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Operation Fast Track is the name that has been chosen by the Temple Police Department for the device that will be able to find people with a tendency to wander - people with Alzheimer’s, autism, Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Williams syndrome, Soto syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, among others.
It is every caregiver’s nightmare that someday the person in their care will vanish without a trace.
Imagine having a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s … you take her to the mall - turn around and she’s disappeared. This happened to Mattie Shoaf’s family in November 2007, so they reported her disappearance to the police.
She had only just disappeared so family members looked in the immediate area - after all, a 70-year-old woman couldn’t have gone too far, she was just there a moment ago.
Police were called and a search of the mall was started - it grew into a search involving all emergency services in the area and even some from other areas.
Mattie’s body was found the following day, three or four miles from the mall. The idea of getting the tracking system was already under way at the Temple Police Department, but donations were slow … last year it was a pie in the sky.
Two officers in particular took this on as their special project and started holding fundraisers to get the system up and running. Earlier this year Temple police started looking at tracking device companies.
Care Trak International was selected and the first of the officers chosen to use it have now completed their training.
Police Chief Gary O. Smith demonstrated how the device works at April's Safety Advisory Board Meeting. "I have not had any formal training," Smith said. He did, however, receive some quick training from another officer, and that was all it took.
Temple police officers will now receive training for the locator devices and by the middle of May Operation Fast Track will be a dream come true to area residents in need of such a system.
The next phase will be training of caregivers on how to look after and maintain equipment, and the legalities, Smith said.
The wristband consists of a small transmitter in a waterproof case, attached to the wrist or ankle like a watch. Twice a day the family is asked to check the transmitter - a matter of putting the transmitter next to the tester and looking for a red light.
Batteries are supposed to last 45 days but the police department will recommend changing them out every 30 days.
If a person is missing, the call should be made within five minutes so police can take the equipment and start the search.
The directional antenna is not a fancy piece of equipment, but it can be used from a helicopter or mounted to a patrol car.
Ideally, police will send out two of them to every call to maximize response time, Smith said.
As well, having two will enable them to "triangulate" - two beams intersecting will lead to the missing person, he said.
The mobile locator has an LED meter that shows the signal strength coming from the lost person's transmitter. It also has an audible "chirp." When you point the antenna in the direction of the wandered person, the chirp gets louder and the LED signal meter jumps higher on the scale.
The Temple Police Department, with assistance from the Safety Advisory Board, will determine charges for the service.