On Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 7 to 8 p.m., Project Lifesaver will host a community information night at the East Lampeter Township building, 2250 Old Philadelphia Pike. The free event will educate people on the program's goal, process and how to enroll in and benefit from its services.

Project Lifesaver is a search and rescue program for public safety agencies, founded in Virginia in 1999 by an officer with the Chesapeake Bay's search and rescue team. The program was created to help people locate loved ones who are prone to wandering due to a cognitive condition such as dementia, autism or Down syndrome. When a family member enrolls a loved one, he or she must complete a contract and pay a fee to be provided with the equipment.

Once enrolled, a member of the program is provided with a bracelet that emits a radio frequency that is unique to the wearer. Several officers among local police departments are trained and equipped with a receiver and are dispatched in the event someone goes missing. Once at the location where the missing person was last seen, the officer is able to use the receiver to track and locate exactly where he or she is within a matter of minutes.

"The average time to find someone with Alzheimer's that is missing is nine hours, and unfortunately, by then it may be too late," said Kelly Osborne of the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop J, Lancaster. "Project Lifesaver has reduced the average search time to 30 minutes and has a 100% success rate in finding those wearing the bracelet."

Osborne became involved with the program in 2019, and Troop J officially joined the program earlier this year. With the state police on board, Project Lifesaver is now able to cover all of Lancaster County in partnership with 18 other local police departments. Due to the fact that state police have a wide jurisdiction, any area that does not have a police department enrolled in the program can still be covered within the program.

In October of 2019, Osborne's father, who had dementia and was in an assisted living program, wandered from his facility and was found deceased. Osborne heard about Project Lifesaver shortly after and began researching what it would take to implement it. She spoke with the Pilot Club of Lancaster, which soon became the project's main sponsor, and has become an advocate for the program and its success.

To enroll a loved one or learn more about Project Lifesaver, visit https://projectlifesaver.org/ or search for the Pilot Club of Lancaster on Facebook.