Abstract: A patient tracking system is employed to determine when an occupant leaves the confines of a nursing home or similar institution. Each patient has a transmitter strapped to his or her wrist which emits a signal having a distinctive radio frequency. The corridors of the nursing home include a plurality of sharp receiving antenna elements connected together in series by a coaxial cable. A scanning radio receiver is attached to the antenna system. The scanning radio receiver determines when the strength of the signal received by the antenna elements falls below a predetermined level at which point an alarm is sounded. If the alarm sounds, an attendant uses a second, directional receiver to track the patient who may have wandered away before the patient hurts himself or herself.