arduino: determining if Bluesmirf is connected

My current setup is an Arduino pro mini+ Bluesmirf. I'm having a lot of trouble getting a code that can tell when the bluesmirf connection is established. Serial.Available() only works when there is data being transferred, but for my case I'm not transferring any data. Isn't there some way of telling that the Bluesmirf is currently connected?

thanks for any help!