The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office

Project Lifesaver: Bringing loved ones home safely

Sheriff Michael Saudino
http://www.bcsd.us

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office is proud to participate in Project Lifesaver International, which helps provide rapid response to save lives and reduce the potential for serious injury for adults and children who wander due to Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, Dementia and other related orders.

Project Lifesaver has more than 1,100 participating agencies across the U.S., Canada and Australia and is implemented in every county in New Jersey by local Sheriff’s offices. As the lead agency in Bergen County, the BCSO is trained and equipped to deploy members of the Sheriff’s Office to assist local police agencies in locating individuals who may wander from home and become lost due to confusion and memory loss.

How Project Livesaver Works:

Participants in the program are fitted with a one-ounce battery operated radio wrist transmitter that emits a silent tracking signal every second, 24 hours a day. The signal can be tracked on the ground or in the air from several miles.

Each wristband has a unique frequency, so the BCSO’s Project Lifesaver team can positively locate and identify a person who has wandered away from home using a specially designed radio receiver.

If a participant wanders off, the caregiver would first contact his or her local police , who would then initiate a search while contacting the Sheriff’s Office. A team of specially trained officers from the Sheriff’s Office would respond and search, utilizing the electronic tracking equipment.

The team is trained in methods necessary to communicate with a person who has Alzheimer’s Autism Down Syndrome or a related disorder. The team knows how to approach a disoriented person, gain their trust and put them at ease for the trip home.

Project Lifesaver was established in 1999 by the Chesapeake, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office. The program has rescued more than 2,143 people in the last 10 years with a 100 percent success rate. In areas where the system has been used, search times have been greatly reduced, which can mean the difference between life and death. The average rescue is less than 20 minutes and the program has saved many hundreds of hours of search time and public resources.

If you are a caregiver of an individual with Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome or a related disorder and are interested in applying for Project Lifesaver:

*Please call the BCSO’s Community Outreach Unit at (201) 336-3540 to request an application.

Participation Criteria:

*Participants must be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, Dementia or a related disorder.
*Participants must live in Bergen County in a private residence with a 24-hour, live in caregiver.
*There is a one-time equipment fee of $300 for the wrist transmitter, band, battery, clips and battery tester. Income-eligible participants may qualify for a waiver of the initial equipment fee.
*A monthly maintenance fee of $13 covers the cost of the bracelet and battery.
*The wrist transmitter remains the property of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office. Once the individual is no longer utilizing the unit, it is returned and reassigned to another participant in the program.
*An officer from the Sheriff’s Office will schedule an appointment to attach the wristband unit and train a caregiver in how the equipment works.

Project Livesaver is made possible through the cooperation effort and support of many organizations. Please call the BCSO’s Community Outreach Unit at (201) 336-3540 for details.

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office:

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office is the largest law enforcement agency in Bergen County. With more than 500 dedicated personnel, we provide a broad range of services that assist the public, support the county’s municipal police departments and safeguard Bergen’s judicial proceedings.

As members of the law enforcement field, the hardworking men and women of the Sheriff’s Office are dedicated to becoming a more integrated part of the neighborhoods in which we serve. With that local focus in mind, our Community Outreach Unit works to maintain a solid relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the residents of Bergen County as well as foster a greater understanding of the duties and functions of the law enforcement community.

The Community Outreach Unit offers a variety of public safety initiatives including programs on alcohol and drug abuse, senior citizen and child safety, school safety, school violence and youth development. We are always adding and improving upon these programs to further protect our residents and prevent crime in our neighborhoods.

We hope you will follow along with us as we work to ensure that Bergen County remains one of the best and safest places in the nation to live, work and raise a family.

Bergen County Sheriff’s Office:

24 Hour Operations Division
(201) 646-2222

Community Outreach Unit
(201) 336-3540

Bergen County Justice Center
10 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ
(201) 336-3500 Phone
(201) 752-4164 Fax

Bergen County Jail
160 South River Street
Hackensack, NJ
(201) 527-3000 Phone
(201) 527-3035 Fax

Disclaimer: This information comes right of the Project Lifesaver pamphlet put out by the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department. Since I have never used the service, I can not endorse it one way or the other. You must call the Sheriff’s office for more details.