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Spring 2017


In the years preceding my retirement from the police force, I was the Chief of Search and Rescue for the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office in Virginia. It was in that role that I discovered how difficult it was to rescue non-cognitive missing indi- viduals before it was too late; through my failures I developed the idea for one of my greatest successes: Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is a 501 (C) (3) community based, public safety, non-profit organization that provides law en- forcement, fire/rescue, other first responders and caregivers with a program designed to protect, and when necessary, quickly locate individuals with cogni- tive disorders who are prone to the life threatening behavior of wandering. Project Lifesaver was the first to apply such locating techniques to aid in the search and rescue of individuals, and is the most widely used and proven most effective program in the nation that is specifically designed to protect the “At Risk” populations in our communities. The program was structured in a way that strategically combined state of the art locating technologies, innovative search and rescue methods, and community policing courses that educated first responders about cognitive condi- tions. The search times for certified Project Lifesaver agencies have been reduced from hours, potentially days, down to minutes. Recovery times for Project Lifesaver agencies average 30 minutes, which is 95% less time than standard operations without Project Lifesaver. To date, approximately 1,600 Project Lifesaver member agencies have conducted nearly 3,300 successful rescues with a success rate of 100%.


Aside from its numerous successful rescues and ability to reduce search times, what sets Project Lifesaver apart from similar organizations is the fact that it is a community involved program, not just a product. The Project Lifesaver program is more than wearable locating technology. Certified Project Lifesaver first re- sponders are given the necessary tools to respond to episodes of elopement involving children and adults with cognitive conditions. The program includes policing courses which enable first responders to understand the behaviors of individuals with special needs that tend to wander so they are able to interact with these growing populations in an effective and successful manner, which not only aids them in the rescue of non- cognitive individuals who are missing, but allows them to be more susceptible to understanding behaviors in the field. Participating public safety agencies gain more than just a locating program for their community and special needs families, the families gain peace of mind that their loved ones are protected and in the event of an emergency will be rescued and brought home safely.


Another advantage of the program is that the involvement and dedication given by the first responders par- ticipating in the program helps bridge the gap between the community and their officers; the Project Lifesav- er program helps create trust and relationships between the first responders and their community. Just re- cently an autistic male in California was rescued from harsh conditions with the potential to drown because he personally knew the first responder there to rescue him; the boy trusted the first responder, and because of that he is now safe. However, it was not only the connection built between the first responder and the boy that enabled him to be saved; his rescue was also a success because the first responders understood the be- haviors caused by his autism. Had they not understood the condition, they may not have searched nearby bodies of water first; in which case, the boy most likely would have drowned before being found.


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