DHS App Aims to Help First Responders Find Missing People

The Department of Homeland Security is trying to use smartphones to streamline the search for missing persons. DHS is currently promoting a mobile app called "Lost Person Behavior," which includes advice for first responders about where to search for victims and how to approach them when they're located. The app was first released in the spring of 2015. he app gives users tactical advice based on specific characteristics of each case -- mental state of the missing person (dementia, autism, etc.), local terrain, climate and other factors such as "abduction" or "water activity."

The app might recommend, for instance, that missing persons suffering from dementia are likely to cross roads, and that search teams should look in brush, briars and drainage. (Once dementia patients are located, the app advises, responders should approach from the front and make eye contact. Response teams can also use the app to mail out tactical briefing lists out to their colleagues.