EDITOR’S NOTE: — This story is accompanied by a sidebar story, “Project Lifesaver finds three Peninsula clients in 2015” — https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150824/NEWS/308249990
PORT ANGELES — Enrollment in Project Lifesaver, which helps police locate missing people, remains low in Clallam and Jefferson counties despite success stories.
The service has helped police locate three people on the North Olympic Peninsula this year, authorities said.
The service is designed to track people with cognitive disabilities — such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, autism or Down syndrome — who tend to wander.
Each client is equipped with a Project Lifesaver transmitter the size of a wrist watch.
The transmitter emits a specific radio frequency unique to the individual every second, allowing searchers to track the device with a receiver.
Nineteen people are signed up for the program in Clallam County, a growth of six clients since May.
Eleven are participating through the Sequim Police Department, which started the program in early 2008.
“We need a lot more,” said Victoria Ormand, coordinator for the Sequim Police Department’s Volunteers in Police Service Program.
“I feel very strongly that this is just a wonderful tool that caregivers of [people with] cognitive disorders can use,” she added.
“It can provide such relief from that constant worry — is their loved one walking out the back door somewhere? Or did they make it in from the car?”
Eight people are participating through the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, which began using the system in 2009.
It offers the program to all residents west of Deer Park Road in Port Angeles, Forks and unincorporated communities.
“We have a young boy with Down Syndrome and elderly people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s” signed up, said Lorraine Shore, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office administrative coordinator.
In Jefferson County, six people have registered for the program through the Sheriff’s Office, which began using the system in 2011.
That is one less client than in May because one former participant was admitted into a nursing home and no longer required the service, said Patrick Nicholson, a reserve deputy.
“We have 13 trained responders consisting of sheriff deputies, Sheriff Department volunteers, and Jefferson Search and Rescue members,” Nicholson said.
“We have four tracking receivers deployed throughout the county that are accessible by our trained search technicians.”
No one has registered for the program on the West End, Shore said.
However, deputies there are trained to offer the program if anyone does sign up.
“That is an area we know is underserved as we’ve had only two clients out there and currently don’t have anyone west of Port Angeles on the program,” Shore said.
“It’s really unfortunate as we have a brand new Project Lifesaver transmitter and receiver pack just for the West End since it’s so far from Port Angeles, which means the response time is great if we had a missing person call on a Project Lifesaver client.”
Family members, guardians or caregivers of at-risk individuals in Clallam County can enroll a person into the program for a one-time fee of $50.
No fee is charged for Jefferson County residents.
For more information about the program in Clallam County, contact the Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2262 or http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Clallamprojectlifesaver or the Sequim Police Department at 360-683-7227 or http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Sequimprojectlifesaver.
For more information about the Project Lifesaver program in Jefferson County, call 360-344-9779 or email projectlifesaver@co.jefferson.wa.us.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
