Who is that Masked Man?

It's a bird...  It's a plane...  NO,  It's Epi-Man!   

Wait -- What?

If you've watched our news story on Fox 10, (there is a link to the right) then you've probably noticed that one of our team members sometimes wears a mask.  He isn't hiding from anyone, and he isn't eccentric -- he is our Epi-Man.

Epi-Man?  Epi-Man is a super-hero who comes to the rescue of those facing severe allergy attacks.  When other people panic and stand around wondering what to do, he whips out his handy epinephrine carrying watch and saves lives.

Epi-Man is the character the LugNuts came up with to help explain the importance of the Epi-Watch.   The Epi-Watch can be an important tool in helping people with allergies stay safe.  The tagline is that, "With an Epi-Watch, anyone can be Epi-Man."  Anyone can have the power to help save someone's life -- especially their own.

The Epi-Watch.

Once the LugNuts decided to focus on the Epi-Watch, they really started to come up with some good ideas.  Here are the basics of how the watch works:

At first glance, the Epi-Watch looks like any other digital watch.  But as you look closer you notice that the bands are just a little bit thicker than regular watch wands.  That is because this is where the medicine is stored.  There is enough epinephrine is each watch band for 1 shot, so the watch itself can give two shots.  The bands themselves are replaced when the medicine is used or expired.  The back of the watch bands have expiration dates on them so that you know when to get a new band from the pharmacy.    The back of the watch also contains emergency medical information, such as the specific allergy and a contact number.

The Epi-Watch can be used while it is still on the arm or after it has been taken off.  This can be helpful if the person who is having the allergy attack loses consciousness.  To use the Epi-Watch, you have to turn the watch face around about 45 degrees.  Then it will click, the screen will turn green, and a covered needle will pop out the top.  You then and press the screen and push the covered needle down into the outer thigh.  The cover to the needle is pressure sensitive and when you press down on it, it will send the needle through your clothes and into your leg, sending the medicine into your system.  You hold the watch in place for 10 seconds.  Then you lift the watch off your thigh and rub the injections site.

After the shot is administered, the screen will turn red for 10 min.  This is to prevent the watch from dispensing a second dose too soon.  If the first shot was not enough, or if you are pretty far from a hospital, then you can administer the second dose after the screen turns green again.  To do this, you just turn the screen 90 degrees in the other direction to pop out a different needle.  Then you follow the same procedure as the first time.  After the watch has been used, you need to take it to a pharmacy to get new needles put in.

The watch is pretty simple to use, includes several safety precautions and should prove to be very valuable in emergency allergy situations.

Why the Epi-Watch?

One of our team members has food allergies.  He has had them since he was a baby.  He has to be careful what he eats and what his friends eat around him.  Sometimes he has allergy attacks when someone who has touched certain foods then touch him.  It has been hard at times, but he deals with it.  One of the things he has to do is carry an EpiPen, just in case he has a bad reaction to something.  The problem is that it is easy to forget or misplace--

At school he keeps a couple EpiPens in the nurse's office.  When there is a field trip he has to take one with him.  When he plays sports or competes in robotics, he has to take an EpiPen with him.  He is a Boy Scout and goes camping frequently -- with his EpiPens.  The EpiPen doesn't really fit in his pocket - and he has been known to set it down somewhere and lose it.  If he loses it and he has an allergy problem, it could be deadly.  Especially when he is camping or somewhere far from help.

However, he does love wearing a watch.  He almost never takes it off.  He wears it so often that he forgets he even has it on.  When he does take it off, he feels like he is missing something.  So - he thought, why not find a way to combine the two.  Wouldn't it be nice if he could just wear his EpiPen like his watch -- and always have it with him.  He wouldn't have to worry about remembering to bring it.  He wouldn't have to find a place to keep it.  He wouldn't have to hunt all over looking for it after he set it down somewhere.  He could even forget about it and still have it.

And thus the Epi-Watch was born . . .

We are the LugNuts

Welcome to our new LugNuts blog!  We are starting this blog so you can see some of the interesting things that we have been working on.  We have learned a lot about food allergies this year and have been involved with food allergy awareness at our school.  We have designed a new way to carry epinephrine and are in the process of getting a patent.  Look for more information about us in future posts!