White Papers
Introduction /Background:
We are an interdisciplinary team that shares the conviction that prosperity in our Nation is directly related with the power of the individual initiative working hard in a free enterprise climate.
Our company has been inspired by the spiritual creativity of the American Nation. We innovate, searching for original solutions to common problems, convinced that the real challenge of the entrepreneur is to transform the little things that make huge differences.
Abstract / Business Case:
Just like our Soldiers our First responders and disaster personnel requires a constant search for new solutions to old problems. In this white paper we tackle two direct problems and one indirect one. The first two problems are contagious disease control and portability/weight.
According to many studies (see references) on average 36% of all deployed or in field training personnel get sick by preventable contagious diseases. There are two aspects of this problem.
A) After Shelter and Food is secured, Hygiene is the most important issue: As mentioned above 36% of the active deployed personnel are going to be sick; that represents a very serious problem since management would have to account for the amount of personnel that are going to be down and compensate accordingly.
B) Cost: Getting 36% of the personnel back into full production capacity requires medicine, treatment centers, and therapy while increasing number of recruits deployed to compensate for the ones that are down; adding up these costs run into the millions of dollars every year.
The second problem is portability/weight. In any disaster carry-on equipment is essential and any ounce added to it creates problems with agility, mobility and endurance. If there is a solution it would have to be light and efficient, and that is exactly what our product lines offer.
The third subtle problem is the psychological effect of any disaster and filth felt by every worker and victims in the field when a disaster strikes. Nothing makes a human being feel worthless and sick more than unwanted filth. When a disaster occurs many times a clean refreshing shower is something that can’t be achieve for long periods of time. Psychological wellbeing is critical and makes the difference in the field. Our products touch the human heart and fill the human soul in a very particular way; they bring pride, honor and respect with them to the victims of the disaster as well as the personnel providing the support.
In United States of America if you are a felon secluded in prison for doing harm to society the Federal Government provides you for free your basic toiletries and personal care needs; but if you are a first responder or a disaster specialist on the field you would have to pay for them.
The strong message this policy sends to our personnel is just another of the many ways we tell them they are worthless and insignificant.
We don’t even pretend to state that our products will solve the serious motivational problems, but in life everything adds up and like any person in this world our field personnel would like to feel appreciated and taken care of their basic needs and we can do that with small but significant tokens of appreciation once our products are in their hands and they can feel better every time they use them.
In conclusion the problem is that at this point in time all field personnel are required to carry a first aid kit, but not a hygiene kit. Our company and our products have devoted large amount of resources and research to bring a series of products that will act as preventive medicine while providing comfort and a sense of care to our workers on the field without the burden of extra weight and saving millions of dollars in medical treatment for the contagious diseases that our products prevent.
References:
- Small-Raynor MR, Cliff AD. Impact of infectious diseases on war. Inf Dis Clin N Am 2004; 18:341-68.
- Clinton K. Murray and Lynn L Horvath. An Approach to Prevention of Infectious Diseases during Military Deployments. Travel Medicine Invited Article 2007:44 (1 February) 424-430.
- Naomi E. Aronson, John Sanders and Kimberly A. Moran. In Harm’s Way: Infections in Deployed American Military Forces. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2006 43(8):1045-1051.
Pre-Assessment:
According with the Presidential executive order 13514 all new technology must be sustainable and environmentally neutral/friendly; therefore, we believe that any solutions have to include recyclable containers and biodegradable content.
Based on the interview of several hundreds of emergency responders and field personnel we would have to develop/find/benchmark products that tackle directly the most common and prevalent contagious diseases that any person would suffer when exposed to harsh environments.
For this paper the family of contagious diseases could be divided in three major categories:
a. Pulmonary infectious diseases such as pneumonia, common cold, influenza, tuberculosis and many other viral and bacterial induced diseases.
b. gastro-intestinal infectious diseases that produces debilitating symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, high fever and dehydration.
c. Fungal / skin infectious diseases such as Athletes foot, Jock itch, skin sunburn and insect bites.
Each of these categories of illnesses could be easily prevented and controlled for the most part if proper hygiene products and procedures are in place. The cost of not having readily available these products usually generates large expenses in bringing field personnel back to basic health, not counting the time of service that is lost which can easily make the difference in a disaster zone.
Proposed Solutions:
Originally designed used and tested on the field by our military all over the world, we have divided our lines of products in three “editions”. The Basic edition which includes hygiene products designed to be use at base camp; The Outpost edition which include hygiene products with on-the-field features such as being unscented, waterless and packed in light weight multiuse containers; finally the emergency – preparedness kits that hold all basic hygiene products for one to three days. These kits can be customized for every type of disaster, season, weather conditions and gender.
Basic edition:
This line of products includes Anti-bacterial wipes and gels, shampoo, body-wash and shaving lather; deodorant and foot powder; sunscreen with insect repellent and sunscreen alone. These products are scented.
Outpost Edition:
The Outpost edition includes products that have on- the-field features such as being unscented, waterless and can be easily camouflage. These products include: Waterless shampoo, waterless body-wash, antifungal cream, Lip balm, unscented deodorant, surface disinfectant wipes and anti- bacterial gel.
*The Basic edition and the Outpost edition are designed to be modular so several products can be added in a carry-on style carabineer our Kit in a Click trademarked concept. They also are TSA compliant (3 ounces or less) and come in recyclable containers. This technology has been developed and manufactured 100% in America.
Disaster relief and rescue operation Kits:
These products are divided in two:
OK Kit: A 72 hours to a week hygiene solution that includes water purification tablets, toilet paper, waterless shampoo/body wash, shaving razor, dental cleaning teeth wipes, deodorant, antifungal foot cream, sunscreen with insect repellent and included in a bright orange resalable pouch with reflective features that can be used to bring attention in the event of a disaster.
DDay Kit: A 24-hour hygiene solution that includes all the basic hygiene products to cover you needs. Includes toilet paper, dental cleaning, waterless shampoo/body-wash/shaving lather, antifungal cream, sunscreen with insect repellent and a shaving razor; all included in a resalable pouch.
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