Avalanche Emergency Oxygen Delivery Device

From PDI

Preface

It is known that most avalanche related deaths are caused by suffocation, as the snow around the buried victim melts from the heat of his breath and then refreezes, disallowing oxygen flow to the victim. Chances of survival decline very rapidly from 92 percent within 15 minutes to only 30 percent after 35 minutes.[1]

Durable compact light- and heat-producing devices of sufficient energy density are known to currently exist on the consumer market. [2]

Claims

This invention claims:

1. a flashlight type device capable of providing a sufficient heat output to reliably melt up to 6 cubic feet of snow within five to ten minutes;
2. a device claimed in claim 1 capable of melting a vertically oriented channel/shaft in snow up to 10 meters (33') in length and 3" in diameter, which can used for establishing the connection between the victim's entrapment cavity and the open air above the snow;
3. a device claimed in claim 2 delivering the heat energy necessary for melting the snow to the current upper end of such channel by convection (rising hot air) or radiation (laser beam);
4. a device claimed in claim 3 equipped with a plumb bob or some other level indicator for ease of identifying the vertical orientation of the device necessary for successful creation of such channel.
5. an attachment for the snowboarding, skiing or other winter gear, providing a safe and durable rugged storage of the device claimed in claim 2 within an easy reach of entrapped victim's hands, such as on his chest.

In layman's terms

The easiest way to prevent a person from suffocating is to make a hole in the snow all the way to the open air. Entrapped person cannot move too much, so it is nearly impossible to dig such a hole by hand. What can be done however is to use heated air (which rises naturally) and/or highly concentrated light to melt such a hole in the snow, as such action doesn't require moving much at all. The channel must be vertical to guarantee that at some point it will hit the open air. The victims are usually disoriented, so a simple device is needed to hint them which way is up.