Project Lifesaver is in Van Wert County

VW independent staff and submitted information

Project Lifesaver has been around for more than two decades and recently was introduced to Van Wert County.

It’s a way for law enforcement to track at-risk individuals if they turn up missing.

“Project Lifesaver is a search and rescue device,” said Nikki Kuhlman, RN, BS CMH Nurse with the Van Wert County General Health District. “It is for clients who would wander away from home.”

The client wears a transmitter on the wrist or ankle and the sheriff’s department would have the receivers.

“They currently have three in the county so they would point those in different directions trying to hear the signal,” Kuhlman explained. “The closer they get to the transmitter, the louder it gets.”

They use ground based directional antennas to triangulate the location of the missing person. By the end of 2022, they hope to be able to utilize a drone to help with the searches.

In Ohio, 53 sheriff departments, 16 fire departments and three other agencies in the state utilize Project Lifesaver. Van Wert County has never had this particular search and rescue program until recently.

Currently, there are 15 children and one adult enrolled in the program. Putnam County, which started their program a few years ago, has six children and one adult using the program.

Kuhlman’s son, who has down’s syndrome, is a client of Project Lifesaver.

“That’s why I kind of started this project because he has escaped from the house a couple of times himself,” Kuhlman said.

Project Lifesaver is also useful for families who have loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“A lot of autistic children are on this already, or if you’ve had some sort of mental condition or if you’ve had like a brain injury,” Kuhlman said.
Every 60 days the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department will change the transmitter band and battery.

“In between that time the family or caregiver would test it,” Kuhlman said. “If the battery is not lighting up, the battery tester is not working then they would need it changed more frequently.”

In Van Wert County, clients 60 and older can sign up for Project Lifesaver through the Van Wert County Council on Aging, while those under 60 can contact Kuhlman at the Van Wert County Health Department.

“We’ll go over the program with them, get them some paperwork, review it with the committee and as long as there’s a need, we will find a way to get it for them,” Kuhlman said. “It’s currently no cost to clients. We were lucky enough to have the Van Wert County Foundation and some grant money so as long as that money continues, it will be considered free to the clients, however if you want to donate to it, all the money will go back to the foundation.”