Oct 31, 2024
David Peterson – Battalion Chief and Water Rescue Commander at Ocean City Fire Department in Maryland:

“I was definitely skeptical at first, but Copper Collar came out to do a demo and within the first five minutes I thought ‘this is amazing, let’s buy one.’ We’ve shown it to lots of our boat operators and rescue swimmers, everyone was really impressed. 

We use it both on the open ocean side, and the calm side of our island. AquaEye is very beneficial for searching the surf, scanning back towards shore.

AquaEye absolutely increases team safety. We can search a huge area instead of sending divers down for a pendulum or jack-stay search, especially in our waters with very poor visibility and a lot of current. To be able to identify a target and tell the diver to go to a spot and then drop down – it saves a lot of time and makes it safer. 

We are going to be purchasing 2 more, one for each end of our island so they can be on scene as fast as possible. 

It’s all about early deployment. We have to give the person the best chance at living. That’s the most important part and I believe wholeheartedly that AquaEye adds so much to that.  

You can listen to me talk about AquaEye for an hour, but only seeing it for yourself can you truly appreciate what it can do.”

On Copper Collar Group and thier training: 

“We purchased additional training from Copper Collar Group and they certainly are qualified. The training went perfectly smooth and was absolutely worth the investment. We had them help us scan from behind the break back towards shore, working with us to develop the techniques to properly scan and search the area. They were also able to come up with a stable scanning technique to scan from our paddleboards using a swimmer in the water to steady the board.”

Vancouver B.C – August 22, 2024 – A tragic double drowning of a father and his 14-year-old daughter occurred in Crosby TX over the recent Father’s-Day weekend.

After receiving the initial call, the Crosby Fire Department arrived on-scene quickly.  Like many fire rescue departments across the country, they were not fully equipped for rapid ‘hour-one’ water operations (the ‘live’ rescue window) and so were unable to locate the pair in time for a rescue.  A public safety dive team from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded and after a brief search, the female was located and recovered.  The search continued, and after approximately 7 hours, the male was located and recovered, providing closure for their family.

Crosby Fire and the Commissioners of the Harris County Emergency Services District #80, who oversee and fund the department, are committed to continuous improvement of the resources to support the department members, and their community.  Recognizing the need for change, and seeing the results it could deliver to both citizens and the department, the Commissioners quickly approved the purchase of two AquaEye units for their Fire Department to enable safer and more efficient water rescue/recovery.  The department then utilized donated funds to purchase a third unit.

Chief White had worked with AquaEye in his time as coordinator of the City of Baytown’s Underwater Search and Recovery Team.  Based on his experiences there, he advocated for the AquaEye units for Crosby Fire.  Said White, “We take some comfort in knowing that we will have AquaEye on hand the next time we need to respond to another critical water incident.”

Fire rescue teams in the United States will respond to over 3,000 water rescue calls this year.  Too many will end in tragedy because most rescue teams are not fully prepared for rapid ‘hour-one’ water operations.  With preparation, and a willingness to change, tragedy is preventable.  “We do not want to wait for tragedy to strike” said Carlyn Loncaric, Founder and CEO of VodaSafe.  “We are advocating as hard as we can to put positive change ahead of the onslaught of drownings that continue to occur throughout the country.”

About VodaSafe Inc.

VodaSafe has revolutionized water rescue and recovery globally with the development and delivery of its flagship product, AquaEye, the world’s first hand-held intelligent sonar device. Combining sonar and artificial intelligence technologies specifically designed to identify humans, AquaEye can search nearly an acre of water in one minute. Born at the intersection of engineering and lifesaving on the West Coast of Canada, VodaSafe is committed to enabling search and rescue, emergency responders, public safety divers, law enforcement and lifeguards to execute faster, safer and more effective water rescue and victim recovery.

For further information contact:

Wylie Spencer – Marketing Manager

+ 1 604-781-5867

wylie@vodasafe.fultonst.digital

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