Posted Thursday, May 24, 2012 --- 7:30 a.m.

WASHBURN, Wis. (AP) -- A county in far northern Wisconsin has joined an international project that relies on bracelet transmitters to help locate people who wander and become lost due to mental issues.

Bayfield County is rural and wooded, which can impede efforts to find wanderers.

So the county has joined Project Lifesaver. The program focuses on people who wander because of dementia, autism and other cognitive conditions.

As part of the project, the county has acquired enough equipment for five people to wear a bracelet transmitter. Sheriff Paul Susienka says his office still has money for more bracelets.

A Wisconsin Public Radio report (http://bit.ly/JdUAXj ) says one elderly person is wearing a bracelet so far.

Susienka says it's critical to find cognitively disabled people quickly because they often can't survive outdoors for long.

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Online:

Project Lifesaver: http://www.projectlifesaver.org

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Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.