SAN DIEGO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — The tragic drowning of Albert Jones, a 7-year old boy, closely affected George A. McKinney, president and CEO, Better Life Technologies Group, Inc. As a result, in February 2014, he patented a swim safety system device, the "Albert Jones Anti-Distress Device" (AJADD) U.S. Patent #8,659,435 B2 – a device geared to making lives safer in every underwater situation around the globe.
McKinney has just kicked off an Indiegogo campaign – Saving Albert – in an effort to raise money to create the prototype for this new life-saving device which adds a layer of protection for potential drowning victims. It allows a swimmer to send and receive signals to and from a lifeguard or caretaker. Signals can be communicated via land or ship. So, if a swimmer is in distress, the swimmer can transmit vitality, or other needed information, to a lifeguard or caretaker.
"Our goal is to raise $360,000 to create a prototype for a product that will stem the tide of the nearly 400,000 people a year that die of drowning accidents, not counting the medical related injuries that may last a lifetime," McKinney says.
Better Life Technologies Group is in talks with two different engineering firms, DK Engineering in San Diego, Calif.; and Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies in Tempe, Ariz. Once funding is secured, one of the firms will be picked to move ahead with creating the prototype.
DK Engineering is a global product realization company specializing in the design, engineering and manufacturing of complex electromechanical products and equipment.
Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies is the Southwest's leading provider of engineering services and products for simulation, product development and rapid prototyping.
This life-saving device has gotten significant media attention and has appeared on NBC, BET News and KUSI's Channel 9 in San Diego.
The applications of the AJADD could be far-reaching, including use in swimming pools, rivers, lakes and in the ocean. It could be used on cruise ships, oil rigs and by the U.S. military and is even applicable for patient monitoring in hospitals and at home.
"We have the technology and we have the schematic, now we just need the funding," McKinney says.
To learn about the Indiegogo crowd funding donation levels: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/saving-albert .
For more information about Better Life Technologies Group: http://betterdesigntechnologies.com/ .
To view a product video: http://vimeo.com/87806730 .
To view an interview about this wearable technology on San Diego's KUSI Channel 9, visit: https://vimeo.com/94096752 .
About Better Life Technologies Group, Inc.:
Better Life Technologies Group, Inc. is driven by its mission to create the first cutting-edge swimmer safety systems that capture critical, real-time human vitality signs by using GPS and other life-saving data, and creating monitoring techniques for the prevention of human health dangers and death in water.
VIDEO:
http://youtu.be/WwnoozGkLSA
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