77-year-old Louise Haines loves to go for walks, but as as her Alzheimers progressed the worst happened. She got lost.
"I was frightened to death," said her daughter Christine Chestnut.
Haines' daughter, Christine, was helpless during a 36-hour search.
Haines, a champion walker in her youth turned up 13 miles away.
"Fortunately.. It had a good ending," said Westchester County Police Sgt. Michael Brancamp.
More than 60 percent of Alzheimer's patients walk away and go missing at some point. This results in more than 30,000 search and rescue each year.
Now Haines wears a persoonal locator bracelet. It sends out radio signals, making it easier to track her down.
The radio signal is more effective than GPS in small areas because it won't get blocked by buildings, tunnels or bad weather. Portable receivers track signals up to seven miles away.
"The frequency that they have reserved for this is a medical frequency and it's saving lives," Sgt. Brancamp said.
Project livesaver says it has helped rescue almost 2,000 patients . It's available in 45 states. In some cases it is free,or it can be purchased for about a hundred dollars plus a small monthly fee.
When Louise walked off again on July 4th, the search took less than two hours.
"I knew that she would be found in a relatively short time," Chestnut said.
And the device can also be used by patients with Down's Syndrome and Autism.
