Trooper Kelly Osborne, a resident of Strasburg Township, has worked in Lancaster County since 2000. Over the years, she has developed friendships with several local police officers, state troopers, and employees of municipal departments, which is why she was surprised that she had never heard about Project Lifesaver until 2019.

That year, Kelly decided to put her father, Courtney Osborne, in an assisted living facility because his dementia had worsened. Prior to that, Courtney had wandered at least twice, and on one occasion, he got lost while driving and was found in Delaware County. On Oct. 18, 2019, Kelly received a voicemail at work from a sheriff. The voicemail was difficult for her to understand; all Kelly heard was "Project Lifesaver" and "Cape May, New Jersey." She decided to return the call later. The next day, Oct. 19, Kelly's father wandered from the assisted living facility and passed away at the age of 83.

It wasn't until about a week later that Kelly returned the phone call and heard about Project Lifesaver. "When he told me it was a search-and-rescue program for people who wander, I got chills," she explained. "This is like the universe telling me I have to look into this program and we have to become involved in it."

Project Lifesaver is a search-and-rescue program to locate at-risk individuals who wander. Its mission is to use state-of-the-art technology in assisting those who care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, autism, developmental disorders, Down syndrome, and other brain-related challenges across the United States. Project Lifesaver participants wear a personalized transmitter 24/7 on their wrist or ankle that emits a tracking signal on FM radio frequency. When a caregiver calls 911 and reports that a participant has wandered, a search team spreads out over the area and uses a receiver to locate the individual through his or her transmitter.

After receiving permission from the captain of Troop J - Lancaster, attaining funding for the equipment from Camp Cadet, and securing funding for the training from the Pilot Club of Lancaster, Kelly and three other individuals with Troop J - Lancaster participated in a three-day training course in July 2021 to become electronic search specialists. Six troopers were trained on Jan. 26 and another six troopers were trained on Feb. 8. The end goal is to have all of the troopers trained to use the equipment.

Troop J - Lancaster, which is located at 2099 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, patrols 19 townships and one borough in Lancaster County because these areas do not have their own municipal departments. In addition, Troop J - Lancaster covers part-time municipalities that do not operate overnight, such as Quarryville Borough and Christiana Borough.

Individuals with an official diagnosis can enroll in Project Lifesaver. To request an application for Project Lifesaver, contact Pilot Club of Lancaster member Cathy Cieslinski at 717-572-2682.

The Pilot Club welcomes new members. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/PilotClub or search for "Pilot Club of Lancaster, Inc." on Facebook.