MainStreet MD CareTracker Series
MainStreet MD has designed three simple-to-use personal location devices that integrate Global Positioning and GSM cellular technologies to advance the care and protection of children and adults challenged with Autism Spectrum and other developmental and sensory disorders. Depending on the model, these lightweight devices can be worn as a wristwatch (CareTracker 900), clip to the child’s or adult’s belt or worn comfortably around the neck as a pendant, or carried in the pocket of his or her clothing (CareTracker 100 & 300).
How it Works
The MainStreet MD CareTracker system allows family members or professionals to designate up to five “safety zones” where a child or adult in their care, and challenged by autism or other developmental and sensory disorders, can move about freely without the necessity of direct supervision. These pre-determined safety zones could be the affected individual’s home, school, neighborhood park or ball field, or generally any geographic area the primary family or professional caregiver deems permissible.
Every half-hour, the MainStreet MD CareTracker system generates a report detailing the affected individual’s location at 10-minute intervals, and illustrated on a Google® map. The primary family or professional caregiver can access the CareTracker system map online from a computer, iPhone®, or smartphone. Each time the affected individual wearing the device passes outside the defined safety zone, the caregiver and up to four other “buddies” are notified by email and text message that the safety zone has been breached. A safety zone breach may be an early indication that the affected individual has wandered off, or become lost or disoriented.
MainStreet MD’s Emergency Response Center
In the event of an affected individual becoming lost or wandering outside the designated safety zone, MainStreet MD’s Emergency Response Center can be notified in two ways. A family member or professional caregiver may call the MainStreet MD 800 number, or the person wearing the device can push the CareTracker SOS button. A concerned person who locates the autistic child or adult may also be press the CareTracker SOS button, which is located on the left-hand side for the CareTracker 100, and in the middle of the face for both the CareTracker 300 and 900 series.
MainStreet MD recognizes that in the event of an autistic child or adult eloping, family and professional caregivers want to actively participate in search procedures. They don’t want to stand idle during the anxious and often critical passing minutes—waiting, and waiting—until local police and emergency personnel arrive on the scene. That being the case, when the CareTracker SOS button is pressed, all people on the “Buddy List” are notified through email and text that an emergency has occurred.
Once MainStreet MD receives the emergency notification, the reporting frequency is increased to real-time. MainStreet MD utilizes the first responder database of the Department of Homeland Security, which comprises every local police, fire and rescue agency in every community in the US, Canada and Mexico. The MainStreet MD Emergency Response Center calls the local first responders and provides the location of the affected individual, remaining on the line with emergency personnel until the missing person is found. If the local responders are equipped with computers in their vehicles, MainStreet MD provides them with a link and password to the tracking map system so that they can derive real-time information simultaneously with the individuals on the affected individual’s “Buddy List.” In addition to North America and Mexico, the MainStreet MD system map is also operational in Europe.
MainStreet MD CareTracker Series Devices
MainStreet MD offers a variety of personal location devices designed to meet the various needs and budgets of primary family and professional caregivers of children and adults challenged with Autism Spectrum and other developmental and sensory disorders.
CareTracker 100 is MainStreet MD’s basic personal location device, not much larger in size than a Tic Tac® dispenser. The CareTracker 100 offers personal tracking, pre-set safety zones, email and text alert notifications, and SOS features.
CareTracker 300, which also offers tracking and SOS features, is a limited use, mini cell phone with four pre-programmed telephone numbers. In the event he or she is disoriented, the affected individual carrying the CareTracker 300 need simply push a button to speak to a family member or caregiver, or summon the MainStreet MD Emergency Response Center. They needn’t be able to recall a phone number, nor read the name associated with a cell phone’s speed dial function. Further, a family member or caregiver can call the child or teen wearing the CareTracker 300 if there is a situation requiring their immediate attention.
The MainStreet MD CareTracker 900 offers the same features as the 300, in addition to several significant enhancements. The pre-programmed telephone can store up to 50 phone numbers. And the CareTracker 900 wristband, which interlocks to prevent an affected individual from removing it, will send an email and text notification to a family member or professional caregiver when an attempt is made to cut or unfasten it.
Fall Detector Feature (available on CareTracker 300 and 900)
The MainStreet MD CareTracker 300 and 900 are also equipped with a sophisticated Fall Detector, appropriate for any affected child or adult whose accompanying physical or medical condition may at times put them at risk for accident or injury. The MainStreet MD Fall Detector features a sensitive motion accelerometer, which can be programmed in levels from 1-to-10, relative to the affected individual’s natural range of movement or physical limitation. Once a fall is detected, the CareTracker 300 and 900 require the wearer to acknowledge the event by pressing a button. If the fall is not acknowledged, the CareTracker will automatically call the MainStreet MD Emergency Response Center, while the affected individual’s family or professional caregivers and buddies are notified via email and text. This particular advantage of the MainStreet MD CareTracker 300/900 over other medical alert devices is especially critical, given the possibility that an injured autistic child or adult could become physically unable to push a SOS button. With MainStreet MD CareTracker, we do it for them, notifying caregivers and immediately sending first responders for help.