Project Lifesaver Program Helps Law Enforcement Locate At-Risk Citizens Across The USA

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Also Included In: Autism;  Psychology / Psychiatry;  Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 18 Aug 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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It all started because of failure, a missing person who couldn't be located in time. It was and still is a story that happens monthly, if not weekly all across our nation.

For families and caregivers exploring options of how to protect a loved one who wanders away from the safety of their home due to Alzheimer's, Dementia, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities or other wandering conditions, there is hope.

Started in 1999, the organization began from the ranks of a Search and Rescue group affiliated with the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office in Chesapeake, Virginia, known as the 43rd Virginia Search and Rescue Organization.

Currently, there are over 735 agencies (Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire and more) in 43 states, District of Columbia and Canada participating in the Project Lifesaver® program Bringing Loved Ones Home®.

Since Project Lifesaver International is a non-profit (501 (c) (3)) organization, funding is a result of private and corporate donations and grants. Donations are used directly for programs, rescues and educational expenses.

To date, Project Lifesaver has had 1,732 national search and rescue of a Project Lifesaver client maintaining a 100% recovery rate and zero fatalities. The average national find time of a client on the Project Lifesaver Program is less than thirty-minutes.

People who are enrolled in the Project Lifesaver Program wear a personalized wristband that emits a tracking signal. When caregivers notify the local Project Lifesaver agency that the person is missing, a search and rescue team responds to the wanderer's area and starts searching with a mobile locater tracking system. Search times have been reduced from hours and days to just minutes, the average rescue time if notified is less than 30-minutes.

Before Project Lifesaver, searches across the country were averaging 9 hours and costing taxpayers approximately $1,500 per hour. Many searches actually took days, with hundreds of responders, resulting in much higher costs and many with tragic endings.

One search in Chesapeake in 1979 cost the city $342,000 and was unsuccessful. The basic cost to start this program in an agency is less than $8,000, finding someone alive is priceless.

For more information on Project Lifesaver or a participating agency near you, call 1-877- 580-LIFE or visit http://www.projectlifesaver.org.