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Morris County Sheriff's Office Offers "Project Lifesaver"Article submitted by Staci Santucci, Esq., of the Morris County Sheriff's Office. The Morris County Sheriff's Office Project Lifesaver program is an electronic tracking rescue service that trains, equips and deploys 1aw enforcement and public safety agencies to assist in locating individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia disorders who may wander from home and become lost due to confusion and memory impairment. The Morris County Sheriff's Office sponsors and administers the Project Lifesaver program, and the Morris County Office on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association's Greater New Jersey Chapter work collaboratively to provide community support and assistance. The Morris County Sheriff's Office Project Lifesaver program is associated with the national Project Lifesaver non-profit organization (www.projectlifesaver.org) headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia. Since the inception of Project Lifesaver, over 1,000 people have been rescued by Project Lifesaver teams nationally. There is a 100% recovery rate and all missing individuals were found alive and returned to their families safely. The Morris County Sheriff's Office Project Lifesaver program provides enhanced support and assistance to Morris County residents who are primary caregivers for an individual with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia disorder. Individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease and related dementia disorder are at risk to becoming lost due to memory and cognitive changes that occur as part of the disease. Participants in the Project Lifesaver program wear a one-ounce battery-operated radio wrist transmitter that emits a tracking signal every second, 24 hours a day. The signal can be tracked on the ground or in the air over several miles. Each wristband has a unique radio frequency enabling the Project Lifesaver team to positively locate and identify a person who has wandered away from home using a specially designed radio receiver. When the transmitter is issued, the Caregiver is trained by a member of the Project Lifesaver team on how the unit and the Program work. Project Lifesaver then develops a schedule for routine maintenance for the wrist band. This close contact with our Project Lifesaver team enables the Participant and the Project Lifesaver team member to become more familiar with each other and their families. If a Project Lifesaver participant should become missing, the Caregiver places a call immediately to 911 to notify the proper authorities. The Project Lifesaver team is then deployed. The Morris County Sheriff's Office works closely with civic groups, corporations, and charitable foundations on local, regional and national levels providing donations and contributions in order to allow participants to benefit from the Program. Currently, the Morris County Sheriff's Office is preparing to expand Project Lifesaver to include children suffering from autism and Down Syndrome. It is the goal for each of our counties to participate in the Project Lifesaver program so as to encourage and allow those affected by dementia and their families to travel more freely and more securely. Should a Participant in the Project Lifesaver program wander while in a county other than their own, the Sheriff's Office in the county where the Participant is registered need only forward the unique code to the county where the Participant was located when they became missing and that county's Sheriff's Office will be able to utilize their Project Lifesaver equipment to locate the missing Participant. Somerset County Sheriff's Office is one of the participating counties and their contact information is listed below. In addition, other counties presently offering the Project Lifesaver program are Atlantic, Bergen, Camden, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Sussex, Union and Warren counties. Berkeley Township and Marlboro Township Police Departments also offer the Project Lifesaver Program. |
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