Project Lifesaver is a program designed to help individuals affected with a cognitive disorder that may lead to elopement or wandering. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Project Lifesaver International to provide valuable equipment, employing transmitters to locate wandering or lost children and adults.
Citizens enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that emits an individualized tracking signal. If an enrolled client goes missing, the caregiver notifies the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, and trained search specialists respond to the wanderer’s area. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for clients average 30 minutes — 95% less time than standard operations.
The primary mission of Project Lifesaver is to provide timely responses to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children who wander due to Alzheimer’s, autism, and other related conditions or disorders. The ability to quickly and safely return a wandering person to their home provides the best possible result at minimal cost to taxpayers. Project Lifesaver is a great tool the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office can utilize to quickly find a client who is at risk and fulfill the mission of “Bringing Loved Ones Home”.
