South Sioux City launches program to locate vulnerable kids, adults

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KTIV) - New lifesaving measures for vulnerable children and adults are soon to be deployed in South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Project Lifesaver is meant to track down those who “wander,” like kids with autism or adults with dementia. The idea is to put bracelets on those who may need to be found, and then use frequencies to track them down when they’re lost.

It’s all paid for by a grant recently received by the South Sioux City Police Department.

”Without this technology, we’re spending much much more time searching for them,” said Steve Heide, an operations lieutenant with the South Sioux City Police Department. “A lot more man hours it’s very time-consuming. This will really cut that way, way down.”

Depending on the time of receiver police are using, Heide says they can get a signal up to a mile away. If multiple searchers are using receivers, they can triangulate the position of the missing person.

“They’re equipped with a transmitter,” said Heide. “And if they would happen to wander off, then they would call the police department, and we’d be able to obtain their transmitter frequency, where they wandered off from, and how long they’ve been gone.”

Heide says the program will be at no cost to residents, though they will need to go through a screening process to make sure they’re a good fit for the program. The program should be fully operational in the coming weeks.

Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact Heide at the police department.

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