06-02-2025
Crawford County Sheriff's Department restoring Project Lifesaver
CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Crawford County Sheriff's Department and Department of Emergency Management are joining forces to re-establish Project Lifesaver.
Project Lifesaver is a program that aims to help locate individuals with cognitive disorders or autism should they wander or go missing. Relatives of those who have cognitive disorders can sign up for electronic bracelets that can be located using radio waves. The bracelets can be used to help the caretakers find their wearers if they are lost.
'We used to have it several years ago, and that equipment got outdated and over time, it just quit working,' Crawford County Sheriff Daniel Perry said. 'When I took office, we started looking at grants for it.'
The department has received a $6,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America to cover the start-up cost, and they plan to renew the grant in future years to pay for any additional equipment they may need as the project expands. The grant will cover about ten bracelets, according to Perry.
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Veronica Robins with the Crawford County Department of Emergency Management said that the program costs nothing upfront for participants, and in the future, will only be an annual fee of $5 when the batteries need to be replaced. The only requirement to join the program is for the patient to have a cognitive disorder, including Alzheimer's, dementia, or autism.
'The time frame of saving someone, especially in a severe weather event, like a cold snap that we just had recently and fixing to have. If you have a person get lost in that weather, time is of the essence,' Robins said, 'The faster we can locate them, the more we're able to save that life. And that's our goal in search and rescue, that's our goal in the sheriff's department, is to bring everybody home safely, and as quick as possible.'
The sheriff's department plans to have the program operational by late March 2025. Residents interested in being a part of the program are asked to reach out to either the Crawford County Sheriff's Department by calling (479) 474-2581 or the Crawford County Department of Emergency Management at (479) 471-3260.
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