Tracking and monitoring technology can be a valuable tool in helping to locate missing individuals who have autism, dementia, or Alzheimer’s. These tools utilize different technologies such as GPS, cellular triangulation, Wi-Fi and RFID to provide real-time location information, which can be accessed by caregivers or authorities through a web-based interface or mobile app, providing peace of mind for caregivers and loved ones and helping to quickly locate individuals who may be in danger.
Many police departments in the country have already begun to take advantage of these technologies to locate and rescue missing citizens who have autism, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Just a few days ago, the Chelmsford Police Department reported that they located a missing woman using a tracking system called the ‘SafetyNet® System’. The SafetyNet® is intended to assist in the faster identification of missing people with cognitive impairments that have a tendency to get lost or disoriented. Police departments provide qualified participants a SafetyNet bracelet to wear around their wrist or ankle at all times. The bracelet has a radio frequency transmitter that transmits a continuous signal that may be used to pinpoint the user’s specific position if they go missing. In some cases, SafetyNet’s radio frequency technology has been proven to be more successful than GPS or cellular, particularly in tough environments such as thickly forested regions, buildings, basements, and shallow water.
SafetyNet® is a service provided by TraKTec LLC. TrakTec develops and offers cost-effective, scalable location awareness technology for consumer, corporate, and government applications. The SafetyNet Bracelet is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Bluetooth-based tracking system backed by government subsidies and used by police departments around the country to enable police search and rescue for elderly people who have wandered off. Last week, MetAlert, Inc. (MLRT) a leading solution provider for consumers/patients afflicted with movement, cognitive and spatial awareness disorders, a market that represents approximately 2.9% of the world’s population, announced it had signed a Heads of Terms with TrakTec to acquire the company and the SafetyNet technology. MetAlert, is best known for its award-winning patented GPS SmartSole® – Think Dr. Scholl’s meets LoJack, the world’s first invisible GPS wearable tracking device created for those at risk of wandering due to Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism and traumatic brain injury.
As the number of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease continues to rise, the wearable monitoring and tracking technology business will continue to expand in the coming years. The example above shows that it can make a real difference in the lives of those affected by these conditions.