Hinsdale mother invents water safety flag device for kids - Chicago Tribune

Several years ago, Erin McLaughlin was retired boating with her six kids astatine a water successful Michigan erstwhile her girl fell into the h2o portion tubing. The falling wasn’t the issue, but a large vessel traversing toward her, unaware of a idiosyncratic successful its path, was origin for concern.

“I was terrified — she started waving her hands and we each started waving and shouting astatine the vessel from our vessel to get their attention,” said McLaughlin, a nonmigratory of Hinsdale. “At that infinitesimal I said to myself, idiosyncratic needs to hole this occupation — I request to hole this problem.”

Never having invented anything, it took McLaughlin a fewer tries to onshore connected FlagGuard, a US-patented emblem strategy that straps onto the wrong of a lifejacket. When idiosyncratic is successful a excavation oregon a lake, oregon adjacent an ocean, the enclosure attachment fills with water, pushing a agleam orangish emblem up 14 inches implicit the user’s head, adding other visibility to a idiosyncratic successful immoderate assemblage of water.

“There’s thing connected the marketplace that would marque radical much disposable to oncoming boats successful the water,” McLaughlin said implicit the phone.

To spell from thought to inception, McLaughlin worked with Michael Prince, president of Ravenswood-based plan firm, Beyond Design.

“I was capable to recognize what she was looking to bash and assistance her spell from the conception to manufacturing, creating a website, packaging — the full 9 yards,” Prince told Pioneer Press. “It’s conscionable similar Shark Tank.”

The conception was simple: invent thing truthful boats successful the h2o don’t tally into children and adults. But the behind-the-scenes brainstorming needed to reply a batch of antithetic questions. “How bash you connect this to an existing beingness vest? Do we marque a customized beingness vest? How bash we marque it tiny and lightweight truthful buoyancy works?” Prince explained.

After months and months of proceedings and mistake and aggregate mock-ups, Prince and McLaughlin utilized in-house 3D printing to make prototypes. After each plan iteration was manufactured for testing, they went to a section excavation and jumped successful with the FlagGuard attachment to marque definite the emblem went up easily.

“I wanted to invent thing that would beryllium automatic truthful erstwhile small children autumn successful the water, they don’t person to interest astir holding up their h2o skis oregon waving their hands,” McLaughlin said.

An animation video posted connected the FlagGuard website shows however the mechanics work. After the integrative enclosure fills up with h2o and the idiosyncratic is safely out, the h2o drains from the enclosure allowing the emblem to retract to its resting position.

Erin McLaughlin, invented FlagGuard, a h2o information instrumentality that adds an other information diagnostic to beingness jacket, Hinsdale Ill. Thursday, November 3, 2022. (James C. Svehla / Pioneer Press)

McLaughlin said her girl made it backmost to the vessel safely, but truthful galore children don’t.

According to caller statistic released by the U.S. Coast Guard, determination were 767 recreational boating fatalities nationwide successful 2020, revealing a 25.1% summation from 2019. The full fig of accidents besides accrued by 26.3%, and the fig of nonfatal injured victims accrued by 24.7%, the study shows.

“It’s truthful elemental — it’s specified a request for anyone successful the h2o and if it tin prevention 1 child’s beingness past it was worthy it,” McLaughlin said.

While geared for children, McLaughlin said the merchandise is utile to immoderate property group.

A beingness overgarment is not sold with FlagGuard’s $49.95 terms tag, but the merchandise attaches to astir standard-size children and big beingness jackets, McLaughlin said.

Western Springs nonmigratory and ma of three, Lauren Licitra, has purchased respective FlagGuards since McLaughlin’s launch.

“I didn’t person to bargain caller beingness jackets for everyone. Kids enactment connected their jackets, get connected the boat, spell connected the tube, maze runner, you sanction it, oregon adjacent conscionable leap disconnected the raft. As soon arsenic they autumn into the water, the emblem dilatory comes up,” Licitra said implicit the phone.

Licitra and her hubby person a water location successful Michigan successful the aforesaid country arsenic McLaughin’s family, who were retired advertizing FlagGuard implicit the summertime without adjacent knowing it.

“My hubby was driving our velocity vessel and taking our small kids tubing and we saw idiosyncratic successful the h2o with this orangish emblem and thought ‘oh my deity this is brilliant,’” Licitra said. “We pulled up adjacent to their vessel and turns retired it was Erin’s vessel and 1 of her kids had it on.”

Licitra rapidly swapped up FlagGuards for her children arsenic good arsenic her sister’s kids and bought respective extras for their water location guests that trickle successful and retired during the summertime months. She archetypal tried retired the merchandise by having her kids leap disconnected the pier wearing a lifejacket and FlagGuard inserted successful the back.

“My kids ran down holding hands, jumped disconnected astatine the extremity of the pier, and literally, I could virtually conscionable spot the orangish emblem travel up — genius,” Licitra said. “The water is large and crowded with each antithetic boats [and] sometimes radical are drinking portion driving boats erstwhile they’re not expected to. It’s conscionable an other bid of caput for me.”

McLaughlin added that the emblem is hard to miss — the operator of immoderate velocity vessel oregon pontoon volition easy spot from yards distant that “something is there.”

A large chunk of probe was spent connected the emblem itself, she said, arsenic they tested retired antithetic materials and settled connected the astir effectual colour prime of agleam orange.

McLaughlin said she missed retired connected selling during the Midwest’s swimming play due to the fact that of proviso concatenation issues causing a backlog successful manufacturing, but since receiving the merchandise successful September, she partnered up with 4 Marinas successful Michigan to transportation FlagGuard.

For now, stacks of boxes filled with FlagGaurd inhabit much than fractional of McLaughlin and her husband’s garage, wherever their children assistance with shipping and labeling. Customers tin acquisition straight disconnected the FlagGuard website for two-day shipping, arsenic good arsenic done Amazon and Etsy.

Erin McLaughlin, invented FlagGuard, a h2o information instrumentality that adds an other information diagnostic to beingness jacket, Hinsdale Ill. Thursday, November 3, 2022. Boxes enactment fractional of the family’s store with product. (James C. Svehla / Pioneer Press)

McLaughlin said she applied to ABC’s concern world series, Shark Tank, and is waiting “fingers crossed” to perceive back. But her archetypal bid of concern is to get FlagGuard successful the hands of radical who tin payment from it, she said.

Chicago is “enormous” for merchandise improvement and invention, Prince said, spitballing companies similar LinkedIn and Grubhub, and Radio Flyer arsenic having Chicago roots.

“I’m successful the concern of invention and the companies that hap to beryllium present blows my mind. Not conscionable the entrepreneurs similar Erin, but large, mega-million dollar companies that we enactment with — they’re not successful New York, they are not successful California, they’re here,” helium added. “She’s successful a marketplace that is known for innovation, it makes maine excited.”

With 4 U.S. patents pending and a registered trademark, McLaughlin said the thought she’s had tucked distant successful her caput since her 25-year-old girl was 15, “blossomed” during the slowed-down gait of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s her “biggest accomplishment” to date, she said. “I was frightened to get started but I knew successful my bosom that my thought is thing I had to prosecute adjacent if I failed.”

For much accusation connected FlagGuard, sojourn flagguard.net.

zsyed@chicagotribune.com