When a child wanders off or disappears into a sea of people, for the panic-stricken parents it seems to happen in the blink of eye.
In only 15 minutes, however, Safety Officer Ann Frassica said parents can put together a tool kit to help authorities locate their child.
On April 6, in conjunction with several local groups, the Waltham Police Department will host its annual Safety Day at the American Legion Hall on Waverly Oaks Road.
"We try to encourage as many parents to come out and take advantage of this," said Frassica.
For more than two decades, families in Waltham have been able to produce a package of their child's information, which includes fingerprints, tooth impressions and DNA swabs. These pieces of information become invaluable to police officers when a child is missing or abducted, said Frassica.
"We've come so far," Frassica said. "Now, with the technology and the good partners like the Freemasons, we're able to offer so much more."
Along with the Freemasons of Massachusetts, and in collaboration with P.F.C. John M. Sullivan VFW Post 10334, the Joseph F. Hill Post 156 American Legion and their respective Ladies Auxiliaries, safety officials in Waltham are able to offer more than just a photograph and fingerprints to parents.
The biggest change, said co-director of the Masonic Child Identification Program James Spurrell, is the tooth impressions. Not only will search teams and rescuers have exact dental records, but police dogs will have the child's unique scent to track.
Spurrell said the enzymes in a person's saliva create a unique odor that give scent-discerning dogs a specific trail to follow. Once the tooth impression is made, the enzyme lingers, he said.
"The tooth impression gives a pure scent," said Spurrell, unlike an article of clothing or a blanket.
There are two or three such specially trained dogs in the state, including Mason from Dracut, he said.
At one particular training session, the scent-discerning dog was given a whiff of the teeth impression and could single out the correct child, who was standing alongside their identical twin in a crowd of hundreds, said Spurrell.
Although the event typically attracts parents with younger children, Spurrell said the identification program is recommended for all children every three years, including young adults.
"Especially if (your) child is going off to college, that's when you could really use that," he said.
The video, fingerprints, tooth impression and DNA swabs are not kept on file by local police departments, he said. All the materials go home with the parents, who are advised to keep them in a secure and accessible location.
"When a parent loses a child, they're in panic mode," said Spurrell, which makes it difficult to immediately remember facial recognition traits, mannerisms and birthmarks or scars.
Since the Freemasons began the program, over 250,000 children in the state have participated.
Although Fressica routinely gets reports of runaway teenagers, she said the department has fortunately not had to deal with any recent tragedies.
Also included in the activities are demonstrations from Waltham's K9 unit, drug and alcohol information for parents and reflective bike decals for kids. A representative from Shorin Ryu Karate Academy will also be on hand for an exhibit.
Spurrell said despite the media attention given to high-profile cases, which always generate a larger crowd for these events, abductions are rare.
"Even though it's very infrequent, it's not infrequent if it's your child," said Spurrell. "It's a program we hope never gets used, but when you need it, it's there."
The Waltham Family Safety Day is April 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Hall, 215 Waverly Oaks Road.
Kerri Roche can be reached at kroche@cnc.com or 781-398-8009.
