SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Local News

May 19, 2008

Danvers program helps locate missing elderly

DANVERS — A new device that helps police quickly locate residents who have a tendency to wander due to medical conditions such as Alzheimer's disease will be available for the first time here.

Danvers police officers and members of the Danvers Rotary Club will be enrolling residents in Project Lifesaver tomorrow at the Danvers Senior Center. Police Capt. Patrick Ambrose will give a presentation on the program starting at 10 a.m.

"Nationally, it takes up to nine hours to find a missing person, and stats from the Project Lifesaver have basically averaged 22 minutes," Ambrose said.

The program works by assigning each participant a transmitter, which is worn as a bracelet or around the ankle. The transmitter is assigned a frequency which police can search using a radio receiver.

"We dial in and it emits a tone ... and we narrow in on the missing person," Ambrose said.

Ambrose said the program has helped police save almost 1,700 people and has had a 100 percent success rate.

Participants will be asked to sign a $300 lease agreement for the equipment, but the fee will be waived for indigent residents.

"We don't want to deny this to anybody," he said.

A major portion of the funding was provided by the Danvers Rotary Club and a grant from the Rotary Foundation.

For more information, contact Susan Fletcher at 978-777-0001, Ext. 3027.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

North Shore News Updates on Twitter
Stories Shared on Facebook
AP Video
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Comments Tracker