Today in the United States more than 5.3 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and more than half of these people will wander away from their homes and become lost, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Once these people are lost, they become easy targets for predators and are at high risk of injury and death. It is Project Lifesaver’s mission to find these people before harm befalls them and return them home.
Project Lifesaver uses state-of-the-art technology and trained rescue teams. Its search-and-rescue operations are based on a tracking device, programmed into an ID bracelet worn by the mentally impaired person. This device emits tracking signals that allow search and rescue teams to pinpoint the person’s location.
Members of the Project Lifesaver team also have to receive special training, where they learn how to effectively communicate with a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Down syndrome, or some other like disorder, because the team also needs to know how to help someone who is disoriented, afraid, and untrusting.
Project Lifesaver is the next best thing to a guarantee that mentally impaired members will be returned home safely. In the past decade, this program has made 1,900 searches with a 100 percent success rate, according to Project Lifesaver International. With the equipment and training of Project Lifesaver, these search and rescue missions take much less time and are more effective in preventing harm from coming to these lost people. Most recovery missions take less than 30 minutes, and in over 1,800 searches, there have been no reported serious injuries or death, according to Patrick Harris, former executive director of the Crime Prevention Association of Virginia and promoter of Project Lifesaver and now part of NCPC staff.
Without Project Lifesaver and the technology it offers, the search for lost people could take many days and require hundreds of search parties, not to mention the expense the community must pay for all the time and labor put into the rescue mission. The highest cost, however, would be the loss of a person, whether a brain damaged child or a mentally impaired elderly grandmother.
Project Lifesaver performs an invaluable service to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We owe it a debt of gratitude. Do you know of a similar program that should be publicized or praised?
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