Lifesaver device means minutes shaved in search
Seventeen minutes.
That's how long it took to find Beryl Frey on Wednesday, June 24, thanks to a remarkable program that uses electronic gadgetry to find missing people. She began wearing the small transmitter that helped locate her, three weeks earlier.
Walter and Beryl Frey in front of their Oak Bluffs home. After getting lost last week Ms. Frey, who has Alzheimer's disease, was found with the help of Project Lifesaver.
It took just 17 minutes to find Ms. Frey, who has Alzheimer's disease, in a vacant home in the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association campgrounds.
"I can tell you, it felt like 17 hours," said Captain Donald Rose, who oversees the Project Lifesaver program for the Dukes County Sheriff's Department. "There's a lot of stress involved in a search. You know somebody is out there who needs you. When you do find the person, and everybody's safe, it's the most gratifying feeling you can have. I had a smile on my face the entire night."
Search scene
Capt. Rose and Sgt. Kelli Stewart arrived at the campground at 4:08 pm on Wednesday afternoon, according to the sheriff's report. Word had spread quickly through the tightly knit campground community that Ms. Frey was missing. "Most of the neighbors were out looking as well. They were looking in sheds, under porches," Mr. Rose said.
Long after it ended successfully, Mr. Rose could see some humor in a somewhat chaotic scene. As he and Sgt. Stewart set up their equipment and began the search, they found themselves playing the role of electronic Pied Pipers.
"They started following us around, hoping that we knew what we were doing," said Capt. Rose of volunteer searchers. "Thankfully, we did."
"When Capt. Rose appeared, I gave up searching," said Walter Frey, Beryl's husband. "I had total faith in his system. Everything worked the way it should."
Capt. Rose and Sgt. Stewart started searching in different areas, but almost at the same moment, their chirping receivers led them to the same location. At 4:25 pm, Ms. Frey was found in the vacant home, across Trinity Park from her own house. She was unhurt, but confused. She had gone into a vacant home and locked the doors behind her, so without the electronic equipment, searchers may not have looked inside the house for some time. "Who knows how long it would have taken to find her," said Capt. Rose.
This is the fifth time the technology has been used to locate someone with serious medical issues who was reported missing. Several times the person was located safe, it was a matter of family miscommunication, or other factors. But twice now, it has worked in a true emergency, where the missing person was in serious danger
Good gadget
The Project Lifesaver technology is relatively simple. It's used in a variety of applications, from tracking animals for scientific studies, to guiding ships through channels in the fog.
The client wears a transmitter set to a specific frequency. It's a little bigger than a wrist watch and clamps on the wrist with a strap similar to a hospital identification bracelet. If the client is lost, the family notifies Capt. Rose, and as many as four trained members of the Sheriff's Department respond to the last known location of the client.
Each searcher has a gizmo that looks like a small TV antenna, which connects to an electronic receiver. When the searcher gets within range of the transmitter, the receiver begins to chirp. By listening to the strength of the chirps and interpreting other information on the receiver's digital display, the searcher can zero in on the transmitter. The transmitter has a range of one mile on the ground, though buildings or other obstructions can reduce the range.
In some communities, the equipment is used from a helicopter. From the air, the receivers can pick up a signal as far as five miles away.
Finding a missing person quickly is critical if they have urgent medical issues. Someone with a debilitating disease could step into a street, or stumble on a hazard. If a search continues for several hours, the elements become a concern. Without medication, food, or water, the threats to life increase.
According to Capt. Rose, without electronic help, the average search of this kind takes nine hours. The cost of medical personnel and law enforcement efforts can approach $1,500 per hour. He says the average search for a person wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter is 22 minutes.
Over the years, all of the equipment for the program has been donated by various Island charities and civic organizations. A grant from Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands covers the cost of the transmitter, about $300, for a person who needs one.
"It's a lifesaving program," said Capt. Rose. "We don't want people to worry about cost."
Happy ending
The Freys have been part of campground life for 40 years. They are well known and liked in the close community. Mr. Frey was grateful for the quick response of both his friends and neighbors, and Project Lifesaver.
While it was technology that led searchers to his wife, Mr. Frey credits the Island community for making Project Lifesaver available. At their winter home in Newton, the program is not available.
"Martha's Vineyard is Martha's Vineyard," said Mr. Frey. "It's about the safest place I know in the world. It's what we've come to expect, not only in our small community, but of the Island. It's why we're here."
