The $10,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Criminal Justice helped pay for implementing the Project Lifesaver program through the Montrose County Sheriff's Office.
The Virginia-based Project Lifesaver International uses transmitter and receiver devices to track at-risk individuals, such as Alzheimer's patients or autistic people, who are prone to wandering away from safe environments.
  
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"The older and more frail they are, the less chance there is of survival."
Project Lifesaver, though, has a "100-percent success rate" for recovery, she said Wednesday, the day deputies and officers from several other area agencies practiced with transmitting equipment.
Transmitters are worn on the wrists of the at-risk individuals. Each transmitter has its own code, which is linked to information and photos on file concerning the Project Lifesaver client.
Transmitters broadcast signals to receivers carried by law enforcement agents.
Wednesday, a volunteer strapped on one of the bracelets and "wandered" away from the sheriff's office.
"We've got a search," Bock told officers and deputies, providing the woman's description and the frequency code for her transmitter.
Receivers can hold thousands of codes, each of which is specific to a given wrist transmitter. The Montrose search teams entered the volunteer's code into their receivers and began canvassing the area in which she'd last been seen.
"Remember to search with your ears, not your eyes," Bock called out.
"The victim can be in a gulley or a ditch," she explained to the Daily Press later. "You might not be able to see them."
Bock said the first step in a search is to perform a 360-degree turn at the victim's last known location to pick up a signal. Searches proceed outward from that, with more turns performed as necessary.
Montrose County Sheriff's Posse member Paul Gottleib picked up the signal first. As it grew stronger, teams walked toward it, listening for a tell-tale "chirp," the volume of which indicates how close by the missing person is. As the signal increased, searchers turned down the sound.
"That way, as the receiver sweeps back and forth, it will narrow the field of search," Bock said.
This time, the "victim" was found within 10 minutes.
The range of the devices is only a mile when carried by ground crews and less — about a quarter-mile — when the receiver is attached by magnet to a vehicle. Bock said search vehicles in this instance would drive very slowly.
Both Bock and Richard DeWeber, MCSO lead investigator, said the Project Lifesaver devices save time when every second counts and also save money.
The costs of a Project Lifesaver search are usually much less than a traditional ground search, which requires more manpower and resources.
"It took us 40 minutes with eight people and an incident commander," DeWeber said of an earlier test-search Wednesday.
The MCSO's addition of Project Lifesaver is also a boon to the area. Previously, Mesa County was the only one in the region with the program in place.
Bock said Montrose County was going to work with other agencies in Delta and Ouray counties, as well as the city of Montrose and town of Olathe.
Recent legislation allowed grant money to be used by counties to purchase Project Lifesaver equipment. Any county in the sate is eligible to apply for up to $10,000 to help defray start-up fees, Bock said.
Additionally, Mesa and Montrose counties plan to coordinate aid efforts. "I'm glad you guys started it," Jeff Melchior, Project Lifesaver coordinator for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office said. "We felt like the Lone Ranger out here."
Representatives of non-law enforcement agencies also said they were pleased to see the program in place.
"Many of our patients with dementia and Alzheimer's tend to wander," said Laurie Frasier, regional director for the Alzheimer's Association in Grand Junction. "It's an excellent program. It's security for our caregivers."
Frasier attended the MCSO's training Wednesday, as did Rhonda Lewis of Delta's Adult Protection Services.
According to its Web site, Project Lifesaver was "formed by law enforcement officers for law enforcement officers." It does not allow private citizens to purchase the transmitter devices, Bock said.
In Montrose County, interested parties will have to sign up with the sheriff's office which will decide who gets the 10 available bracelets on basis of need.
"If they have a history of wandering, they would probably be on the list," Bock said.
Ultimately, the at-risk individual's welfare is the responsibility of his or her caregiver, she added. "These bracelets can't be used as an electronic babysitter."
Bock said the county hopes to obtain funding for more of the devices and she is writing another grant.
"We want to keep this at no expense for the caretakers, because they already have enough to deal with."
Program applications are available at the sheriff's office, located in the Justice Center on North Grand Avenue. For more information, phone 252-4023 and ask for Bock.
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