User:SourceComm/sandbox

Industry: Fire protection

Founded: 2011

Founder: Baruch E Gross

Headquarters: Jerusalem, Israel

Key people: Bobl Keys (Advisor)

Products: Fire Escape Gear

Parent: Besadno

Website: skysaverusa.com

SkySaver is an Israeli manufacturer of fire protection products for high-rise occupants. SkySaver develops a backpack harness that allows users to safely escape high-rise fires. Inside the backpack is a controlled descent system which, using a fire-resistant cable, lowers the user automatically to the ground at a rate of about 3-6 feet (1-2 meters) per second. The device works for up to 25 stories and is expected to available spring 2015.

The company has its corporate offices in the Trump Tower in New York City and Research and Development offices in Har Hotzvim Technology Park, Jerusalem.

SkySaver’s aim is to educate the public on the inherent need for alternative high-rise safety gear and was born in the wake of several skyscraper fires 2. According to the NFPA, between 2007 and 2011, there were approximately 15,400 reported high-rise fires per year, which resulted in 46 civilian deaths and 530 civilian injuries1. and SkySaver’s intention is to drastically reduce that number.

History

SkySaver was founded in 2011 by Baruch Eliezer Gross in conjunction with leading industry experts in the fire safety and security world. At the outset of the project, Gross partnered with former Chief-in Charge of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Research & Development Unit, Robert Keys and former Lieutenant General in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Commander of the Technical Development Department of the IDF from 1999 to 2005, Yaakov Nakash.

SkySaver has also partnered with others in the high-rise rescue industry: including Urban Aeronautics, an Israeli company producing UAV ambulances that can rescue victims in an urban setting. Other SkySaver partners include DoublExit, a system that requires pre-installation and allows for the escape of multiple people, and Escape Rescue, an external elevator that has been installed at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv.

1 http://www.nfpa.org/research/reports-and-statistics/fires-by-property-type/high-rise-building-fires 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyscraper_fire