Handheld Sonar Devices Donated to Assist County of Monterey in Water Rescues
Vancouver, BC, May 16, 2023 – The County of Monterey Parks and Sheriff Office are receiving a lifesaving gift – handheld sonar devices and training to assist in water rescues. The devices are called AquaEye and they have advanced technology, using sonar and artificial intelligence.
The donation of these devices was made Tuesday, May 16th during the County of Monterey Board of Supervisors meeting. The devices were acquired by Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas and are being donated to the County for the Sheriff’s Office, which has active Dive and Search and Rescue Teams and the Parks Department whose Rangers do surface patrols and emergency response at county lakes. The San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office is also receiving a device as it partners with county agencies during emergencies at the lakes. The devices are expected to available for use in a few weeks.
Max Cuevas, Clinica’s Chief Executive Officer, made the donation announcement, saying the gift fits the organization’s mission to provide comprehensive health care services to all people.
“Saving lives through search and rescue is not within our scope, but certainly it’s a matter of health,” says Cuevas. “Recovering a loved who has drowned is a most difficult time and process for anyone. This device can reduce the time for recovery from day and hours to minutes.”
Supervisor Chris Lopez, whose district includes both county lakes and many miles of the Salinas River, thanked Cuevas and his team for this contribution, calling it ‘forward looking,’ thinking ahead to what happens in those moments of crisis.
“We want to make sure that as we think about the lakes, as we think about the Salinas River, where we unfortunately did have a loss last year, that we have these tools well deployed throughout county to respond,” explains Lopez.
“Water rescue is hard, and especially difficult in water that isn’t clear,” explains Carlyn Loncaric, CEO and Founder of VodaSafe, the company which makes AquaEye. “The County of Monterey has invested in their water rescue capabilities to help avoid tragedies. By having AquaEye on their team, they will be able to more quickly locate missing people and save lives.”
About VodaSafe: VodaSafe is a Canadian developer committed to modernizing current water based rescue technologies for search and rescue, emergency responders, lifeguards, and recreational users to aid in lifesaving and victim recovery. Born from the intersection of engineering and lifeguarding on the West Coast of Canada, VodaSafe’s flagship product, AquaEye®, is the world’s first hand-held scanning sonar device that utilizes ultrasound and artificial intelligence technologies for water rescue and recovery. For more information, visit: www.vodasafe.ca