A member of the Franklin Fire Department wears a Project Lifesaver bracelet Thursday that allows law enforcement to find missing people.
Elissa Maudlin | Daily Journal
Specialized tracking bracelets will help Franklin first responders find missing children and adults.
The Franklin City Council approved Monday the fire department’s request to move $5,000 of grant money from Johnson County REMC to the department’s supply appropriations fund. The grant will be used to buy new equipment for a missing person program called Project Lifesaver.
The state-wide project allows parents or caregivers to get a tracking bracelet for loved ones at risk of running away so officials can find them faster.
The program is mostly for kids with autism or Down syndrome, adults with Alzheimer’s, as well as other people who are a “flight risk,” said Joshua Snyder, Franklin fire chief. Alongside Franklin, Bargersville, New Whiteland, White River Township and Trafalgar are participating agencies in Johnson County, while other Project Lifesaver programs exist across the state.
Individuals in the program wear a bracelet that looks similar to a smartwatch and comes with a special code, Snyder said. The special code is input into a receiver that can track individuals in the program approximately a mile away.
Adults and children in the program can be found in significantly less time than those who aren’t in the program, according to Snyder.
Officials found a little girl from Avon within three-and-a-half to four hours, but had she been in the program wearing a bracelet with a charged battery, Snyder said she could’ve been found in approximately 45 minutes.
“The little girl that was lost … almost a month ago, they lived in Avon and they had no idea about (the program),” he said, “… had she been a Project Lifesaver, we would’ve done a Project Lifesaver tone out and you would’ve got Franklin, Bargersville, White River, Greenwood and Trafalgar starting toward that location with the receivers and then when we got a couple of miles out, we would (have) all turned them on and start searching for her, hoping to get a ping … ”
The little girl’s parents got her into the program shortly after being found, Snyder said.
The grant from JCREMC goes through the Johnson County Community Foundation and was awarded in the spring. The focus of the grant cycle was on public education and youth initiatives and Snyder thought his request would be a good fit. Part of the grant will be used for public education events, like giving out fire helmets and coloring books to kids at schools and local events, and the rest will be used for Project Lifesaver.
This isn’t the first time the fire department has used grant money to update their supplies. Last year, the Franklin Fire Department bought four thermal imaging cameras through grant funding.
“Not only do we use thermal imaging cameras in a fire, these thermal imaging cameras can be used hand-in-hand with Project Lifesaver if it’s at night and we’re trying to track somebody because it shows heat signatures,” Snyder said. “So at night, it’s dark, we can be getting the beep from the Project Lifesaver (equipment) but if we’re also scanning the area with multiple thermal imaging cameras, it’s gonna pick up heat signatures also.”
The program is successful, but it isn’t free. Since individuals and caretakers do not pay to be in the program and only need to fill out an application usually with a doctor’s recommendation to participate, the departments involved take the brunt of the funding.
Costs are covered by the operational budget of the sponsoring agency, according to White River Township’s website on the program.
“Just having (the equipment) on hand where we don’t have to buy them per se if a new client comes in (will be helpful), they’re not cheap. They’re about $300 a piece … and right now, we have 13 people assigned to us and 50 through the county.”
Despite costs, Snyder believes this program is important.
“If we can save one kid, that’s all that really matters,” he said. “There’s not a price on a child’s life or an adult’s life that’s in the system if they wander away and we can save them quicker and faster and get them out of harm’s way.”
