Community Programs

Project Lifesaver

Giving caregivers and
families peace of mind.

The Project Lifesaver program has been implemented by the Morris County Sheriff’s Office in an effort to provide enhanced support and assistance to Morris County residents who are primary caregivers for an individual suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia disorder as well as families of children afflicted with Down syndrome, autism, traumatic brain injuries or cognitive impairments.

These individuals might be prone to wander away from home and become confused or lost. Project Lifesaver allows for a proactive response by law enforcement if this happens. This not only saves time and manpower but also, gives caregivers and families peace of mind and reassurance that all possible resources will be utilized in the effort to locate and return their loved one home safely.

Participants in the Project Lifesaver program wear a special wrist bracelet equipped with a small transmitter which emits a signal that law enforcement can track when someone goes missing. Search times have been reduced from days and hours, to minutes. Average recovery times are well under 30 minutes.

The Morris County Sheriff’s Office serves as the lead agency for Project Lifesaver and in this role, it coordinates the overall operations and management of the program to ensure effective services. Other area agencies provide collaborative support, funding and programmatic assistance in the areas of participant referrals and application review.

Interested in enrolling in Project Lifesaver? For your convenience, we have made the enrollment application available online in PDF format. In order to view it, you will need to have the freely available Adobe Reader software installed on your computer, version 4 or higher.

This is a “fillable form” and may be filled out on your computer. Please note that a fillable form isn’t the same as electronic filing and it is not possible to electronically submit a form—you must print it out after entering the information. Complete instructions are provided on the first page of the application.

Questions? For more information, contact Officer Moire Reilly at (973) 285-6675.

Quick Facts

How does Project Lifesaver work?

The primary legal family member/caregiver completes and submits an Enrollment Application.
Once the application has been submitted and approved, a Project Lifesaver representative contacts the family member/caregiver to schedule home installation of the unit.
The Project Lifesaver representative installs the unit and trains the family member/caregiver on how the unit and the program work.
The Project Lifesaver representative develops a schedule and trains the family member/caregiver on doing routine maintenance.
When an individual is discovered to be missing, the family member/caregiver places a call immediately to a designated emergency number for Project Lifesaver, and the global tracking device unit and search procedures are activated to aid in locating the person.

Participation Criteria

The enrollment application must be completed and submitted by the legal primary family member/caregiver for a relative with a physician-confirmed diagnosis.
The individual must reside in Morris County in a private home residence with a primary caregiver.