Back in October 2011 an 8 year old non-verbal autistic boy, Robbie Wood, went missing when he was at North Anna Battlefield Park with his family here in Hanover County, Virginia. Robbie was only wearing a red, long-sleeved T-shirt, blue athletic pants and blue shoes when he went missing. Overnight temperatures in the area hovered in 40s while daytime temperatures got up to the 60-70 degree range. Day after day passed with no sign of Robbie and thousands of professional searchers and locals came out to search for the boy. As each day passed hope dwindled that Robbie would be found alive.
At the time I was working at the Hanover County Communtiy Services Board (CSB) - the county mental health services as a mental health and substance abuse counselor. We were tasked with providing support to the family and searchers, especially if what we feared most happened. I was all set to volunteer on Saturday 29 October and prepared myself to wait out in the cold with the family for news of their son. Friday we got a call that Robbie had been found, alive! Needless to say there was much rejoicing and the entire community was relieved.
After that incident the Hanover Sherrif's Department was trained in and now offers Project Lifesaver for county residents who have cognitive disorders. This is a free service where the person wears a "small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that emits an individualized tracking signal. If an enrolled client goes missing, a trained emergency team responds to the wanderer’s area. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes." The average search time for someone wearing the locater is 30 minutes according to the Project Lifesaver website.
Every year the person gets a visit by a Sheriff Deputy to change the battery in the device to ensure it is working properly. Hanover residents can get more information about enrolling a family member or loved one in this service by visiting the Sheriff's website or contacting soinq@hanovercounty.gov or calling 804-365-6110.
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