New Canaan Police and Project Lifesaver Help Find Wanderers

The New Canaan Police Department has a tentative date in the last week of August set for a demonstration to show residents how to use Project Lifesaver equipment.

Project Lifesaver, which teamed up with New Canaan police in July, is a nonprofit organization designed to help families and caregivers with individuals who tend to wander off due to Alzheimer’s Disease, autism, dementia and other various conditions.

New Canaan police will be demonstrating the use of the Project Lifesaver transmitter bracelet, which is placed around the wrist or ankle and emits an individualized tracking signal. If the individual wanders off, the caregiver can contact their local Project Lifesaver agency (New Canaan PD) and a trained emergency team will respond. Recovery time has been reduced to around 30 minutes versus traditional methods, which can take days.

The transmitter has a strong signal, which can even be traced in water, woods, poor weather and inside a building, and can be instrumental to trained officers searching a large area for one person.

“It’ll give peace of mind to these families,” said Sgt. Carol Ogrinc.

The New Canaan PD states that you should spend no more than five minutes looking for an individual who has wandered and then call the 24-hour communications center to report the missing person (203-594-3500) and how long the Project Lifesaver client has been missing.

There is a $25 per month maintenance fee for the transmitter, however pricing is subject to change per area and stipends are available.

Caregivers can enroll a loved one online on the Project Lifesaver website. For more information, contact Sgt. Carol Ogrinc at 203-594-3523

Patch will update readers as soon as New Canaan police release a solid date for the demonstration.