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

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 projectlifesaver.