Giving parents and caregivers of the developmentally disabled an enhanced sense of security is the ultimate goal of a national public safety program that civic and law enforcement officials are eyeing for implementation in Orangeburg County.

Project Lifesaver, established in April 1999 as an initiative of the 43rd Search and Rescue Company of Chesapeake County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, helps provide a rapid response in saving lives and reducing the potential for serious injury for adults and children who wander because of Alzheimer's, autism, Down syndrome, dementia and other related disorders.

Earlier this month, the Orangeburg Pilot Club, a civic club that focuses on helping individuals with brain-related injuries and diseases, held an informational meeting about Project Lifesaver at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center. Featured speaker was Gordon Harris, coordinator of Project Lifesaver in the Horry County Public Safety Division.

Individuals enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small, personal transmitter bracelet, which emits a signal that can be tracked via a receiver and omnidirectional antenna within a one-mile radius. Project Lifesaver International has teamed with the LoJack Corp. to provide equipment, training, certification and support to groups that operate the program in their communities.

PLI currently has 1,026 agencies participating in the Project Lifesaver program in 45 states, including police, sheriff, fire and public safety departments and other emergency responders. The method relies on proven radio technology and specially trained search-and-rescue teams.

Harris said the program is an effective tool in keeping wandering children and elderly with developmental disorders safe, particularly since the average cost for a search is approximately $1,500 an hour for police and other public safety departments.

"You don't have to call out the calvary," Harris said. "I don't want to dwell too much on the dollars and cents, but in today's economic times, it's a realistic thing to look at. ... (There have been) 1,960 searches throughout 45 states, and all of those people have been found in 30 minutes or less.

"In the summer of 2006, we (Horry County PSD) put our first bracelets on two autistic kids. We've got about 40 bracelets on kids and individuals with Alzheimer's now."

Harris said bracelets are worn 24 hours a day and have a strong frequency, and receivers are waterproof in as much as eight feet of water.

"This radio frequency will go through metal or steel," he said.

An individual's identification number and name are enough for law enforcement to pull up vital information, including required medications and their description, Harris said.

He said Horry County's Project Lifesaver program involves the participation of its Autism Advocate Foundation group, which furnishes the bracelets free for autistic children, and the Horry County Public Safety Division, which provides free bracelets for individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Fund-raisers and donations help them provide bracelets at no cost, Harris said, adding that federal Justice Assistance Grants are available for public safety agencies looking at starting the program.

"I feel sure we'll have this up in place ... within the next six months. That's what I'm looking and planning for. I think it's gonna work," said Sandra Haigler, chairwoman of the Orangeburg Pilot Club Foundation. "We're gonna need help from the community to help us do what we need to do."

Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Director Wendell Davis said he would like to see a partnership develop between the Orangeburg Pilot Club and ODPS.

"It's almost inconceivable that you would not do it because the price of upstart on it is really so insignificant," he said. "The biggest challenge may be with being able to fund it long-term, in terms of the monthly use. ... We've got a lot of organizations here that could certainly pitch in."

Davis said he envisions the program being a countywide effort. Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams, who said his agency conducted nine searches last year, including one for a 79-year-old Eutawville woman, said he is committed to bringing the program to the county.

"This is an added tool," he said. "Our cars are already equipped with LoJack. I just need for the next step to occur. I just hope we get the support to do it. ... I know the council and administrator will support me on it, and I'm just ready to get started with it."

Michelle Ford, co-administrator at Magnolia Place, the county's only special care residence facility designed exclusively for Alzheimer's and memory-impaired individuals, said Magnolia Place has it's own bracelet system that prohibits Alzheimer's patients from wandering out of the facility.

She said the county needs a program like Project Lifesaver.

"If we could raise funds, it should be a free program like they do in Horry County," she said. "Once someone meets the qualifications, (a bracelet) should be given to them to protect them.

"I think it will be great for law enforcement to have that quick access to reach those people."

For more information on Project Lifesaver, call Haigler at 803-534-1717.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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