OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Oshkosh Police officials say a new program will help them search for missing high-risk persons.
Project Lifesaver uses tracking equipment to help law enforcement find individuals who have wandered away home that are suffering from conditions like dementia, Alzheimer’s, or autism.
When a client is signed up for the program, officers enter that person’s information into a database. The client is assigned a radio frequency and given a wristband that contains a tracking device.
If a person is reported missing, officers pull up the database to get frequency information and deploy a search team to the location the client was last seen.
Once on scene, officers use mobile locators that sound when it is pointed in the direction of the missing individual.
Sergeant Todd Wrage says 100% of the 3,200 searches conducted through Project Lifesaver nationwide since it was implemented in 1999 have been successful.
He notes the average recovery time is 30 minutes.
While the client’s caregiver is given a device to test the wristband on a daily basis, Oshkosh Police will also make monthly visits to each participant’s home to ensure the equipment is functioning properly.
Wrage says a few officers are already trained in this type of search operation and notes the plan is to train 40-50 others. Recertification is required every other year.
Police Chief Dean Smith notes a few incidents that led to his desire of bringing Project Lifesaver to Oshkosh.
At his previous job in Virginia, Smith says an elderly woman with dementia went missing from her home one night. A full search turned up nothing until she was found dead in a ditch the next morning.
Smith says that woman’s life would have likely been saved if Project Lifesaver was in place.
Closer to home, Smith says an Oshkosh woman with dementia wandered away from home this past year. He says civilians, who were not aware she was missing, found her kneeling on a set of train tracks and called police.
Smith notes close calls like that can be avoided due to the typically prompt recovery time.
He also says that the bands are water resistant and can be tracked up to 27 feet underwater.
People can register an at-risk loved one for Project Lifesaver by contacting Sgt. Wrage at 920-236-5757.
Wrage says there is a one-time $300 cost for the transmitter, in addition to an annual $25 maintenance fee.
The program cost roughly $7,000 to implement, but Wrage says that total was covered by the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.
Wrage notes Project Lifesaver is only open to Oshkosh residents but hopes other communities will sign on to the program.
While he is unsure how many Wisconsin agencies have Project Lifesaver, Wrage says the closest agencies that currently have the program are Grand Chute Fire, Waushara County Emergency Management Services, and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
