“Let’s go take a look.” Before I could close the black binder in which I am taking notes, Brendan McSheffrey, CEO of En-Gauge Inc., heads for the door. He never looks behind to hurry me on. Slim with a contemporarily cut hazel head of hair, he simply carries on expecting me to follow. I shut my binder. I move quickly to cover the ground between us. After all, I am there to see him and he is accommodating me, a relative unknown.
He tells me more about En-Gauge Inc., his family’s business. Brendan’s family has been in the fire safety business for decades. They work with fire extinguisher manufactures and gas cylinder providers. They have global connections.
“We actually make stuff here!” Brendan points to a pressure gauge that has an RFID sensor attached. The sensor tells when a pressurized cylinder is empty.
The picture is clear to me. There are hundreds of pressurized gas cylinders and fire extinguishers in a medical center. All the fire extinguishers undergo frequent inspections. Empty ones can be a danger. Hospital staff must maintain inspection records, remove, and refill empty or leaking ones. Catching a leak early is best. It costs money to refill a fire extinguisher.
There are gas cylinders too. For oxygen cylinders, leaks increase the fire hazard. They are used in transport. Cylinders that are under patient use need to be changed when empty. En-Gauge works with hospitals to build an application which monitors wireless sensors that attach to cylinder gauges. The recordkeeping is automated. The application notifies to email, beeper, or mobile phone when a cylinder is empty. All of this is acceptable to The Joint Commission that provides hospital accreditation. Check! It may not make a person get rid of all the their I See JCAHO People coffee mugs. Relieve some stress, save some time, and money... I think I can queue some traveling music.
Brendan goes on to show me blockage devices for electrical panels, outlets, and AEDs that can help notify hospital safety personnel of other life safety code violations. Click here for a free whitepaper from En-Gauge Inc. This link is not a paid or pay per click advertisement.**
However, this is only part of what I am after. Capturing the moment remains elusive. What brought him to this point? I rephrase the questions. Was he riding down the road and the idea hit him like an anvil? Was he on the golf course and having a moment? Or did he simply read something and eventually decided to take a chance?
The jewel of an answer perches on his lips. The moment I am hoping for is well worth the wait. Paraphrased: We went to see our grandmother. As we talked, we noticed her oxygen cylinder was empty. It needed changing. We had to notify the nurse. My family is in the gauge business. We thought that there ought to be a way of addressing that.
An entrepreneurial effort sparked to life from concerns about family health. En-Gauge brought it to market with all the risk, anticipation, and anxiousness such an effort bears. Add the visibility of the companies to which Brendan has connection... no pressure whatsoever. The idea was brought to fruition in a way that can help others, save money and time for the end-user, and bring in revenue for the company. Overall it was a good day.
**This statement keeps me in compliance with Google Adsense policy.
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