Garage Door Openers Can't Save Lives

You are out for your daily run—suddenly thatentirely depends on you. If you think you are
pain in your chest that you have been ignoring allready for a medical emergency I can confidently
week intensifies. You fall to your knees writhing intell you most if not all of you are not. Out of
pain. As you are rolling around on the sidewalk20,000 patients I have seen in 20 years, no one
your life begins to play out the last 45had on hand, the information we needed to give
years—pictures cycling though your mind likethem the best chance of survival. Again, that
those home slideshows you and your familywould be zero percent.
would watch together. What now? Are youHow do we fix the problem? The good news is
prepared for your own personal medical disaster?that it can be fixed and I believe the solution is
What will paramedics know about you when theyEmergiLink. I left the fire department to establish
arrive to try and save your life?the company and save lives on a global level.
As a firefighter/paramedic for 20 years inEmergiLink is a company I started nearly 6 years
Southern California, I have seen my share ofago to connect citizens with their emergency
cardiac deaths. Most of them were unconsciousmedical service providers ahead of time. Today
or non-verbal upon my arrival—none of themwith EmergiLink, 1st Responders can respond to a
had a complete medical history available for meman down on the sidewalk and achieve the
to do my best work. That would be zero percent.following just be scanning one of their index
One victim, who we found pulse-less andfingers; identify the member with their photo,
non-breathing, had no identification and only adisplay their name, address, emergency contact
garage door opener in his hand. Our police droveinformation, medications, allergies, recent
through his neighborhood clicking the opener tohospitalizations, medical implants, private doctor
see if any garage doors would open. This was alland even their medical insurance information. With
we had to try and discover who he was, whereour mobile messaging technology, paramedics can
he lived, who his family was and what his medicalsend a brief message to the members’
history was.emergency contacts and it will search various
We have incredible advancements in cardiacregistered devices, in real time, until there is an
monitoring equipment, new life saving drugs andacknowledgement.
state-of-the art on board computers. We stillSignup for the program can be done on your
don’t have INFORMATION and are forced tohome computer. Fingerprints are added later with
spend time on the scene of a medical emergencythe assistance from your local fire department.
attempting to gather it. The more information weThe cost is per household and less than what you
have—the higher the chance our victim has towould pay for two cups of Starbucks coffee per
survive the personal tragedy. Considering 47% ofmonth. 50% of the subscriber fees actually go
all cardiac cases die before reaching the hospital,back into the hosting fire department provider to
this should be in the forefront of everyone’sinsure stations remain open, personnel stay
mind. Give us the all tools we need to save youremployed and equipment gets updated.
life!I am on a global mission to save lives and I know
According to the Center for Disease Controlhow to do it. Working as a firefighter/paramedic
(CDC), 29% of all U.S. deaths are cardiac related.all these years helps me know what is needed to
Roughly 700,000 die from cardiacmake a dramatic and positive change in the
disease—47% before they even reach thedelivery of emergency medical care. EmergiLink
hospital. The health related costs associated withwill also save members potentially thousands of
heart disease is over 260 billon dollars.dollars of unnecessary diagnostic tests—making
These alarming statistics can change but thata large dent in healthcare wasted spending.