Bracelets Save Time, Money And Lives
Wristband transmitters are helping law enforcement officials locate missing Alzheimer’s patients more rapidly and simply, saving lives, time, and money in the process. Florida’s Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Pilot Club of Fort Myers are teaming to provide that technology and introduced Project Lifesaver on April 26.
The typical cost for the sheriff’s office to look for an Alzheimer’s patient is $1,500 an hour. Such patients can now wear the wristband transmitter, which cannot be taken off without cutting it, like a hospital bracelet.
Area law enforcement are outfitted with aerial, vehicle, and handheld tracking devices to detect the signal emitting from the patient’s wristband.
During a demonstration on April 26, Sheriff Mike Scott put on a wristband and pretended to get lost in the nearby neighborhood by driving away and then walking off from his car; deputies located him in under 13 minutes.
The Pilot Club has spent $7,000 for 11 bracelets and a pair of transmitters and earmarked $5,000 to obtain more equipment.
The sheriff’s office has bought three handheld transmitters to begin with and intends to outfit vehicles and helicopters with transmitters.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Fort Myers News-Press (04/27/06) P. 1B; Hill, Angela .
