HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Each personal locator unit is programmed with a unique digital identifying radio signal allowing searchers to locate a wandering child or lost Alzheimer's patient. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT During a demonstration at the Nye County Emergency Services Operations Center, Dep. John Bergstron, with Nye County Search and Rescue, holds the lightweight antenna and locator while Paula Cooper, project manager for the Operation Lifesaver, holds the wristband. Advertisement

It's a family's worst nightmare.

You turn your back for a moment and your child runs off at the crowded Fall Festival carnival in Petrack Park.

Or perhaps granddad wanders away from home and is lost without water or his meds on a 110-degree summer day.

Earlier this summer, search and rescue teams spent hours in the desert before successfully finding an injured rider after her saddled horse was found alone in her neighborhood.

The Nye County Sheriff's Office (NCSO) is launching a new program throughout the county that uses proven technology to give parents with autistic children and those caring for wandering family members with dementia a new peace of mind, knowing their loved ones can be found in about 30 minutes after a search has begun.

After training and certification of deputies and search and rescue personnel is complete, in a week or so Project Lifesaver will be available for those with at-risk family members for a monthly fee.

It's a subscription program using a LoJack theft system called Safety Net. According to NCSO project manager Paula Cooper, the system will cost $99 to start and about $30 each month. The fees are paid to LoJack with a small amount rebated to NCSO for maintenance of the units and batteries.

LoJack is best known for its use on vehicles.

Project Lifesaver is similar. Upon enrollment, a person at risk of wandering off is outfitted with a personal locator unit, or PLU, the size and weight of a plastic watch. It can be strapped to a wrist, ankle or shoe, or strapped around a belt loop.

The locator emits a radio signal allocated by the FCC for law enforcement tracking. The signal cannot be stopped by thick walls; it's water resistant and usable underground.

This week deputies in training have located the hidden PLU all over town with an average time of 30 minutes. In fact, Project Lifesaver International reports more than 1,900 rescues to date, with an average find time of less than 30 minutes and involving only two to three officers.

According to a company spokesman, a rechargeable lithium ion battery comes with the unit and must be charged on a monthly basis. At the onset of the program, deputies will assist subscribers in changing batteries.

Sgt. Mike Horn said, "That will greatly enhance community policing. We'll get to know family members and be familiar with where they live. Normally, searches would begin at the home if a person with Alzheimer's wanders off.

"We'll also get to know the particular traits of that family's child with autism. Sometimes they don't like to be touched and don't want anything touching their skin. Their locators can be strapped to their shoe."

The county pays LoJack for training and certification. There is no cost to NCSO for the accompanying tracking equipment, which consists of a lightweight handheld or car-mounted antenna plus digital receivers to track the radio signal emitted from the wrist unit. The equipment can also be used for helicopter searches. Each subscriber has a unique digital identifying signal.

Horn is enthusiastic about Project Lifesaver.

"I was getting reports of lost kids every ten minutes during Fall Festival," he said. "This technology will allow us to zero in on kids quickly with just a couple of officers instead of pulling all our manpower from other areas that may need attention."

Sheriff Tony DeMeo, who has been pursuing Project Lifesaver for Nye County for the past two years, said Assistant Sheriff Rick Marshall was instrumental in getting the program for the county. Reno has the only other law enforcement agency using Project Lifesaver technology.

"We're hoping to get a total of six receivers," said DeMeo, who added there will be one receiver in each location in Northern Nye County as well as in Pahrump.

The transmitter operates 24 hours a day and because the technology is in use by other agencies, a family on vacation can notify a police department in another city to temporarily activate coverage.

According to DeMeo, Project Lifesaver has a 100 percent recovery record. Lost people are found an average of 30 minutes after beginning the search from the person's last known whereabouts.

If extra personal locators can be obtained, Marshall said the units could be rented during events such as the Fall Festival or for the Fourth of July Freedom Festival at Petrack Park.

"This will save the county time and money," said DeMeo.

A demonstration was given for the media, with this reporter thinking that hiding from trained deputies in a metal building surrounded by communications antennas would hinder the search. It didn't.

The search team was slightly delayed, but I was found in three minutes.

More information about Project Lifeline will be posted soon on the sheriff's office Web site. Registration for the service will also be linked to the site at www.nyecountysheriff.net.