News 12 at 11 o'clock, February 8, 2010

EVANS, Ga. --- A Columbia County retired dentist struck and killed over the weekend was a registered member of Project Life Saver, a Columbia County Sheriff's Department Program designed to help people with a tendency to wander off.

News 12 talked to the Columbia County Project Lifesaver Coordinator about how walk-offs happen and what could have been done, if anything to prevent the horrible tragedy that happened to Dr. Allmond.

Project Lifesaver is all over the country. It allows officers to track someone electronically. But the timing is critical, and in Dr. Allmond's case it it may have been too late to do anything.

"If we had been notified sooner that Dr. Allmond was missing, there might have been a chance for him, but there's no way to know that now," says Lt. Patricia Champion, with the Columbia County Community Services Division.

Lt. Champion runs the program for Columbia County and says Dr. Allmond was wearing one of their bracelets Saturday night - when he was struck and killed at the intersection. The bracelet, designed to help find people who wander away, was working properly.
"The last time we checked Dr.Allmond everything was fine," added Champion.

"In fact, we got the notification about the accident, prior to being notified that he was missing."

That is part of the tragedy. The little device,meant to help those with Alzheimer's Disease, Autism or other brain dysfunctions, only works when it is used properly. Lt. Champion explains.

"The person must be wearing the bracelet and the battery must be operative," says Champion."They (care provider) have to call us immediately. The caregiver has to call us if the person wanders off because again we're working in a one mile radius."

That one mile radius is crucial. News 12 used "Google" maps to look at possible routes Dr Allmond could have taken to get to the intersection and how long it might have taken him without stopping. At most - from the care home where he lived - it is appears to be about 2 miles either way - and would take 30 minutes on foot.

Champion says it is hard to say exactly how long Dr. Allmond was actually gone.

"If a client wanders and they' re gone let's say 3 or 4 hours and that's certainly going to limit our ability to search for them if they've been gone for quite some time," says Champion.

Here's how the device works. An antenna receiver picks up a signal from a bracelet, causing the receiver to "chirp." The sound gets louder when it gets closer to the bracelet and the it even works underwater, in buildings and in some places that a GPS sometimes may not. The bracelet is effective according to Lt. Champion and has a 100 percent success rate. But it's harder when the missing person gets a head start.

"Someone may tend to wander and it may be a few minutes before the caregiver realizes the person may be gone," says Champion. "We have not had to search for anyone,yet but if we do we will certainly be able to find them."

The service is available to people in Columbia County only; however, there is also another Project Lifesaver Program in Aiken County in North Augusta.