LAURINBURG, NC (WBTW) – On Tuesday Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey announced a new program on Facebook to help prevent long searches for loved ones with cognitive conditions that cause them to wander.

Project Lifesaver Scotland County will provide relief to families and caregivers from the fear of not being able to locate their loved ones by distributing electronic bracelets to people with a history or potential for wandering. Each device will be assigned a unique frequency, and may be tracked by search and rescue receivers to quickly locate and return the person.

The Scotland County Sheriff’s Office says the new program will help save lives and reduce potential injury for people who wander due to Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, Dementia or other cognitive conditions.

In August, several members of the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office received special training on the proper operation of a hand-held tracking receiver recently purchased from Project Lifesaver. The device was funded by Scotland County United Way.

Without effective procedures and equipment, searches can involve multiple agencies, hundreds of officers, countless man hours and thousands of dollars.

It has been proven that in over 3,000 searches using Project Lifesaver, every person was found within 30 minutes.