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ByBrooke Younger/
There are over 350,000 house fires every year in the United States, resulting in thousands of accidental deaths. Many tragic deaths could be preventable if people had the right safety measure in place. In the event of an emergency,nobody should have to choose between jumping from a tall window or staying inside a burning building. That's why two firefightersfrom Norfolk, Virginia, Eric Hartsfield and Brett Russell, invented the Rescue Ready window escape ladder. The original Rescue Ready ladder is designed to sit inside the window frame when not in use, but when needed, it quickly unfurls, beeps, and flashes so you and your family can easily find it through the smoke and escape a home fire.
"It is not like you see on TV. When you're trapped in a real house fire, there's scorching flames, dark smoke, and toxic gasses that are very likely to block your doors and hallways," explainedRussell on an episode of Shark Tank. In an emergency, the window may easily become the only safe escape route, and having an accessible ladder ready to gois key to saving time — and saving lives.Firefighters Russell and Hartsfield are no strangers to the hot seat, but when they pitched their idea on Shark Tank (available onHulu), they were grilled more than they expected. Here's what happened on Shark Tank and how Rescue Ready forged onward after the show.
What happened to Rescue Ready on Shark Tank?
Eric Hartsfield and Brett Russell explained to the sharks that they'd like to receive $75,000 in exchange for a 15% share in the company. In a real emergency, families may only have a few seconds to find an escape. To demonstrate, the firefighterscalled up two volunteers. Even in high heels and smoke goggles, Barbara Corcoran was able to "wake up" out of bed, walk over to the window, and unpack the Rescue Ready ladder in seconds. Meanwhile, Rohan Orza was caught up trying to locate his ladder under the bed and by the time he found it, he still wasn't sure how to safely attach it to the window.
The demonstration definitely struck a chord with the sharks, but they still needed to talk numbers. Rescue Ready's big problem was that they hadn't sold a single product yet, and they were hoping to market the ladder to window manufacturers and builders.The sharks were skeptical, but Russell felt confident. "If they advertise properly, they're going to have moms and dads that want these windows," he said on the show.When it was time to make the call, one by one the sharksdeclared themselves out. Barbara was out too, but she suggested that they skip partnering with window manufacturers and instead focus on a design that homeowners could install under the window themselves.
Rescue Ready after Shark Tank
While the experience was disappointing, Eric Hartsfield and Brett Russell left the shark tank with their heads held high. "There's a hungry window company out there that's going to take this flier," Russell said, "Because parents are going to want this in their house."Russell later shared in an Instagram reel,"That was absolutely one of the most devastating moments in my life ... These are five very educated people, businessmen and women ... we would be absolute morons not to take what they've said to heart, take their recommendations and some of their suggestions and do our best to implement them."
And so, the cleverfirefighters wasted no time getting started on the next phase of their Rescue Ready ladder: the Retrofit."Over the last year, we've made a few tweaks to the ladder that have made it way better," explained Russell in a Youtubevideo showcasing the product. Unlike the original Rescue Ready ladder, the Retrofit version can be attached onto pre-existing windows and is designed to look like a piece of the windowsill. Some of the new features Hartsfield described included the decorative ladder cover, a fixed lanyard, and a toothless cam so that the ladder could adjust to fit more window sizes.
Is Rescue Ready still in business?
Rescue Ready had a challenge to face from the beginning; their product wasn't totally groundbreaking. Similar ladders already existed on the market, so Eric Hartsfield and Brett Russell had to design a ladder that could compete with other leading products.Just like many other businesses, Rescue Ready was impacted by supply chain issues related to COVID-19, and they had to send out ladders before their covers and backplates were ready. In March 2022, they changed the ladder design yet again, hoping it would help with supply issues, but a websiteproduction update from 2023states that they are still waiting for manufacturers to catch up.
They haven't declared themselves out of business, but it seems that Rescue Ready has been quiet for some time on social media, and theirwebsite, BeRescueReady.com, has an expired certificate. Their last Instagram post, while positive, dates back to July 2020, and in 2022, the companychanged their business hours on Facebook.
Even so, likes and comments still pour in from homeowners and fans of Shark Tank who loved the idea. Russell and Hartsfield were absolutely right; hundreds of parents wanted a Rescue Ready ladder for their children's bedrooms. "Before I had children I would have never understood your product," one commenter wrote on a Facebook post, "Now I would pay the [money] if it were an option in windows. I hope you succeed. One life saved is success."
What's next for Rescue Ready's founders?
While their idea is brilliant and important for saving lives, it seems that the fate and future of Rescue Ready as a company is still a mystery. According to a Facebook post from 2020, Rescue Ready had to temporarily close its website due to an overwhelming increase in traffic and sold-out merchandise.Since then, all has been relatively quiet on the social media front, but Rescue Ready promised to make a return for their loyal supporters. "This amount of interest is GREAT NEWS!" the Facebook post read, "We aren't going anywhere, please check back later." Until then, the firefighters highly recommend that your family establish a solid house fire exit plan.
Concerning what's next for the founders,Brett Russell's LinkedIn page still lists him as a co-founder of the company.We couldn't find accounts for Eric Hartsfield on LinkedIn or Facebook, as of this writing.As they continue waiting for supply chains to catch up, it's possible that the company is still seeking investors and window manufacturing partners. House Digest reached out to Rescue Ready via email to learn more, but didn't receive a response in time for the publishing of this article.
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