Project LIFESAVER Pilot Club offers peace of mind with transmitter bracelets to track those with Alzheimer's or other mental illnesses

Patrice Stewart

Jul. 18, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Most bracelets are simply decorative jewelry, but this one brings peace of mind and can save lives.

Catherine Livingston of Priceville can take time to tend to her grandchildren without worrying about what would happen if her mother left the house.

Nancy Latham of Oden Ridge can take a shower, secure in the knowledge that if her mama heads out the door and down the road, she can be tracked.

Shelby Sloan of Union Hill enjoys a bit more freedom because his bracelet allows him to be located if symptoms of his unusual disease cause a problem.

Several parents of children with autism also have more peace of mind, because these bracelets provided by the Pilot Club of Decatur have a radio transmitter to help locate them if they should wander.

Project Lifesaver is a Pilot Club service project, with members holding golf tournaments, bean dinners and other fundraisers to purchase wristbands with radio transmitters. People of all ages who have autism, Down syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and other dementia conditions and mental illnesses have the opportunity to wear the tracking devices.

The program is coordinated through the Morgan County Sheriff's Department and the Decatur Police Department, which have supplies of the wristbands and will make appointments to put them on initially and then change the batteries monthly.

The device, which is similar to a watch or a hospital armband, includes a transmitter. It can be worn on either arm or even the ankle, and after an adjustment period, most don't pay it any attention.

Eva Woodham, 86, wears hers like a bracelet. She lived alone in her home at Oden Ridge until about 11/2 years ago, when her children noted increasing Alzheimer's symptoms and took action.

Now she stays with Latham, the daughter who lives at Oden Ridge near her mother's former residence, or visits Livingston, the daughter who lives in Priceville.

"The reason we got the bracelet is that I live right by the interstate, and I thought that if she got it in her mind to go home, she might just hit that road, especially if she got up early," said Livingston.

"I sure am glad we got this transmitter bracelet, because we feel a lot better about Mother," she said. "We don't leave her alone anyway, but we were afraid she might get up and leave the house while we weren't looking. Mother's still real spry and doesn't have a lot of illnesses, other than this Alzheimer's the doctors diagnosed two or three years ago.

"But we're hoping to keep her in our homes until the Lord sees fit to take her. Mother, bless her heart, thinks this monitors her heart," said Livingston.

Latham said she once looked out her door and saw her mother headed down the road.

"When she wants to go, she wants to go, and if you don't take her, she would probably try to go on her own," she said. "These bracelets are a good idea, and if more people knew about them, more would have them."

Early this year, Sgt. Hattie Hampton of the Morgan County Sheriff's Department came out and put the transmitter on Woodall's arm. She chats with Woodall and her daughters during her monthly visits to change the batteries, as she did Wednesday.

"Most of these folks are glad to see me and talk for 30 minutes when I get there," said the deputy sheriff, whose clients include veterans, housewives and retirees, as well as children and teens. "I've learned a lot through doing this.

"When Alzheimer's knocks on the door, it comes on big time, whether you answer or not," said Hampton, who speaks to groups about Project Lifesaver and is a member of boards and groups such as the Mental Health Association and its Alzheimer's division. She gets referrals from groups such as Hospice of the Valley and National Alliance on Mental Illness.

She said water from showering or bathing isn't a problem for this device, which utilizes some of the same O-ring technology as the space program.

She and others were certified in the Project Lifesaver equipment after training intensively for two days in Tuscaloosa, where they had to use the tracking equipment to find transmitters that had been hidden. Hampton said several nearby counties such as Madison and Cullman have the program, and Lawrence County is about to get it.

Certified officers

If a law-enforcement officer trained in this program gets the call that someone wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter is missing, they take the antenna and receiver, punch in the number, adjust the frequency and go to where the person was last seen. They make 360-degree circles, listening for a beep, she said. It works well when they are within five miles and haven't driven away in a car.

"It's kind of like radar, and it's so simple I'm surprised they didn't come up with this earlier," said Hampton. No one in the program locally has gone missing yet to test it.

However, efforts to get the word out about these bracelets intensified when a Virginia search without benefit of a transmitter failed to find a man alive. He had wandered only 75 feet from his door and was found dead when the snow melted, Hampton said.

Churches, clubs, schools, doctors and others aware of individuals who could benefit should refer them and help inform them about this program.

Hampton has worked with families in Hartselle, Danville, Eva, Falkville, Lacey's Spring and Somerville and would like to have more in the program. Decatur police oversee it for city residents.

"People need the assurance that if I put this on their arm and they wander off, I can find them in a short amount of time," said Hampton. "We're working on getting our helicopter pilot certified, too. We can do this on the ground, but it's much different if they can get up in the air and do it."

One of her Project Lifesaver clients who visits the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for an unusual disease reported that his doctors were amazed this technology is available in Alabama.

Shelby Sloan, 59, a retired minister from Union Hill, said he wears one of the wristbands because he has an intermittent problem diagnosed by the Mayo Clinic as Lewy body dementia with Parkinson's syndrome.

"This is a real good program, and I feel a lot more secure," said Sloan, who has had a transmitter band for about three months. "I still drive a little bit, and I can get out more with this. It makes my family feel more secure."

With his type of syndrome, he said, "I never know from one day to the next how I'll feel when I wake up. And if I don't feel well, I usually don't leave home at all."

But if his illness takes over, he can be found quickly with his transmitter, "which doesn't bother me at all," he said.

The Pilot Club has raised enough money to make these bracelets available free. Originally, they thought they would need to charge those able to pay about $300 per bracelet, with batteries an additional $8 per month. Project Lifesaver is one of Pilot International's programs to help those affected by brain-related illnesses and injuries.

"Right now, we're giving them away free -- we're offering peace of mind free," said Susan Norwood, spokeswoman for the Pilot Club of Decatur. "We're so committed to getting these out into the community that that's the way we're approaching it this year.

"This program is going to become even more important, because they say one in six Baby Boomers will have Alzheimer's. If we don't have it ourselves, we're going to have it in our families or know someone who does," said Norwood.

"And this Project Lifesaver bracelet will help. In other areas, it's got a 100 percent record of finding the person. You just call the law-enforcement agency that put the bracelet on, and they usually find them within 30 minutes."

Fulfilling a growing need?

Project Lifesaver transmitter wristbands may fill a growing need.

More than 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, and that number is expected to triple by 2050, according to Project Lifesaver International.

More than 50 percent of these people are the type who may wander and become lost. They are unaware of the dangers of the situation, and they do not call out for help, dial 911 or respond to people searching and calling their names.

If not located within 24 hours, about half will die, be injured or fall victim to predators.

More and more families will have experience with these problems and results, so Project Lifesaver was developed as a nonprofit organization to help find wanderers through partnerships with law enforcement and other organizations.

Search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes when people wear these 1-ounce battery-operated wrist transmitters emitting tracking signals and agencies respond with mobile locator tracking systems.

Want more?

For Project Lifesaver information, those whose loved ones have Alzheimer's disease or disorders such as Down syndrome and autism can call Deputy Hattie Hampton at the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, 351-4847, 351-4800 or 260-3555, or Sgt. J.G. Martin at the Decatur Police Department, 351-7599.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0047-26761615