The Nate Robson / The Citizen

A little bracelet could make a big difference saving the lives of people who have a history of wandering away from their home due to their Alzheimer's disease, dementia or other health condition.

Nancy Siefka, director of Cayuga County's Office for the Aging, said the bracelets, which emit a tracking signal, will allow the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office to find lost residents who are reported missing by their families or caregivers.

“Timing is extremely important when looking for someone,” Siefka said. “The longer someone is missing for, the further distance they can travel. People can travel several miles in an hour.”

Siefka said people can become disoriented due to their dementia or Alzheimer's disease and wander away from their current home in an attempt to return to their previous home. The results can be tragic.

By cutting search times from days down to hours, Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould said the new system will help to save lives, especially during winter searches when wanderers may succumb to hypothermia.

“There is no doubt in my mind that this will save a life in the near future, and a lot of lives in the next few years,” Gould said. “There have been several cases in the past several years where someone might have been saved if we had this system.”

The bracelets, which can be placed on a person's wrist or ankle, will use a battery to send out a signal to a special receiver, Gould said. On the ground, deputies will be able to find someone who is 1 or 3 miles away, while that range will increase to nearly 8 miles with the use of a helicopter that will be on call from the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office.

To ensure that the bracelets are always functioning, the batteries will be changed monthly.

Gould said the program was the result of the combined effort of Siefka and Undersheriff James Stowell, who contacted Onondaga County and the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office in Virginia that originally started the program.

With a $10,000 donation from the Stardust Foundation, Gould said no taxpayer money was used to fund the program.

While no one can be turned away from the program due to their financial situation, Siefka said her office will ask people to pay a $300 returnable deposit for the bracelet and an additional $10 a month for the battery replacements.

The only criteria that will limit those who are eligible for the program, is that the person must have a history of wandering and be monitored by a family member or a home health care aide who can alert authorities within half an hour of a person's disappearance.

Anyone who is interested in enrolling into the program can call the Office of the Aging at 253-1226 or visit its office at 160 Genesee St., Auburn, which is located in the basement.

For the people that meet the criteria, Gould said the program will be life changing.

“Very seldomly do we find a program that will truly save a life,” Gould said. “Another great thing is that people who have family members who fit into this program; what a relief it is for them to know that if these people they care for walk out, that we can find them quickly.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net