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3 | Friday, D e c e m b e r 2 , 2 0 1 6 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insideH A LT O N .com Project Ufesaver tracks wandering or missing persons by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Halton police annually respond to about 500 missing person calls. That' s what Halton Insp. Nick Milinovich told Halton Region' s health & social services committee Tuesday (Nov 29). Many of those calls involve wandering or missing persons with cognitive disorders or issues, such as Alzheimer' s or autism, he explained. To better respond to "the most vulnerable population in an area that we regularly engage in from a police service perspective, " Milinovich said HRPS is launching a new rapid response and rescue program to help locate wandering or missing people by way of a tracking device. Project Tifesaver Halton, to be implemented in 2017, will see those enrolled in the program, wear a small personal transmitter device, with a tracking signal, around their wrist or ankle. If the participant goes missing, their caregiver notifies Project Tifesaver, which will send out a trained emergency team to respond, according to a related Halton Region report. A receiver antenna will be used to communicate with the wandering person' s transmitter to help pinpoint their location and movement. "We expect this program will allow us Insp. Nick Milinovich to better those outcomes and scenarios," Milinovich said. To help make the service, which will initially cost $575 (for bracelets and batteries), more accessible, financial assistance for eligible, lowincome participants through Halton Region' s Employment and Social Services budget was approved. It should be formally approved at Regional council on Dec. 14. "It' s great to see this program here and I'm certainly very supportive of it," said Burlington councillor Marianne Meed Ward, among a number of other councillors who expressed their support of the program. "This issue hits very close to home -- still does in Burlington when we had an elderly woman go missing, Helen Robertson, who still hasn't been located. It' s still a tragedy for our community" Robertson went missing in early July from her home in Burlington. An extensive ground and aerial search was conducted, but Robertson remains missing. Meed Ward asked if other jurisdictions have had any difficulty getting people at-risk to wear the bracelets. Milinovich noted although there are some "inherent difficulties in the program," HRPS has found success relies on the support networks in place for people who may use it. W hen coupled with promotion, ensuring the right people are aware of it and incorporating an element of prevention and education, the oudook is positive, he said. "When we looked to some of the neighbouring jurisdictions, one of the things we found is once people were incorporated into that particular program, it led to a 100 per cent success rate in locating people upon wandering, some really positive results initially" Neighbouring municipalities, such as Peel, Niagara, Guelph and York, have been participating in Project Lifesaver for three to 10 years, with a range of 50-100 program participants in each jurisdiction who have registered and purchased the tracking bracelets and batteries. The HRPS Victims Service Unit will be overseeing Project Lifesaver Halton and purchase equipment (four receiver devices), provide training and cover resource costs required to operate the program. For more about Project Lifesaver, including the application process for financial assistance, contact Access Halton at 311. Halton Region and HRPS websites will also include information on the program. S c h o o l jp s i * SU 1 Glenburnie School fW osd& www.GlenbumieSchool.com 2035 Upper Middle Rd. East at Ford Drive,Oakville (905) 338-6236 OPEN HOUSE W ednesdays 9am P re s c h o o l - G ra d e 8 Let Your N atu ral B eauty Shine T h ro u g h A t Any A ge N O N-SUR G ICAL OFFERS L a s e r S k in R e ju v e n a tio n * Acne Treatment * Laser H air Rem oval * Photofacial * Skin Resurfacing In je c ta b le s : * Botox * Fillers/Juvederm S kin H e a lth M a n a g e m e n t : * Facial Peels * Latisse * Comprehensive Skin Care Analysis * Sclerotheropy * ZO Skin Health Non-Surgical Body Contouring Vanquish Exilis GRACE CLINIC Voted #1 Facial and Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon in Dr Douglas Grace B.SC. M.D. F.R.C.S.C Plastic, Reconstructive, & Laser Surgeon PLASTIC, RECONSTRUCTIVE &. LASER SURGERY 905 336 9636 |200-481 JOHN ST., BURLINGTON | WWW.DRGRACE.CA Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton Multi-day discounts and weekly rates available, Long KM packages available, 0.29/KM over standard