De-Wipe co-owned company – long-reach telescopic rescue pole manufacturer Reach and Rescue – is celebrating a decade of providing fire and rescue services worldwide with lifesaving water rescue equipment. At the helm of both companies is Jo Taylor MBE who as co-owner of both companies is reflecting on 10 successful years being in the business of saving lives – and is looking to what the next decade has in store.
After being awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to safeguarding the lives of firefighters in the Queen’s 2020 New Year Honours, Jo says: “It’s been a long and amazing journey to get to this point. I have learnt so much from the passionate people that work in the fire service. I will keep learning and innovating new equipment to make a positive difference.”
Together with her co-innovator business partner, Jo has built Reach and Rescue into a globally recognised brand offering indispensable water rescue equipment that is used by fire and rescue services – and they’re saving lives in 48 countries worldwide. Reach and Rescue’s innovative long-reach telescopic rescue poles were developed in direct response to a pressing issue in the fire service – namely, how to safely retrieve a casualty in water without entering the hazard zone.
The most recent innovation from Reach and Rescue is the Portsafe Public Access Water Rescue System. Developed in response to the startling fact that drowning accounts for more accidental deaths than fire or cycling, Portsafe gives members of the public and emergency services a crucial opportunity to conduct swift and directionally-accurate rescues by giving permanent access to effective water rescue equipment that is designed specifically to retrieve casualties from safe distances. To underline the system’s effectiveness, Portsafe saved a member of the public from drowning just two days after being installed in Bedford.
In what is a natural continuation of her dedication to safeguarding lives, Jo used her 10 years’ experience of innovating lifesaving products to form De-Wipe. De-Wipe’s firefighter decontamination wipes are leading the charge in tackling the alarming rate of cancer deaths amongst firefighters worldwide. By pioneering the UK’s only biodegradable after fire decontamination wipe that is scientifically proven to remove the most dangerous, carcinogenic pollutants produced in fire from skin, De-Wipe is reducing the risk of occupational cancer in the fire service.
Jo’s innovative mindset isn’t resting with firefighter decontamination wipes. De-Wipe is looking to satisfy fire services’ urgent need for complete solutions that cover the entire after fire decontamination process – from on-scene to back at the station, from cleaning equipment to decontaminating vehicles. Through working in close collaborating with fire and rescue services nationwide, and through stringent testing with De-Wipe’s team of industry leading toxicology scientists, De-Wipe’s vision for complete decontamination solutions are on the near horizon. Expect decontamination products that are scientifically tested, proven and trialled by UK FRS to be available soon.
It is extremely rare that someone not working in the public sector receives an MBE. In his congratulations to those working in the fire service who received this prestigious honour, NFCC Chair Roy Wilsher said: “I am delighted to see people from fire services recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours. Once again it shows the dedication of people working within fire and rescue services. This hard work just goes to show how people are making a difference to the communities they serve.”
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