Cambridge start up launches patented electrical device designed to save Children’s Lives
"This is a very interesting idea. One of the greatest challenges for fire fighters is about rapidly locating and removing people from smoke filled buildings. Any device that will assist in this respect will be welcome in helping to address this challenge’” Andy Fry - Chief Fire Officer of Suffolk, Director of Public Protection, Social Inclusion & Diversity at Suffolk County Council.
New Cambridge Start Up, Life Light Rescue, is set to launch ‘Life Light’, the biggest breakthrough in children’s fire safety since the smoke alarm. On average there is a house fire every 10 minutes in the UK. The fact is that in the event of fire children hide, they are usually found dead or alive, under the bed or in the wardrobe. For Fire Fighters entering a burning building the priority is to find the child.... find the child’s bedroom and you find the child. Every second counts. In dense smoke there is no way the fire fighters can know if the room is the parents' room, spare room, study, bathroom or even a cupboard. Every door must be opened and the space searched. The problem remains - which door is the child’s bedroom...? The life light device is mounted on the door frame of the child’s bedroom door and is triggered by the sound of a smoke alarm. Once triggered it sends out an intense strobe light that penetrates the densest of smoke. Life Light has been hailed by Fire Chiefs and Industry Leaders as amazingly effective; Tom Carroll, past president of the UK Fire Chiefs Association and former Chief Fire Officer of Cambridgeshire stated: ‘It is to fire safety what cat’s eyes are to road safety’. Life Light reduces the time fire fighters spend searching empty rooms by guiding them to where your child is most likely to be hiding.... in their bedrooms. Life Light also minimises the risk to fire fighters, saving 3 to 5 minutes in an average house fire search and rescue situation. The Life Light was invented by founder Derek Wilson of Cambridge and has been almost 3 years in the development and patent process. Derek was advised by various dragons to licence his product but conventional retailing would have doubled the £23 purchase price to over £50. Derek himself, a father of 3 young children, felt that this product should be available to all and therefore chose the tougher route to market, direct online sales. Following this decision Derek took his business idea to Macintyre Hudson, 2 of their consultants liked it so much they chose to invest. Life Lights can only be purchased online direct from www.lifelightrescue.com. The unit price is £22.99 with 20 pence from each sale donated to charity.
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