Coplay Town Watch members gathered to set new goals for 2014 and appointed officers at its reorganization meeting Jan. 15.

The group reinstated Bill Leiner, Jr. as president and Beverly Miller as treasurer. Amanda Kesselringer accepted the role of secretary.

The CTW hosted a guest speaker, Martha Lieberman, who came to share information about Project Lifesaver.

Lieberman, the chair of Project Lifesaver in Lehigh County, explained the program seeks to provide tracking devices to help elderly people who have Alzheimer's disease, or anybody with an illness that may cause them to wander or get lost.

"Project Lifesaver is supported by the Lehigh County Triad, an organization devoted to providing assistance to older members of the community," she said. "Wandering and becoming lost is an issue for elderly people affected by Alzheimer's. Using tracking devices provided by Project Lifesaver has the potential to significantly decrease the risks associated with wandering."

The devices have also benefitted people of all ages who have Down syndrome or autism, and are also prone to wandering.

"The average search time for someone who is lost is nine hours, but with the tracking devices, it can be cut down to a half hour," she said.

The system works by equipping the program member with a transmitter that is generally worn as a watch and can only be removed with a key that the person's guardian keeps. If the person goes missing, the guardian calls police to issue a report and inform them of the person's transmitter chip number.

The police then use a tracking device receiver to aid their search.The police tracking device makes a beeping or bird-chirping sound as soon as they are within a three-mile radius of the missing person; the volume of the beeping increases as the police get closer to the transmitter.

The average cost of a transmitter is $300. Grants, donations and funding have provided the majority of Project Lifesaver members with transmitters.

A $5,000 startup cost covers purchase of receivers and the training of the law enforcement officials. Lieberman hopes to encourage smaller police departments to work together to "help the cost factor."

Currently, Allentown and Bethlehem are setting up Project Lifesaver programs; each received tracking device receivers from private donations through the Lehigh County Triad. Lieberman hopes by getting small communities like Coplay involved in the program, more people will have access to the help that they need.