Useful Info

 Alzheimer’s Wanderers Information Sheet

Please use this form to provide information in case your loved one wanders away or becomes lost. All searches begin with an investigative component. During this time you will be asked dozens of questions to aid law enforcement and search teams to determine where and how to look. This information is critical to the success of the search. Completion of this form, before an incident, allows the searching to start sooner and aids in collecting more accurate information.

Autism Elopement Alert Form

Please use this form to provide information in case your loved one wanders away or becomes lost. All searches begin with an investigative component. During this time you will be asked dozens of questions to aid law enforcement and search teams to determine where and how to look. This information is critical to the success of the search. Completion of this form, before an incident, allows the searching to start sooner and aids in collecting more accurate information.

Personal Locator Beacon

Personal Locator Beacon – take the search out of search and rescue.  You are hiking, slip on a hidden stick and fall injuring your back.  Because of the pain, you can’t even crawl let alone walk.  You check and don’t have cell service in that remote valley.

There is a device about the size of your cell phone that can save your life – a Personal Locator Beacon. It does not, though, depend on being in an area where one has cell service.  In an emergency situation in a remote area, depending on the unit, one just has to remove the cover, unfurl the short antenna and press the button for a few seconds or rotate the antenna on the side and press the button. It will immediately begin to send a radio distress signal with the serial number of the unit.  The PLB should have a gps built into it.  After a minute or so, it will determine the latitude and longitude of your position. Once determined, the position info will also be sent with the distress signal.

The distress radio frequency (406 MHz) is monitored by COSPAS-SARSAT satellites.  NOAA will receive the info from the satellite. They will notify the USAF Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB in Florida.

http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104567/air-force-rescue-coordination-center/

They will notify the 911 center in the county from which the signal originated. The 911 center will call out police, fire and SAR assets as needed to travel to the scene for a rescue. This process can happen as fast as 5 minutes. The PLB will also broadcast a 121.5 MHz homing signal similar to those on smaller airplanes.  Elkland SAR currently has a tracking device for the 121.5 MHz signal.

When you get the device, you will need to register it with the government for free. They will ask for two emergency phone numbers that they can call to make sure it was not an accidental activation. The registration has to be renewed every two years.  They send an email reminder. The battery in the unit is good for 5+ years. They cost between $225-275 on line.

There are other similar devices that allow two way communication and non-emergency communication – SPOT and Delorme InReach – but they require annual contracts and fees.

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

https://andrewskurka.com/2015/plbs-satellite-messengers-phones-pros-cons-my-picks/#personal-locator-beacon