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OCSO Participates in Project Lifesaver Program to Protect Residents

120 views · Published 28 February 2017 · 2:49 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: OkaloosaSheriff · 2017 · News & Politics

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In September 2016,  law enforcement officers from around the area joined forces to search for a dementia patient who had wandered away from his home on Willard Road in Fort Walton Beach. The use of a program called Project Lifesaver helped ensure that search was successful. 
The search had been underway for about an hour when Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Fulghum and Community Service Officer Leah Snaith of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office partnered up with WCSO’s Project Lifesaver technology. 
2:13  Sgt. Jason Fulghum, OCSO: Prior to Walton County being contacted, they had twelve to 15 police officers and one K9 unit who’d been searching for this gentleman for an hour and a half unsuccessfully. Once we got there and deployed the Project Lifesaver equipment, we were able to locate him in seven minutes. He was a half mile away from his house inside someone’s back yard inside their shed 2:34. 
Project Lifesaver pairs a small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that puts out a personalized tracking signal.  It’s designed to help locate individuals with autism, dementia, or any cognitive disorders who are at risk of wandering away from home and potentially unable to provide any information on their identity or address. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office now has four radio signal receiving units of its own to deploy when needed. 
1:05 You have to sign up for it. The equipment costs $250 but there are grants out there to where we’ve been able to get grants to most people for free. In addition they do have a monthly service fee, the Covenant Alzheimer’s Services comes out and changes the batteries for the clients but they’ve worked with them on that too where often get a price break.  1:22 
It uses a tracking device to pick up signals from a personalized radio transmitter placed on the person’s arm or leg.  Sgt. Jason Fulghum was trained in August on the search and rescue system. As of December the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office had trained sixteen deputies on Project Lifesaver and is working towards having all the patrol deputies trained on the system.
The successful recovery of the Fort Walton Beach resident was a perfect example of how it can reduce search times from hours to minutes in many cases. In fact, the average recovery time with the system is less than thirty minutes. 
2:43 The safety issue for him being found quickly. It was a hot day and he was inside of a shed. Fortunately he was okay but he was sweating profusely when we did find him. So the safety issue for the client. You’ve got the economic issues for the SO, for the law enforcement agency, having that many people out searching for that amount of time. So it saves lives and it saves money. You can’t ask for more than that. 
For more information on signing up for Project Lifesaver – contact Covenant Alzheimers Services or Sgt. Jason Fulghum at the OCSO.

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