DKL LifeGuard Dramatically Cuts Search Time in Avalanche Drill
Vienna, VA – November 10, 2004 – DKL International, Inc., a leading provider of passive human detection technology, announced that use of DKL’s LifeGuard reduced search time by half during an avalanche drill in Japan.
Following an avalanche in Japan that claimed five lives in 1997, local rescuers began searching for technology to improve their ability to locate victims. In a drill run by 45 members of the Hyogo Police Headquarters and the Yatsushika Police, search time was cut in half when using DKL’s equipment. The handheld DKL LifeGuard, purchased by the Hyogo Police Headquarters last year, detects the electric field of a beating human heart through numerous barriers, including snow.
In a drill at the Hachi Heights ski area, at the base of Mt. Korinoyama, a pair of LifeGuard operators first located “survivors” who had been buried 1.5 meters deep in the snow. More than 20 rescuers walked side-by-side using aluminum poles as probes to confirm locations of these “survivors”. The normal search time of one hour was cut in half by using LifeGuard. Following the drill, the Hyogo Police said, "LifeGuard is portable and fast and will help us to save lives." Mr. Kurogooshi, of the Hyounosen Hachibuse Tourist Association added, "Any technology that helps saves lives is good for tourism because it lets visitors know that their safety is our first priority".
Howard Sidman, President of DKL International, said, “LifeGuard can improve the effectiveness of most conventional search and rescue tools by saving time in the initial location of survivors. We salute the professionalism of the rescuers who participated here, and their tireless commitment to improving safety and lifesaving techniques in their community.”
DKL International continues to build a worldwide dealer network to supply the military, security and fire/rescue organizations for which the equipment was developed. DKL employees are working to deliver backorders numbering in the hundreds. Plans are currently underway to leverage the company’s technology through partnerships with additional domestic and international dealers and through strategic relationships with major defense and security providers.
About DKL International, Inc.
Patented in eighteen countries, DKL’s initial product, the LifeGuard, is a passive electronic sensor that detects the electric field created by a beating human heart. A patented Selective Polarization Filter (SPF) eliminates all but the unique ultra low frequency (ULF), non-uniform human field, so that only living humans are detected. The LifeGuard can locate and track a standing adult from a distance of 500 meters in the open, and at shorter distances through concrete walls, steel bulkheads, brick, earthworks, plastics, heavy foliage, water, and other barriers. The National Guard’s Center for National Response has placed LifeGuard on the Center’s list of recommended equipment for first responders. While the LifeGuard is designed to be easily carried by a single operator, the same technology is used in an autonomous version, called SilentGuard™. Installed in walls, doorways, or buried in the ground, SilentGuard can become an integrated part of a perimeter system for military, security or medical use.
