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Two communities develop and train on tracking systems
 | 11.28.2005 | 06:47:26 | Views: 5552 | ID:

November 28 '06: Two communities in Mississippi and Massachusetts are developing tracking technologies to help them protect and prepare although the goals of the tracking are very different. In Mississippi, researchers at the state's University are working to develop a tracking system to help protect inland waterways. In Massachusetts, health officials are helping community members learn to use elderly patient tracking technology.

According to the CD Dispatch in Mississippi, "A joint research project between the university and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory seeks to devise a computer tracking and monitoring model that will identify in real time riverine-based barges and other vessels carrying potentially dangerous cargoes."

The research is funded through a $441,000 grant given by the Department of Homeland Security. One assistant professor working on the technology development, Mingzhou Jin told the Dispatch, "The proposed system will alert decision-makers to possible security threats by identifying strange carriers, strange destinations and deviations from pre-trip plans including schedules and routes."

In the Massachusetts community of East Bridgewater, medical officials are training public safety, first responders and town officials on how to use Project Lifesaver, a program that uses a tracking system to find a specified victim, or patient "who is under a 24-hour care program for Alzheimer's, Autism, and Down Syndrome, and may have wandered off, or become lost," The Enterprise reported.

So far, the technology has had more than 1,000 successful "search and rescue missions for wandering victims. ... All person's were found alive and returned home. Project Lifesaver has been successful because it actually locates the person quickly before it's too later," according to the site's website.

Emergency management and health officials are interested in the development and use of the tracking technology because of its myriad possibilities for other applications. West Bridgewater Police Officer Kenneth Thaxter told the Enterprise that during an emergency situation the technology would serve as an additional means by which victims could be tracked.

 

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