When my wife and I
bought a new puppy last spring, we were concerned about pool safety. Last year,
friends of ours lost a dog in a pool and we didn't want to repeat their
tragedy.
Of course the fear most people have
is of a child drowning. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death
among children ages one to four, and studies show that fence ordinances don't
help. In fact, a Los Angeles study concluded that fences actually
increased the number of toddler drownings! (Apparently, parents develop a
false sense of security.)
But pets are also a concern. Every
year Olde Towne Animal Hospital deals with one or two near-drownings and they
admit they have no idea how many dogs actually drown or get pulled out of
pools before medical attention is required. It could be quite a few.
My wife got on the Internet and began
searching for security devices to protect our pup. We knew there were alarm
systems on the market, but they didn't seem adequate. An intrusion alarm is
too often turned off and many so-called "turbulence alarms"--those that sense
a splash--don't seem to work as advertised.
Using search engines, she found a
company in Ottawa that makes a device called the Safety Turtle. What
differentiates it from other pool alarms is that it focuses on the victim,
not the pool.
The system consists of an alarm about
the size of an answering machine and a little wristwatch-sized turtle that
fits around a child's wrist (or, in the case of a pet, on its collar).
If the little one falls into the
pool, the turtle sends out a signal that sets off the alarm in your house. It
does this by means of a dielectric--an insulating gap between tracks on a
circuit board. When the gap fills with water, it sends out a signal.
I was so impressed by this gadget
that I called Bob Lyons, president of Terrapin Communications in Canada, which
makes the Safety Turtle, and asked him to explain it to me. Mr. Lyons, an
electrical engineer, said he began thinking about this a few years ago when
friends almost lost a child in a pool accident. The toddler lived, but she was
brain damaged.
"I had two small children, he said, "and
I realized that despite my best efforts they could still slip out through an
unlocked slider and drown." Having experience in satellite communications, he
began casting about for an effective alarm.
Through the ingenuity of Scott
Gibson, a product designer also based in Ottawa, he settled on a little
transmitter in the shape of a baby turtle. Why a turtle? "We wanted a product
kids would want to wear," he says.
The turtles come in a choice of six
colors representing six radio frequencies. This allows you to coordinate your
system with any your neighbors might have so that you won't set off each
other's alarms. Each turtle comes with a wrist-strap and child-proof lock.
We've been using this device all
summer, and it seems to work. I've tested it by throwing MacDuff's collar into
the pool, and the alarm goes off every time. (The only problem we've had was a
few false alarms caused by wet grass. I called the company, and they sent me a
"less sensitive" turtle, and it appears to have solved the problem.)
Has it sold well? "We've only been in
business a year," Mr. Lyons says, "but we've had excellent response and know
of several children and pets whose lives have been saved."
One problem, he admitted, is that
mothers seem more receptive to the idea than fathers. Men, he said, seem to
think that putting something on a child's wrist is too much trouble. Mothers
don't mind.
Compared with other alarm systems,
the Safety Turtle seems reasonably priced at about $178 for a base station and
one wristband, plus $58 for each additional wristband.
But when I took MacDuff for his first
grooming at Classy Canine on North Highway recently, Kelly Scammel, Classy
Canine's owner, asked about the turtle on his collar, then got on the phone
and ordered several. Classy Canine has now become Safety Turtle's first U.S.
pet store outlet.
I know that parents and grandparents
can benefit from this device, but the market for pet owners is big, too. When
I showed it to Dr. Richard Altieri at Olde Towne Animal Hospital, he said,
"This is great. Every dog owner should know about it." The East End's leading
dog trainer, Dan Gebbia, told me, "The risk of a dog drowning in a pool is
very real--and unfortunately, it's not a fast death."
I have no connection with this
company other than the one phone call, but I think if you have a pool and want
to protect your little ones you should look into it. The Safety Turtle fills a
need.
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