All too often we hear about someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, onset Dementia, or autism, and other related conditions or disorders wandering off and being in great danger. It’s a terrifying feeling for the families and law enforcement not knowing if the individual who is lost will be found.

On Wednesday the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office showed off a very special program that they say has drastically cut back the time it takes to locate adults and children who wander away and are missing and in danger.

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, using small transmitters to locate wandering or lost children and adults.

Individuals who are enrolled in Project Lifesaver wear a small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that gives off an individualized tracking signal. If an enrolled client becomes missing, the caregiver quickly notifies the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, which then sends out specialists to search 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”. 

For more information about this program contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at 407-785-0270