Some of you know my teenage son is moderate to high functioning autistic and has a tendency to wander at times. He also can't "read" people to ascertain whether or not they intend him harm, etcetera, so we obtained a GPS tracking device and paid for monthly monitoring from the LifeSafe program through our local Sherriff's office.
It's not a bad deal ... $25 per month and a cheapie and bulky bracelet which he actually kept on. The device appears to be of the quality of a happy meal toy watch - the wristband is a broad version of a hospital band and the device itself is about the circumference of a quarter and about an inch thick. The device is waterproof (or at least it was) and the locater's accuracy is within three feet of the device. The device is used a lot for Alzheimer's patients and other dementia disorder patients as well. Many people around the country are getting these devices for their loved ones as an inexpensive piece of mind. I even did a television spot for this program which not only airs locally once in a while but is also used in the training program for LEOs, EMTs and S&R candidates.
I was given a testing unit to make sure the device was sending signal and every time I tested it (weekly), the indicator received the signal. A volunteer through the County Sherriff would come out monthly to inspect the device, replace the battery, test it, make contact with my son, etcetera.
Then ... the device stopped working. I was told it was because we are now swimming in a salt water pool and the salt water degraded the o-ring which kept the device waterproof. Only problem is that he swam with that device in that pool for a year before the device became compromised. And after the entire unit was replaced, upon monthly inspection we saw more rust and water in the device. The tester revealed his device was no longer transmitting.
A handful of weeks ago, my teen ran away and was found several miles from my home on a freeway bridge over the Columbia River. Search and Rescue happened to be driving on the bridge at the time, drove by him several times and the device did NOT transmit. The very incident we feared and which we obtained the device for occurred and the device failed.
So I've been doing a little looking and found some very insightful information regarding GPS locating and other similar devices.
First, I found an old article from BBC News regarding a locking wristband which looks WAY cooler than the bulky item my son was wearing. Upon going to the website for that product, I found this: they no longer sell the product.
Why?
Because GPS is not always the best system to use to locate a person with.
I bought a parent pager long ago which is a rather neat device - there are two units, one of which clips to a child's clothing, backpack, pocket, etcetera (small, like a car remote) and another on a keychain for the parent. If child wanders and parent can't find him/her, parent can push a button on his/her remote and the child's pager will emit a constant beeping, allowing the parent to track his/her child auditorally. This little kit cost me $15.00 about 8 years ago plus the cost of batteries. In my situation, my son is auditorally sensitive, so the beeping when he wandered worked as a deterrant for him ... at least for a handful of years.
Then there are teen tracking devices for kids who drive and are not disabled.
Of course, there's always the good old cel phone, but when it comes to people like my son, that's not always an option. And many of these devices are only good up to about 1/4 of a mile.
So before you shell out a ton of dough or start racking up a montly debt, consider several things before you invest in these expensive solutions:
1. What exactly are my needs? If you have a young, typical child who happens to be precocious, you might only require a parent pager which can be bought just about anywhere child safety items are sold. If the child is older, a cheap cel phone might be a better choice.
2. How effective is the device and reliable the service?
3. How far will it track and what information will it give me?
4. How expensive is it?
It's not a bad deal ... $25 per month and a cheapie and bulky bracelet which he actually kept on. The device appears to be of the quality of a happy meal toy watch - the wristband is a broad version of a hospital band and the device itself is about the circumference of a quarter and about an inch thick. The device is waterproof (or at least it was) and the locater's accuracy is within three feet of the device. The device is used a lot for Alzheimer's patients and other dementia disorder patients as well. Many people around the country are getting these devices for their loved ones as an inexpensive piece of mind. I even did a television spot for this program which not only airs locally once in a while but is also used in the training program for LEOs, EMTs and S&R candidates.
I was given a testing unit to make sure the device was sending signal and every time I tested it (weekly), the indicator received the signal. A volunteer through the County Sherriff would come out monthly to inspect the device, replace the battery, test it, make contact with my son, etcetera.
Then ... the device stopped working. I was told it was because we are now swimming in a salt water pool and the salt water degraded the o-ring which kept the device waterproof. Only problem is that he swam with that device in that pool for a year before the device became compromised. And after the entire unit was replaced, upon monthly inspection we saw more rust and water in the device. The tester revealed his device was no longer transmitting.
A handful of weeks ago, my teen ran away and was found several miles from my home on a freeway bridge over the Columbia River. Search and Rescue happened to be driving on the bridge at the time, drove by him several times and the device did NOT transmit. The very incident we feared and which we obtained the device for occurred and the device failed.
So I've been doing a little looking and found some very insightful information regarding GPS locating and other similar devices.
First, I found an old article from BBC News regarding a locking wristband which looks WAY cooler than the bulky item my son was wearing. Upon going to the website for that product, I found this: they no longer sell the product.
Why?
Because GPS is not always the best system to use to locate a person with.
Now, there are other products available such as Ionkids, but of course they have only developed product for kids 12 and under for placement on their person such as the bracelet/wristwatch. This operates on a wireless radio and each unit has its unique frequency. There are other features which make this device attractive, especially for mothers of multiple children and for inside and VERY local, VERY recent separation.There is not a GPS product on the market that is small enough to be worn by a child under the age of 10.
- GPS only tells the person (or child) with the GPS device where they are. It does not tell anyone else (such as a parent or police) where the child is. In order to tell another person where the child is requires some type of communication system such as a cell phone or walkie-talkie connection. It was developed by the military and was designed to locate large objects such as airports, aircraft carriers our buildings. It was not designed to find people inside of buildings.
- GPS was designed to identify the coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude) of objects such as buildings, airports, aircraft carriers, etc.
- GPS operates through satellites transmitting signals to Earth. Tall buildings, canyons, tree canopies or building roofs, easily block those signals. It is impossible for GPS signals to penetrate to the first floor of most two story buildings and, therefore, it is nearly impossible to determine the
- GPS will not work underground in areas such as caves or caverns.
- Even if a GPS device was integrated into a cell phone device it would only operate properly in the country (and in the locations in that country) where the cell carrier offers service. It would not work in other parts of the country where cell coverage is non-existent or in other countries.
- GPS does not work in areas where either the GPS signal was weak (such in major cities where tall buildings block GPS signals from reaching the ground)
- At least three strong satellite signals are required to accurately triangulate a position.
- The location information would be transmitted back to the parent as either latitude / longitude coordinates (such as 36 degrees, 42 minutes, 16 seconds north latitude and 18 degrees, 17 minutes, 12 seconds west longitude), which are meaningless to most people or would be plotted back to a service like Mapquest. If plotted back to Mapquest then the parent would need to be at a computer to find out where their child is located. This is extremely impractical for parks, malls, airports, etc. A service could be provided whereby the parent could call a phone number and the customer service personnel could ping the bracelet and within a minute or two report back to the parent where the child is AT THAT TIME. There is, of course, the possibility that by the time the parent gets to where the child was, the child has moved to a new location, which would result in the finding process starting all over again.
- It does not have the capability to provide instant information.
I bought a parent pager long ago which is a rather neat device - there are two units, one of which clips to a child's clothing, backpack, pocket, etcetera (small, like a car remote) and another on a keychain for the parent. If child wanders and parent can't find him/her, parent can push a button on his/her remote and the child's pager will emit a constant beeping, allowing the parent to track his/her child auditorally. This little kit cost me $15.00 about 8 years ago plus the cost of batteries. In my situation, my son is auditorally sensitive, so the beeping when he wandered worked as a deterrant for him ... at least for a handful of years.
Then there are teen tracking devices for kids who drive and are not disabled.
Of course, there's always the good old cel phone, but when it comes to people like my son, that's not always an option. And many of these devices are only good up to about 1/4 of a mile.
So before you shell out a ton of dough or start racking up a montly debt, consider several things before you invest in these expensive solutions:
1. What exactly are my needs? If you have a young, typical child who happens to be precocious, you might only require a parent pager which can be bought just about anywhere child safety items are sold. If the child is older, a cheap cel phone might be a better choice.
2. How effective is the device and reliable the service?
3. How far will it track and what information will it give me?
4. How expensive is it?