VP of Product Development Brandon Beckendorf discusses ODRescue product offerings and their benefits, what differentiates ODRescue in the market, and how these solutions create a meaningful impact for the communities they serve.
ODRescue™ understands that not everyone is a trained paramedic. However, anyone can find themselves in a situation where someone is experiencing a medical emergency.
When that happens, ODRescue wants every Good Samaritan to have the tools needed to step in confidently and make a life-saving difference when every second counts.
ODRescue’s mobile, on-demand products assist in various medical emergencies, whether it’s a fentanyl-related opioid overdose or a severe allergic reaction like anaphylaxis.
Brandon Beckendorf, vice president of product development, has over 20 years of experience in product development in the medical industry — a majority of which was spent crafting orthopedic medical devices like spinal/facial screws and plates and joint replacements.
Since joining FFF Enterprises, Beckendorf has worked with multiple divisions to support projects on addressing unmet needs, including joining ODRescue’s team over a year and a half ago. His efforts have focused on collaborating with design partners to develop and launch products like the recently released Alarm and Alert toolkits.
Beckendorf is excited that ODRescue products provide solutions for diverse applications, whether someone is supporting students in a college dormitory or running 20 restaurant locations. From accessibility to functionality, the line of products is focused on community safety and making them available to various markets.
“ODRescue stands out because it meets people where they are,” Beckendorf said. “Its mobile design ensures critical intervention is not limited by location.”
Unlike competitors’ products that are permanently affixed to walls, ODRescue can be removed from its wall-mounted bracket and brought to the medical emergency location.
In addition to being mobile, the ODRescue Alert box features advanced technology, produced by Chorus, Inc., to add invisible helping hands to any emergency. Designated emergency personnel are alerted to an active emergency via text message or email.
“Alert is where ODRescue truly differentiates,” Beckendorf said. “For both the user and the person who may need naloxone, we have a system that automatically sends an alert signaling a potential emergency and prompting immediate action. That capability is a powerful advancement.”
While the ODRescue Box, Alarm, and Alert all have access to a web-based system to help manage inventory and medication expiry, the web-based application includes additional functionality with Alert, including reporting when a box has been opened or moved.
“Seconds count in these situations, minutes count,” said Beckendorf, emphasizing the need for all these features when someone’s life is on the line.
Who Should Use Which ODRescue Product?
While ODRescue serves a wide range of markets, various products might be more suited to some groups over others. Beckendorf explained who he sees using each.
ODRescue Box: The original, plexiglass emergency toolkit equipped with a CPR kit, gloves, an antiseptic wipe, and room for naloxone-based opioid overdose reversal medications and/or anaphylaxis treatments (sold separately).
- Ideal User: Beckendorf said that the box is essential for entities that have staff allocated to respond to emergencies and are also able to manage their own inventory. The ODRescue Box provides a professional, safe storage option for needed medication, CPR kit, and other supplies.
Alarm: An on-demand toolkit that contains the same items as the ODRescue Box while adding an integrated alarm that will sound when the box is removed or opened, drawing attention and prompting nearby assistance.
- Ideal User: Beckendorf sees this option as appealing to a wide range of markets. It not only signals to anyone nearby that there’s an emergency going on that could require someone’s assistance, but that it also acts as theft prevention. Whether it’s a restaurant, hotel, or retail store, Alarm helps staff know about an emergency and creates another deterrent to naloxone or other medication theft. The box also comes with a web-based application that helps monitor product expiry.
Alert: A life-saving toolkit that features the alarm functionality of the Alarm box and smart alert technology that notifies first responders via text and email when it is opened and can alert nearby emergency personnel.
- Ideal User: Beckendorf sees Alert as a benefit to college campuses, arenas, and transit hubs that need to dispatch emergency personnel. The box also comes with a web-based application that monitors location and product expiry.
Pouch: A small, zip container with carabiner that contains gloves, antiseptic wipe and room for medication.
- Ideal User: Originally intended for community health programs, the pouch is great for students, parents, or anyone who wants to have something clipped on their backpack, in their suitcase, or stashed in their car to be prepared for an emergency.
Beckendorf is proud to be part of a product line that encourages everyone to be proactive and potentially become a hero for someone’s loved one.
“It’s really humbling to be a part of a product offering that aids saving lives and is impactful to a community,” he said. “Knowing that our products can save a loved one, a friend, a human being — that’s what motivates me more than anything else.
[ODRescue wants] to do the right thing and help protect lives.”