Article Contributed on: 2/5/2007 4:08:11 PM
DENVER - Freshman
State Rep. Victor Mitchell, R-Castle Rock, guided his first bill through committee with ease Jan. 30, a measure that would provide counties the startup costs to help track people with conditions that make them wander and get lost.
HB 1064 breezed through the local government committee on an 11-0 vote. It now heads to a much tougher battle in the appropriations committee, which decides on bills that cost the state money.
The measure would provide a one-time, $380,000 grant for counties to purchase the necessary equipment for a program called
Project Lifesaver, which largely benefits patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, autism and Down syndrome. The bill would allow families to receive free ankle or wrist bracelets affixed with transmitters that quickly locate people who get lost.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department first implemented Project Lifesaver in Colorado three years ago. The county currently has 41 clients signed up in the program, according to Emergency Management Coordinator Sgt.
Randy Councell.
"The program is very successful," Councell said. "In Arapahoe County alone, we have saved over $54,000 in the last two years that would have been used to pay for overtime and equipment if it wasn't for Project Lifesaver."
The tracking technology cuts down search times from approximately nine hours to about 25 minutes,Councell said. That gives Arapahoe County residents like
Allison Patella peace of mind.
Her 18-year-old son,
Sam, is mentallyhandicapped and often takes off on his bike without warning, pedaling as far as 10 miles away. But since he started wearing the bracelet three years ago, life has been much calmer, she said.
"It has given my husband and I peace of mind that you could never imagine," she said. "Sam is still an escape artist, but now he's found with his ankle bracelet, usually in about 20 to 30 minutes."
Those sentiments were echoed by
Mattye Pollard-Cole, of Centennial, whose husband,
Cliff was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She decided to take part in the program after a bike ride last summer in which Cliff took a wrong turn and quickly got lost.
After an intensive three-hour search, he was eventually found at an office building near the Denver Tech Center, confused and overheated.
And
Richard Saiz, of Denver, said he's considering moving to Arapahoe County just so he can opt into the Project Lifesaver program. His 9-year-old son,
Graham, is autistic and is always at risk for escaping, he said.
"Graham is a toughie," he said. "He's not potty trained, he doesn't talk and he loves to run. If you're with him at a K-Mart or Home Depot and you turn your back, he could be gone in a minute. It's a 24-7 job. In my opinion, this program will save his life. To me, it's kind of a no-brainer. It's cheap insurance."
Linda Mitchell, president and CEO of the Colorado chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, strongly supports the bill.
"This is an opportunity for Colorado to get ahead of the curve in terms of providing a stronger safety net for people with Alzheimer's disease in our state," she said, adding that the association would provide extensive training to county sheriff departments at no cost if the bill were passed.
Colorado is facing an Alzheimer's epidemic, she said, especially along the Western Slope where more and more retired people are beginning to settle.
According to estimates, approximately 60 percent of people with Alzheimers will wander at some point during the progression of the diease.
Mitchell said he was pleased with passage of the bill but has concerns over whether legislators will scrap it due to its price tag.
"I'm really pleased but the challenge is money," he said. "I find it ironic that the state is having a record year in revenue and yet, for about a $380,000 expenditure that will save the state millions of dollars, everybody is still concerned about funding."
Mitchell said he hopes to draw the money from a special sub-fund of the tobacco settlement lawsuit.
BY THE NUMBERS
40 -- number of states that already participate in a Project Lifesaver program
9 hours and $12,000 -- estimated time and cost in search and rescue efforts for a cognitively impaired citizen without a specialized program
30 minutes and $200 -- estimated time and cost in search and rescue efforts with a specialized program
79,000 -- estimated number of people in Colorado with diseases that can cause wandering
140,000 -- estimated number of people living in Colorado with diseases that can cause wandering by the year 2025
SOURCE: COLORADO CHAPTER OF THE ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION
>