Keeping tabs on the vulnerable

MACHIAS — Ray Baron Sr. watched dementia play cruel tricks on his mother.

She didn’t always recognize her son, mistaking him for an uncle or cousin. The past was more often her reality than the present. Baron saw first-hand how the disease can steal people away.

Randy Fay has spent years looking for the lost. Many, often living with dementia, left their homes and didn’t remember how to get back. Some never found their way.

Baron and Fay are longtime volunteers. Baron, 75, of Marysville jokes that he works more hours now as the lead volunteer for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office than he did working full-time as an electrical engineer. He’s been volunteering for a decade.

Fay, 60, of Clearview, has been a member of the Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue since 1999. His day job is with the county’s Department of Emergency Management, where works as the homeland security program manager. He also is a fire commissioner for Snohomish County Fire District 7.

Both men are dedicated to a program that brings the lost home and back to their families. The program, Project Care Track, provides traceable bracelets to people who are prone to wander.

“This is not a babysitting service,” Baron said. “The system is designed for people with memory issues.”

The bracelets are outfitted with transmitters that send out unique frequencies that can be tracked by search-and-rescue teams equipped with receivers that pick up the signals. The receiver beeps louder the closer it gets to the bracelet, Baron said.

The signal can lead searchers to a lost person within minutes, not hours. That can mean the difference between life and death, Fay said.

Clients often suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia. Many of the children enrolled in the program are autistic or have Down syndrome. There are several clients living with traumatic brain injuries. The program costs $15 a month. Scholarships are available to those in need.

The sheriff’s office and the nonprofit Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue began looking into the program about dozen years ago after tragic deaths involving Alzheimer’s patients.

“We all took it hard. We started searching for a better way,” Fay said.

Since then they’ve been called out hundreds of times for people enrolled in the program. On average, it takes about an hour to find those wearing the bracelets.

“We have returned everyone home alive,” Fay said.

It also saves on manpower. It generally only takes six searchers to find someone wearing a bracelet, Fay said. The average search time for someone without a bracelet is eight to 12 hours, using up to 60 searchers, including police officers.

When they enroll a loved one, relatives fill out a lengthy questionnaire. The resulting file includes the person’s photograph and other information that can be useful in the search. The background is available immediately to search-and-rescue crews.

For example, families are asked to provide the addresses of previous homes or jobs. It isn’t uncommon for Alzheimer’s patients to go in search of their former homes, believing that’s where they live now.

Fay said the program also gives some peace of mind to often overwhelmed caregivers. Many look forward to the visits from sheriff’s office volunteers, who regularly change the batteries in the bracelets. Some caregivers can feel isolated as their loved one’s disease progresses and the demands increase, Fay said.

Baron, who has been retired since 1992, and a group of sheriff’s volunteers are in charge of enrolling the clients and maintaining the equipment. Baron also keeps careful records to help searchers.

He believes volunteers “are able to help people who can’t help themselves.”

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

For more information about Project Care Track, or to inquire about volunteer opportunities with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, call 425-388-3082.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.