In any emergency, the sooner a response and rescue team reaches you, the higher your chances of survival. This applies even more so to those trapped under debris of a building in the event of a landslide or earthquake. Research has shown that if you are found within half an hour, your chances of survival stands at 30%, dropping drastically each minute after that. How do you help rescue workers reach you in such conditions? A small and lightweight emergency beacon is the answer to this problem, but to date there isn’t any economically viable solution available. A global Russian electronics firm aims to change this scenario by making public its emergency beacon designs and expertise for free to invigorate the industry.

Tancher Corporation, an electronics design company, follows up with this step by giving away the design rights to its life saving personal locator radio beacon to aid Australians (and basically, anyone else for that matter) caught in emergencies. This small beacon was developed as part of the Tancher Electronics Social Safety Initiative (TESSI) which aims at encouraging both the government and industry sectors to make live saving devices all the more accessible and affordable, especially to the lower income group that has as much right as any other human to survive in a disaster. After all, death is no respecter of class, color, or creed, showing that every human life is unique and precious.

What makes this beacon so special is its ability to function as a wearable USB flash memory, so you won’t have to wear one without having any other use for it. Should you actually be involved in a disaster and remain trapped, activate the beacon to send a distress signal out in order to alert any nearby rescue teams. I wonder how often do you need to change the battery on this thing.

Source: Gizmag