As Maine game wardens and volunteers scoured the Waterford woods looking for a South Portland woman who had wandered away from her family last week, some residents were advocating for a new technology that would help locate people who have memory problems or other cognitive impairment.
Project Lifesaver allows police to track down somebody who is lost or wandering by tracking the signal from a small radio beacon the person wears like a wristwatch.
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“They say in the practical exercises they do they’ve been able to locate within 30 minutes, which is certainly far better, maybe, than we could do today,” said Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton, whose department is evaluating whether to purchase the technology. Auburn and Ogunquit, which both launched Project Lifesaver programs last month, are the only communities in Maine that have the program.
The woman, Ruth Brennan, was found safe by a canine search team after two days in the woods.
But the search for 15-year-old Jaden Dremsa had tragically different results. After 10 days of searching, Dremsa, who had a mild form of autism, was found in Lake Arrowhead, not far from his home in North Waterboro. He had hit his head and drowned.
Samantha McDorr is lobbying for her hometown, Brunswick, to sign on with the Project Lifesaver technology, so residents whose loved ones have cognitive impairment can use the tool. Her daughter Sage, who will turn 9 in a few days, has autism and a tendency to wander.
“The world stops” when McDorr and her husband can’t find Sage, despite security measures at their house, she said. “It’s a real safety concern for our family.”
McDorr said 92 percent of parents with autistic children worry about their children wandering off. It is made more serious by the tendency of children with autism to be attracted to water and by their inclination to avoid social interactions, running away form people who might be trying to help them, she said.
The Brunswick Police Department will raise the possibility of making the system available to residents at the Town Council’s meeting on Aug. 4, McDorr said.
The Project Lifesaver system works by having the person at risk of wandering wear a watchlike bracelet that emits a unique radio signal. Once notified by a family member that a person is missing, officers respond to the person’s last known location and use hand-held antennas to locate the direction of the signal. The radio beacon technology does not use the more expensive GPS technology, which requires communication with satellites, but would allow police to locate the lost person on a map.
Laurie Trenholm, executive director of the Maine chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the Project Lifesaver system could be of huge benefit to people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia. The number of Maine residents ages 65 to 74 with cognitive impairment, now estimated at 12,390, is estimated to increase 77 percent by 2020.
“Wandering is definitely a major concern for folks with cognitive impairment and as it progresses through different stages of dimensia,” Trenholm said. “This population can get confused and turned around and not use landmarks to find way back. … Anything we can do to help these people be connected to people who are looking out for them” is beneficial, she said.
The chapter has supported use of MedicAlert’s “Safe Return” program, in which participants submit information to a central repository so that if they are lost, whoever finds them can call a toll-free number to reunite them with their caregiver.
The Project Lifesaver program costs about $5,000 to launch, plus money for training and additional wrist devices if needed. Auburn and Ogunquit were able to get grant funding to launch the program in their communities.
“It’s been received very well,” said Auburn Deputy Police Chief Jason Moen. “It kind of gives them a sense of comfort to know, should they wander off, there’s a better chance of finding them.” The city’s program gives them access to 10 bracelets. Officers visit participants once a month to change the batteries and make sure the device is working, he said. Participants are charged $50 a year to cover the cost of batteries.
Three people have signed up so far since the launch last month, he said.
In Brunswick, McDorr has been doing private fundraising, asking supporters to send donations directly to Project Lifesaver on behalf of the town of Brunswick.
Moulton said police agencies and towns need to weigh the benefits of the program versus the cost.
“If you save one person, certainly it’s worth its weight in gold,” he said.
Some well-intentioned programs don’t have sustained interest, however. A program that made a daily check on people who were unable to leave their homes originally had about a dozen people signed up, but it has dwindled to one.
“I want to explore different options, make sure we get the biggest bang for our buck,” Moulton said.
McDorr said even people who don’t have relatives who would benefit should also consider supporting it.
“If you’re not touched by someone with autism or Alzheimer’s — it’s difficult not to be, because they’re both so common — you could at least look at it from the standpoint of saving tax dollars,” she said. “The cost of a search and rescue for a lost person with cognitive disabilities is phenomenal.”
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