2025 Project Lifesaver® conference in Orlando, Florida on August 25 – 28, 2025

2025 Project Lifesaver® conference in Orlando, Fla., August 25 – 28*, 2025

Every day, precious resources and lives are slipping away in the name of “we don’t have the budget.” Among the alarming numbers of people with autism, dementia, Down syndrome, brain injury and other cognitive conditions who wander or elope in communities nationwide (including yours), too many will not come back alive.

That’s because hidden dangers await people with special needs who go missing, and it takes a specially trained and equipped rapid-response search team to find them before the danger does. Often people with cognitive impairments are unable to recognize, avoid and navigate the threats they face when they’re lost ­— nor can they necessarily help themselves be found. They may be:

• Panicked or paralyzed by fear.
• Unable to communicate.
• Trapped, entangled or injured.
• Dangerously close to water or traffic.
• On a bus to nowhere.
• Inappropriately dressed for extreme weather.
• Inside a stranger’s home, vehicle or pool.
• Buried in a dumpster.
• In a structure or location where GPS or cellular signals on which a caregiver relies can be compromised, misleading or simply don’t work.

They may even be completely unaware that they’re at risk — right up until the moment it’s “too late.”

Unfortunately, the worst-case scenarios are not uncommon when traditional search-and-rescue missions aimed at finding individuals with special needs typically take hours, days, weeks or longer. As many of us know first-hand, the longer an individual with a cognitive condition remains missing, the lower the odds are of finding him or her alive — despite what tremendous human, financial and other resources might be spent on the effort.

In contrast, a typical Project Lifesaver** rescue involves two to four certified electronic search specialists (ESS) within a local agency like yours and less than 30 minutes. If you’re not already running the Project Lifesaver program as a member agency, that team could be your team. What’s more: Project Lifesaver is extremely affordable to establish and run.

The difference: These special-needs cases have unique challenges that typical search-and-rescue and alternative technologies can’t address, which is why so many of the standard SAR efforts can be inefficient at best or unsuccessful at worst. But Project Lifesaver search specialists are specifically trained, certified and equipped to navigate these challenges and bring loved ones in their communities home quickly and efficiently by tuning into and tracking the designated radio frequency (RF) signals emitted by their wearable transmitter bracelets. Unlike alternative commercial devices designed to assist people at risk in other ways, the Project Lifesaver RF technology even operates in places and cases where GPS and cellular services and signals can be compromised or misleading or simply will not work.

Unsuccessful search and rescue (SAR) is a nightmare for all involved, and it’s only one of numerous unfortunate trends affecting people with cognitive impairments. In the absence of a caregiver, people with special needs risk being mistreated, misjudged or mishandled by others, including by law enforcement, simply due to the public’s lack of recognition and understanding of the neurodivergence at play.

The better we all understand the many facets, challenges, perceptions, needs and more of the individuals we seek to assist and protect, the better we can be in our roles as first responders, search teams and engaged members of our communities.

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At Project Lifesaver**, you had us at help. Start by registering now for the 2025 Project Lifesaver conference, to be held at one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations for four to six** days of education, training, networking and more among peers, special guests and a variety of distinguished speakers and experts from numerous walks of our profession. Not only is it a relatively small investment for an immersive look at the proven-effective Project Lifesaver program and why thousands of agencies like yours throughout North America and beyond have become trained, certified and equipped to implement it in their communities, but it’s an eye-opening — often even life-changing — experience for LEOs and public-safety professionals seeking deeper insights and optimal relations and outcomes in SAR and everyday encounters involving people with cognitive disorders.

Billed as “the highest-quality event of its kind, brought to you by the leading force in its field,” the conference will dive deep into current trends, legislature, best practices, behavioral insights, and game-changing methodologies/approaches and technologies in the fields of safety, protection, search-and-rescue, advocacy and care and understanding involving individuals with autism, dementia, Down syndrome, brain injury and other cognitive conditions, as well as support for LEOs and others affected by frontline trauma and first-responder PTSD.