Electronic Angels

The term “Electronic Angel(s)” was coined circa 1999 for and about the Project Lifesaver special-needs expedited search-and-rescue program during its infancy. More specifically, it applied to the people — often referred to as the lifesaving “angels” — behind the program, including its founder, “Chief” Gene Saunders, a pioneer in what’s now more broadly referred to as assistive technology, and the growing number of first responders who embraced Saunders’ trail-blazing vision of rapid and effective search-and-rescue methodology and proven technology to support a mission of “bringing loved ones home” after they have wandered or eloped due to autism, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, brain injury, Down syndrome and/or another cognitive disorder.

The use of radio-frequency, or RF, assistive technology enabled law enforcement, search units and other public-safety professionals to electronically tune in to and track the wearable locator devices of missing program participants and home in precisely on their exact location, saving precious time, resources and, most importantly, lives.

RF technology played (and still plays) a critical difference-making role in the ongoing success of Project Lifesaver’s unwavering mission.

According to Saunders, and as told in numerous interviews between Saunders and newspaper and magazine reporter and author Nora Firestone between 2008 and ’16, the Electronic Angel(s) moniker was bestowed upon the Project Lifesaver initiative early on by (the now late) Nancy Gray of Pilot International, a woman whose enthusiasm for the concept and its potential and long-term implications grew exponentially as Saunders presented his research- and expertise-based vision to Pilot Club members, local health and safety providers and others during efforts to raise awareness, funding and support. Pages 165 – 167 of Firestone’s book “Deploying High: The Man, the Mission and the Story Behind Project Lifesaver International, the Leading Force in Special-Focus Search-and-Rescue for the Cognitively Impaired” conveys Saunders’ lifelong embrace of the concept of angelic protection and the inspiration for his own mission as follows:

“He believes in God. He also believes in Jesus as Christ. ‘And I guess maybe I’m weird,’ Saunders added, ‘but do I believe in angels? Yes. Guardian angels? Yes, I do,’ he said. Saunders believes that everyone has a guardian angel…

“Many refer to Saunders as an ‘angel on Earth.’ Those who don’t subscribe to the concept of the supernatural could simply pose the question, ‘With allies like him, who needs angels?’

“But the magic of it makes complete sense to former SEAL O’Connor. ‘When he explained to me that he’d started Project Lifesaver, I was not surprised at all,’ he said of Saunders. ‘The current success story of Project Lifesaver will live beyond all of us because of Gene’s vision and inspiration.’”