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PRINTER'S NO. 2790
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1956
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY SIMMONS, DRISCOLL, BOBACK, CALTAGIRONE, MACKENZIE,
SCHLOSSBERG, BARRAR, HAHN, CUTLER, D. COSTA, LONGIETTI,
EVANKOVICH, BERNSTINE, MEHAFFIE, LEWIS, FARRY, GILLEN AND
DiGIROLAMO, DECEMBER 7, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, DECEMBER 7, 2017
AN ACT
Establishing a pilot program to provide training, equipment and
personal devices to aid search and rescue efforts for
individuals with special needs.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Project
Lifesaver Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Associate." An agency or organization that has all of the
following:
(1) Instruction and training in the technology used to
track individuals who wander and the ability to provide
personal transmitter devices.
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(2) An association with a member.
"Member." An agency or organization that:
(1) completes training;
(2) becomes certified in the use of the approved
technology and equipment; and
(3) purchases approved technology and equipment from an
approved international nonprofit organization.
"Public safety agencies." Public or private organizations,
agencies or departments responsible for enforcing laws or
responding to emergencies, including police, fire, emergency
medical services and sheriffs.
"Technology." Electronic tracking equipment approved by an
international nonprofit organization that receives an
individualized tracking signal emitted from a personal
transmitter worn by an individual either around the wrist or
around the ankle.
"Training." Instruction by an approved international
nonprofit organization staff or by a law enforcement
professional certified by that approved international nonprofit
organization to instruct individuals in the technology used to
track individuals who wander.
Section 3. Pilot program.
A pilot program to be known as Project Lifesaver is
established to provide resources for public safety agencies to
purchase and be trained on state-of-the-art technology and
personal transmitter devices to aid families and local emergency
agencies in locating an individual with a cognitive disorder or
condition who has wandered away from the individual's home or
family.
Section 4. Funding.
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(a) Attorney General.--The Attorney General shall fund the
$100,000 pilot program.
(b) Distribution.--The funding for the pilot program shall
be distributed as follows:
(1) Seventy-five percent of the funding shall be used
for a regional training session to train new agencies as
members or associates in the use of the technology and to
provide the members or associates with the equipment and
personal transmitter devices for the members or associates to
distribute.
(2) Twenty-five percent of the funding shall be used for
personal transmitter devices and updated technology to be
provided to members and associates established prior to the
effective date of this section.
(c) Procedure.--The Attorney General, in consultation with
an international nonprofit organization capable of providing
personal transmitter devices, responders and training to
agencies and organizations, shall establish criteria and select
participants for the pilot program based on a first-come, first-
served basis.
Section 5. Report.
Within 365 days of the establishment of the pilot program
under section 3, the international nonprofit organization shall
submit to the Attorney General and the Appropriations Committee
of the Senate and the Appropriations Committee of the House of
Representatives a report which shall contain the following:
(1) The number of individuals who benefited from the
pilot program, including information such as the number of
individuals who used tracking devices under the program, the
number of people who were trained through the program and the
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estimated number of people who were impacted by the program.
(2) The number of public safety agencies that applied
for funding under the pilot program.
(3) The number of public safety agencies that received
funding under the pilot program, including:
(i) The number of State and local public safety
agencies that used the funding for training.
(ii) The number of State and local public safety
agencies that used the funding for tracking technology
and personal transmitter devices.
(4) The number of individuals with a developmental
disability with wandering tendencies who went missing and the
result of the search for each individual.
Section 6. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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