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Safety of People

Safety of People

A GPS2Find tracker can provide "peace of mind" about the current location of a vulnerable family member, possibly leading to their rescue if lost.  Trackers allow Seniors to extend the time that they are able to live independently, saving their family and the State a fortune in so doing.

 

Finding a suitable tracker:  It can be hard to come up with a suitably small and unobtrusive GPS tracker to attach to the clothes, or body, of someone who has a tendency to wander and get into potentially unsafe situations. There is a direct relationship between tracker size and battery capacity (operating life). The time before a tracker will need to be re-charged is an important factor in choosing a tracker. There is a trade-off between battery life and physical size. The longer the battery life is, the bigger the battery. Newer models use power more efficiently and offer a number of operating (energy consumption) modes. Sometimes it is possible foe a Care Visitor or a family member to "call in" and use the duration of their visit to charge the tracker. The battery life depends on many factors such as how frequently it's set to report, how much of the time that it's in motion, how far indoors it goes, how strong or weak the satellite signal reception is, and so on.  Generally, the smaller a tracker is, the more frequently it will need to be charged.

Level of co-operation:  Another important factor is the degree of co-operation that the person needing the tracker, the "Wearer", has which can vary from tolerance to defiance, determined largely by their underlying disorder. The family members need to recognise that there is no universally perfect tracker for all folks. For some, GPS watches or pendants may be acceptable. For others, the tracker needs to be hidden in their clothing, or attached to a keyring. Sometimes nothing is accepted. Autism presents a particular challenge. The Wearer's willingness to carry or wear a tracker is crucial to success. Sometimes this willingness declies over time, as frustration can lead to non-co-operation. The key GPS purpose of the tracker may need to appear to be secondary to other tracker functions such as cardio- or temperature monitoring, or even medication reminders.

Ethical considerations:  A commonly held contention about GPS trackers may be that they are unethical devices, probably due to secretive covert uses to which they can be put. GPS trackers are potentially life-saving pieces of safety equipment. It is preferable to get a Wearer to agree to the use of a tracker while they are still coherent, possibly in writing, even in a legal document. If this is no longer an option, the use of a GPS tracker is prudent and appropriate, the opposite of unethical. Nothing should come before such a person's safety. People getting lost can be disastrous, leading to many outcomes including death and communal heartbreak, as occurred to Peggy Mangan and her dog Casper in Sept 2013, when more than 150 volunteers failed to find her in time. A tracker would probably have saved them both within an hour. 

 

Personal Safety & Security:  The Police, Gardaí, Gengarmerie, etc., waste thousands of hours searching for people because families haven't had the wit to invest in, and properly use a GPS tracker.

 

Data Protection:  Some trackers collect biometric or other personal data, which identifies the person who is being tracked, and stores it in a database. This makes the data "Personal Data" and hence covered by the Data Protection Directive. We do not sell such trackers, and never will. Our trackers avoid biometric data and electronic swipe carts / EFID cards that are unique to individual people, and hence "personal data". In our panels, it is the tracker that is being tracked, not a personal ID. The two can diverge. This important distinction avoids the otherwise onerous requirements of EU Data Protection &  GDPR that only apply to "personal data".

Panic button:  Some tracker models have a Panic button, which allows the wearer to request help by pressing it for about 3seconds. Doing this with a GPS watch/pendant model may send an SMS message to specified numbers, or possibly initiate a phone call to up to 3 numbers in turn, showing their location, depending on the model. Being able to know the location of a person in distress has incalculable value when it comes to rescue and the peace of mind of both the afflicted and the Carers. Emergency calls are only possible for some models and those with a "with voice" subscription/SIM. Without a "With Voice" subscription, there will nevertheless be alerts within the app and by SMS to specified recipients.

 

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Geo-fence operation:    All models are capable of operating a geo-fence/safety zone. These can alert up to 3 people/family members when the Wearer leaves and/or re-enters up to 3 user-defined zones/locations. This can keep particular family members up to date with excursions to and from a home, so they can take action if the Wearer leaves but doesn't return.

Carer interface:   There is no limit to the number of Carers who can view the location of the tracker, or its history if they have been given the login details by whoever is administrating the tracker. Each needs to download an appropriate (based on tracker model) app onto their mobile phone, or if using a bigger screen device use the web-app such as: www.trackserver.ie or https://mobile.trackserver.co.uk. These are simple but powerful user interfaces that come included in our product and subscription prices, as is their ongoing evolution and improvement. Our HowTo section explains how these work. We are available to answer enquiries by phone, and online, most of the time.

Operating the tracker:   The tracker needs to be switched on and be at least partially charged. Different trackers have differing internal batteries with various lives. When a battery's level drops below 20% a "low battery alert" message will be sent to the specified phone number.


GPS2Find GPS devices for minding the Vulnerable