Project Lifesaver is the premier search and rescue program operated internationally by public safety agencies and is strategically designed for “at risk” individuals who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering.
The primary mission of Project Lifesaver is to provide a timely response to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children with the propensity to wander.
Project Lifesaver’s Program has helped provide thousands of families with a greater peace of mind knowing their loved one has protection and safety in case they wander.
To date, Project Lifesaver has recorded over 4,200 saves worldwide.
The La Plata Police Department is offering Project Lifesaver equipment free-of-charge to any resident with Autism or other intellectual or developmental disabilities, or with Alzheimer’s, dementia or other cognitive disabilities. Like all technology, Project Lifesaver has limitations, however it is proven to be a difference maker for first responders attempting to locate an individual who has wandered.
The funding for LPPD’s Project Lifesaver was an initiative paid for by a Bureau of Justice Grant: The Kevin and Avonte Program: Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities. This program provides funding to law enforcement and other public safety agencies to implement, locative technologies that track missing individuals, and it provides funding to such agencies and partnering nonprofit organizations to develop or operate programs to prevent wandering, increase vulnerable individuals’ safety, and facilitate rescue.
LPPD staff will begin training on this lifesaving technology on November 14, 2023.
La Plata residents interested in having Project Lifesaver technology provided free of-charge to a friend or family member should contact Corporal Jordan Madison or Kimberly Hayden at 301-934-1500
