PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — A small white device, with a big mission.
"It gives a sense of peace to the family knowing that there is a little bit of a safety net there, if their loved one was to get out of a house or wherever they were at," said Captain Kevin Griger, Sarpy County Sheriff's Office.
It's called Project Lifesaver. It's a national project created to bring loved ones at risk of wandering, such as those with autism, Alzheimer's or other types of dementia, home, using free wearable technology.
It kicked off in Nebraska, in Sarpy County, in 2008.
"If somebody has been gone over 24 hours, statistically, they could be injured or dead to a much higher degree, so the quicker we can get there with the equipment and find somebody, the safer it is for that person," Griger said.
There are 85 devices currently in service in Sarpy County. Each band has a radio frequency unique to the individual wearing it. It has a two-mile range allowing law enforcement to pinpoint the location, quickly, once notified.
"By pointing the receiver, you know in a direction, you are able to get a directional signal, but we have multiple receivers out, with multiple teams and you triangulate and find the person that way," Griger said.
Griger said the device requires those in the program to be living with family or a caregiver.
"And then, I as the caregiver, would every day go and put the black box against there. It's going to show me a red dot, showing me that 'yes, this is indeed working and that it is giving off the signal that it is supposed to,'" Griger said.
If your loved one goes missing, all you have to do is contact law enforcement, and they will then search their database, for the unique frequency.
"You tune in your receiver just like you do on your car, to like KGOR, or whatever it is, and that is how you find that signal that is beeping," Griger said.
The goal for all agencies, to track down the person who wandered away, is 30 minutes or less.
"We have a cooperation agreement that everybody that is trained goes and helps so there is about 30 different officers that would go and we would start the search immediately," Griger said.
Deputies go and change the battery every 60 days, building connections with those in the program as well.
"They would see a deputy or policeman then they would know it's okay to go up to that person and get help," Griger said.
If you have a loved one you think might benefit from this program, in Sarpy County you can call the Sheriff's office. If you are in Douglas County, Omaha police partners with the Autism Action Partnership which administers the program.
Griger said many other counties across the state have started to implement the program as well.
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