ID bracelet helps find wanderers

[Guest guest]

heeehh, Id would of loved to see them, we keep an updated info sheet at the

police for nathan, but we have been lucky so far to find him with in the

nearest couple blocks or in someones car, its always the summer months too,

thankfully its freezing 9months out of the year here in iowa. broke

of and lost every wrist id emergency etc bracelet weve bought so last year I

bout one of those little square (billfood ?) or pouch thing its on a black

string like necklace and the outside has a clear pocket, where we keep his

ID and thena zippper pocket where he keeps his money and activity cards for

the games he goes to. IT was only 99cents at walmart, they have many styles

to choose from.We just kept telling him if he wanted to go to ..... or

outside or ..... he had to wear his id, and he always puts it one before he

goes out the door now, little reminders and wears it always while gone and

then when he comes home he hangs it on his hook ready to go by the door. Im

debating whether or not to buy him a medical necklace, i put his basic dx

and meds and med allergies on his id card allergies in bold red, and that

seems to be ok for now. shawna.

Re: ID bracelet helps find wanderers

> In a message dated 1/7/2004 10:01:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> ICANFIELD@... writes:

> ID bracelet helps finds wanderers

> Hey Irma,

> We had a bracelet done for Maddie and the little rat won't wear it.

When

> I say she won't wear it, I mean the kid actually BIT it off her arm.

> Yup....don't ask me how you bite through metal!!!!!

> Anyway, after our still heart palpitating escape thingy back in

October, I

> wrote up a *rap sheet* on the little Miss and dropped it off to our police

> department, along with a box of homemade Madeliene cookies to thank them

for

> bringing her safely home. It was actually quite a hoot....can you

imagine!!!

> Here I am, with Maddie in tow, dropping off cookies to the Philadelphia,

NORTH

> PHILLY POLICE DEPARTMENT mind you (they're more used to dealing with

> shootings and drugs), to THANK them. LOL I wish now I'd had a camera

to take a

> picture of their faces!!!! LOLOL

> Donna

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/7/2004 10:01:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,

ICANFIELD@... writes:

ID bracelet helps finds wanderers

Hey Irma,

We had a bracelet done for Maddie and the little rat won't wear it. When

I say she won't wear it, I mean the kid actually BIT it off her arm.

Yup....don't ask me how you bite through metal!!!!!

Anyway, after our still heart palpitating escape thingy back in October, I

wrote up a *rap sheet* on the little Miss and dropped it off to our police

department, along with a box of homemade Madeliene cookies to thank them for

bringing her safely home. It was actually quite a hoot....can you imagine!!!

Here I am, with Maddie in tow, dropping off cookies to the Philadelphia, NORTH

PHILLY POLICE DEPARTMENT mind you (they're more used to dealing with

shootings and drugs), to THANK them. LOL I wish now I'd had a camera to take

a

picture of their faces!!!! LOLOL

Donna

[Guest guest]

http://www.herald-progress.com/HERALD-PROGRESS/myarticles.asp?

P=575832 & S=490 & PubID=11407

ID bracelet helps finds wanderers

By HOLLY CLARK

H-P Staff Writer

January 6, 2004 - When wants to take a walk, visit a

friend, he doesn't write a note to mom or yell upstairs to tell her

he's leaving. That he'll be back soon.

When he wants to leave, he does. Just walks out the door, disappears

from sight. , 7, is autistic.

" Autism is a communication disorder, " said Joanna , 's

mother. " When wants to go, he does. We constantly have to

watch him. He's smart. When he's on a mission, he completes it. "

So moves the car keys around, the garage door opener. The

house locks are on backward, she said. They lock from the inside.

" It just takes one split second, and he could be gone, " she said.

But a recent partnership with the Hanover Sheriff's Office has eased

some of that worry. That fear that if does wander off, they

may spend days, weeks looking for him.

The bracelet

wears an ID bracelet provided by the Sheriff's Office and

Project Lifesaver, a program that uses state of the art technology

to assist those who care for victims of Alzheimer's or autism, for

example, and people who tend to wander.

The ID bracelet, about the size of a watch, is actually a 1-ounce,

personalized radio transmitter that emits an automatic tracking

signal every second, 24 hours a day. The Sheriff's Office keeps

's ID number and his radio frequency on file.

If turns up missing, can call 911 and the Sheriff's

Office will deploy a specially trained search and rescue team, said

Deputy Tim Sutton, who is responsible for Project Lifesaver in

Hanover.

Then, using a mobile locator tracking system, the team can track the

signal either on the ground or in the air, he said. The locator

works within about a mile-and-a-half radius.

Once it picks up the signal from the bracelet, officers can search

on foot, Sutton said.

" We would drive along with the locator on top of the vehicle in the

area where the person disappeared, " he said. " Once the locator

detects something, we can use the handheld device and search in the

direction of the signal. "

It's much faster than sending out a team on foot, he said.

Nationally, the average search and rescue operation lasts nine hours

and costs about $1,500 an hour, officials said. With Project

Lifesaver, the average time to locate someone is 18 minutes.

" Without this program, the manpower and hours that go into a search

can be unbelievable, " Sutton said. " This gives us a real place to

start and gives people a sense that we're here to help in case

something happens. "

Since Project Lifesaver started in 1999, officers across the nation

have responded to more than 800 rescue calls.

About the program

Project Lifesaver was established in April 1999 as an initiative of

the 43rd Virginia Search and Rescue Company of t! he Chesapeake

Sheriff's Office, Sutton said. Col. J.E. Saunders started noticing a

dramatic increase in the number of wanderers, particularly people

with Alzheimer's, down's syndrome and autism.

He came up with the idea of the bracelet based on animal tracking

devices, sometimes used by hunters, Sutton said. Over the last four

years, the bracelet has been streamlined so it looks like a watch or

wristband. Some are even designed to hook to belt loops.

And Project Lifesaver, a non-profit organization, has become one of

the leading organizations addressing the need to protect these

patients and bring comfort to their families and caregivers, he

said. Public safety departments from New Jersey to California have

implemented Project Lifesaver programs in their counties and cities.

Currently, six people in Hanover are involved with the program – two

autistic children and four adults with Alzheimer's, Sutton said.

" We just started the program in August, " ! he said. " And we've had

about 12 officers complete the necessary training. "

Anyone interested in the bracelet should call the department, he

said. Participants, however, must have a history of wandering and

cannot have access to a car.

" If a person has access to a vehicle, it's much harder to track them

using the locator, " he said. " They could have driven off somewhere

and we tend to look in areas close to the home. "

And, although a portion of the program was grant funded, the

bracelets cost the department about $263 a piece, said Lt. Doug

Goodman, spokesman for the department.

" We won't turn anyone down, but we welcome contributions,

donations, " he said. " All money will go directly to the program,

which we think is an incredible asset to the county. "

A sense of security

For 's family, the bracelet is an added sense of security.

But not a relief of responsibility, said.

" It doesn't release us from any responsibi! lity when it comes to

, " she said. " But knowing that if something did happen, we'd

have a team of support, that we're not alone, that's the true peace

of mind. "

For , the monthly visits from Sutton are more than just a

check on how things are going. Sutton's a friend.

loves to wear Sutton's hat, show off his toys. He

understands that Sutton is there to help him, to keep him safe. And

to build rapport.

" We want him to recognize that we're here to protect him, " Sutton

said. " Maybe one day he'll see someone in uniform and know he can

approach him for help. "

And for Sutton, as well as the other deputies involved, it's a

learning experience.

They've learned how to interact with children with autism, adults

with Alzheimer's, Sutton said. Both diseases, as well as other

mental disabilities, are often misunderstood.

" This is more than just a search and rescue program, " he said. " It's

a community partnership. "

For more information on Project Lifesaver, call the Hanover

Sheriff's Office at 365-6110

---------------------------------------------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Hi Irma,

What a great article. I am going to save this to bring to my meeting with the

chief of police next month.

Charlyne

Mom to Zeb 11 DS/OCD

[Guest guest]

Hi Donna,

Has anyone from the Police Dept. visit you lately to see if Maddie

was still doing alright? You know especially for receiving some

cookies from you, that was very thoughtful and nice of you.

Oh my! Maddie is just too smart and such a girl. When she means it,

she means it! Of course prayers that it will not happen again.

will not wear a bracelet either and to this day I'm still

wondering to have a tatoo on him with his name and birth date. He

still can not say his name, can not spell his name (unless hand over

hand or tracing), can not write his name & can not type his name.

Still working on this. He understands his name when called. I think

he knows his name when it is written down.

The wandering/running off has cut down alot here at home. Thank God!

But if he was someone else or at school and left alone, then back to

square one.

Check this out:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Dec/09/ln/ln03a.html

Boy OK after being pulled out of canal

By Boylan

Advertiser Staff Writer

Fear is all Doriann Agbayani felt at 1:45 a.m. yesterday when she

awoke to find her front door ajar and no sign of her 10-year-old son.

Doriann Agbayani says she thanks God someone was there for her son,

Isaiah, when he fell into a canal near their Waipahu home.

Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Her anxiety was fueled by the fact that her son, Isaiah, suffers

from autism.

After checking the back yard where he likes to dig in the dirt,

Agbayani contacted her mother, then called 911. After giving

Isaiah's description to police, Agbayani learned that a boy matching

her son's description had fallen into a drainage canal near their

Waipahu home.

" He doesn't know danger, " Agbayani said. " He doesn't know you're not

supposed to jump into the water. "

After police received a call from a resident near the stream who

said he heard a loud splash followed by barking dogs, HPD officer

Shayne Sesoko, 38, was sent to investigate a little after 2:10 a.m.

Sesoko arrived to find Isaiah flailing in the canal's murky brown

water.

Because of his autism, Isaiah has difficulty speaking and could not

cry out for help.

Sesoko, with the help of a nearby resident, threw a discarded

mattress box spring into the canal for the boy to grab. Isaiah held

onto the box spring, but it was sucked into the swirling water and

sank.

At that point, Sesoko said, the boy began slipping under water for

longer periods. Sesoko removed his shirt, shoes, belt and Kevlar

vest and attempted a rescue.

" I knew he wasn't going to make it so I just jumped in, " Sesoko said.

The canal is usually dry but Sesoko jumped into water running 7 to 8

feet. Sesoko is 5 feet 7. When he could touch the bottom, his feet

kept getting stuck in the muck.

After paddling out to the floundering boy, Sesoko said Isaiah fought

with him as he tried to keep the boy above water.

" It was too deep for me to swim so I kept telling him to swim to the

other side. But he didn't understand, " Sesoko said. " I knew someone

was going to come sooner or later but it crossed my mind: how was I

going to get out? "

Officer Tim Tenney said he was patrolling the freeway near 'Aiea

when he was sent to help Sesoko.

He said when he got to the scene, Sesoko and the boy had been in the

water for almost 10 minutes.

" When I saw them treading water and go under, and they went under

twice, the boy was physically struggling with him (Sesoko), " said

Tenney, a 35-year-old Mililani resident. " I could see that Shayne

was visibly tired. "

Seeing Tenney lying on his stomach on top of the concrete wall on

the side of the stream, Sesoko began to push the 70-pound Isaiah

toward Tenney's outstretched hand.

Because of the boy's size and the rushing current, Sesoko had to

submerge himself beneath Isaiah, and push him up against the wall

where Tenney was waiting.

" I pulled up as Shayne pushed, " Tenney said.

Isaiah escaped the incident unharmed.

" I thank God that someone was there for him and everything worked

out OK, " his mother said.