GRAVETTE - R&R Solutions, Inc., CEO John Rambadt, announced July 12 that the company filed for a patent on a child safety seat alarm device.
It is the time of year to remind people about the dangers of leaving children unattended in hot cars. This device is designed to alert guardians when they have left a child unattended in a child seat. The device delivers a series of alerts starting with an audible sound.
If the driver doesn’t return to the child immediately, the guardian’s phone locks and vibrates, only allowing 911 calls. After one minute, if the child is still unattended, text alerts with location details are sent to pre-programmed contacts. Finally, if needed, this device will start notifying the police with the child’s GPS coordinates.
Rambadt says the idea struck him while traveling with his spouse, Amy, and the R&R president. After listening to a radio public service announcement warning parents and caregivers to never leave a child unattended in a car, Rambadt remarked, “We are too smart of a country to not fix this!”
He designed and built the working prototype within 24 hours.
According to the nonprofit website kidsandcars.org: “Vehicular heat stroke is largely misunderstood by the general public. The majority of parents would like to believe that they could never ‘forget’ their child in a vehicle. The most dangerous mistake a parent or caregiver can make is to think it cannot happen to them or their family.”
Busy schedules, cell phone distractions, lack of sleep or rear-facing seats with sleeping infants can contribute to motor vehicle-related child hyperthermia fatalities.
A 2010 study conducted by Forensic Science Medical Pathology Group found that 80 percent of vehicular heat stroke deaths were a result of children left in unattended vehicles.
The leading group of at-fault caregivers defined as “in charge of child’s welfare at the time of heat stroke event,” was “alone mothers.” The leading reason for deaths across all categories was “child forgotten in car.”
Children left in a motor vehicle for even short time periods, in moderate ambient temperatures, are at risk for hyperthermia. The internal temperature within a closed motor vehicle ascends rapidly in the first 15 minutes despite variations in the rate of increase due to vehicle type, color and window tint.
The conclusions of the nonprofit child safety organization, KidsAndCars. org, are similar. Technology and education are the keys to ensuring this tragedy never happens to any family. They recommend every car produced be equipped with a monitoring device.
One entrepreneur has decided it is time to address the motor vehicle related child hyperthermia fatalities challenge.
Community News, Pages 7 on 07/24/2013