The best ideas for inventions are often born out of times of desperation and intense need. For mother and medical professional Felicia Jackson, that need came when her young son had a choking incident. Although Jackson was CPR-certified and had 20 years of experience in the medical field, her mind went blank with panic and she couldn’t help her son at that moment. Her husband was able to step in and save their son, but Jackson couldn’t stop thinking about the panic that sets in when you see someone choking and how that can prevent anyone, even medical professionals, from performing CPR.
That’s how Jackson literally dreamed up CPR Wrap. After the incident, she had a dream in which she saw someone using the product in an emergency situation. From the moment she woke up, she knew she had to bring that life-saving product into the world.
CPR wrap is a simple product that makes performing CPR less intimidating and more accessible to everyone. A tool that allows anyone to effectively perform CPR at a moment’s notice, CPR Wrap is a translucent overlay that guides you through the four steps to perform CPR that the American Heart Association recommends. In addition to the simple, step-by-step instructions, it includes a one-way mouth valve and a visual hand placement map to guide chest compressions. If someone’s airway is obstructed, all you have to do is get them flat on their back, lay CPR wrap over them so that the mouthpiece aligns with their mouth and the lower half of the map covers their chest, and follow the instructions on the guide.
As the need for CPR can arise anywhere at any time, CPR Wrap is packaged for convenience. It comes in a palm-sized package, allowing you to easily store it almost anywhere in your home or workplace. As 3 million people are injured in car accidents in the U.S. every year, the ability to keep CPR Wrap in your glove compartment or purse is a great perk of the product. It also comes in different sizes for adults, children, and infants, allowing you to administer CPR to whoever may need it.
This versatility is important, as CPR can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival. When someone starts choking or having trouble breathing, you likely won’t have time to get them to one of the 6,200 hospitals in the U.S. or even have time to wait for an ambulance to get to you. You can, however, quickly open up CPR Wrap, lay it on the person in trouble, and follow the easy instructions to give them CPR.
Although Jackson had no formal business experience and an aversion to marketing when she first thought of this life-saving product, she knew that she had to conquer the tough road ahead and get her idea on the market. Jackson started with business programs in her town of Chattanooga, TN, including an immersive accelerator program run by CO.LAB, a local startup incubator.
In that program, Jackson quickly learned the ropes of pitching a business. She found that she was a natural at marketing, learned about GMB optimization, and that running a business includes tasks big and small, such as branding a product and ensuring that branding is consistently presented across all platforms, which can increase revenue by up to 23%. The hard work paid off and Jackson was able to sell 3,000 units of CPR Wrap before she even had a tangible product.
Today, Jackson works on CPR Wrap full time and business is booming. The company has even gone international, with audiences in South Africa, Dubai, and Germany showing interest in having CPR Wrap on hand.
“Internationally, when it comes to safety and protocol, they prepare-they’re not reactive. For many of us here in America, it’s only when something happens to us that we think we need something like CPR Wrap,” said Jackson.
Thankfully, when a near tragedy did happen to Jackson’s son he made it out alive and Jackson did think of something like CPR Wrap. Now, families around the world can take a preventative step by bringing CPR Wrap wherever they go and always being ready to face an emergency situation with ease and confidence.
