because it gives us a place to start,” Jaworski said. “A lot of times, when people wander … away from their residence or a facility … a lot of times we don’t have a starting place.”
The 75-year-old who went missing in September was located by a deputy using the handheld radio frequency finder that picks up on the unique radio frequency emitted by each Project Lifesaver tracking device.
All deputies are trained in using the equipment, which emits a pattern of beeps depending on the proximity to the bracelet or tracking device which is tuned to the frequency of the person’s unique tracking device frequency, Jaworski said.
“It led us right to him,” he said.
Unlike modern GPS devices, radio frequencies are what Jaworski said was a “relatively old technology.”
“It’s reliable, that’s the good thing about it,” he said.
Devices available on Treasure Coast
In Indian River County, the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Association oversees the program.
Although the bracelets, batteries and straps total roughly $400, the organization has since 2005 provided the devices for free to anyone in the county who seeks them for a family member.
The nonprofit has a database of the participants in the program and each person seeking the service is asked to fill out paperwork on their applicants’ medical history.
“If that person goes missing, yes, look around the house, but don’t go out looking for them. You call 911,” said Executive Director Peggy Cunningham. “They can triangulate and find them within 30 minutes.”
She estimated the number of people in the county who use the program to be anywhere from 50 to 70 at any given time.
“For our population it really is mostly those who have dementia,” Cunningham said. “This is one more tool for caregivers so they can feel at ease.”
She said about 60% of those suffering from dementia become lost or have a “wandering experience.”
At St. Lucie County County Sheriff’s Office, Randy Parker, a civilian employee with 45 years in law enforcement has overseen the Project Lifesaver program for about 2.5 years.
While in Indian River County the nonprofit maintains the equipment, Parker said he performs maintenance on the devices, cleaning and replacing batteries in bi-monthly maintenance visits to those registered.
“Today I have 17 appointments,” said Parker in mid-November. On that day, he said he was going to local schools to change out bracelets worn by children with autism.
Then he said he sends a “courtesy text, saying this is what occurred today” to their parents.
For those seeking the devices, he said, “there is no cost.” The agency obtains grants to continue its funding, he said.
“In this day and age with the high-tech GPS systems a lot of clients do both,” Parker said. “(But), GPS is not 100%.”
With radio frequency versus devices susceptible to internet outages or reliant on satellite connectivity, he said, “I will find you.”
“I’ve had three saves in the past year,” Parker said. “We found them within 10 minutes. We were very fortunate, in close proximity.”
Project Lifesaver is headquartered in Port St. Lucie.
Martin County County Sheriff’s Office partners with the Council on Aging at the Kane Center and the Alzheimer’s Community Care.
Community Outreach Manager Trisha Green said the device called SafetyNet, “is the exact same bracelet concept” but is developed and provided by a different company.
The agency has a program called Return Safe, she said, in which residents can voluntarily provide critical information to 911 dispatchers and first responders.
“This information helps them respond more efficiently in emergencies involving individuals with, but not limited to, autism or developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s or dementia, mental health conditions, mobility, hearing, or speech impairments, or any other disability that first responders would need to know about when responding to your residence,” said Green.
How to get a Project Lifesaver bracelet
Indian River County residents wanting to learn more about Project Lifesaver can visit the website of the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association of IRC or call 772-563-0505.
St. Lucie County residents can visit the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office website devoted to its program or call Parker at (772) 871-5303.
Martin County residents can register their loved ones in the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Return Safe Program at its webpage. Green said for more information on obtaining a tracking bracelet residents could reach out to its partner organizations, the Council on Aging or the Alzheimer’s Community Care.
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Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246