Lonsdale native creates PTSD App for veterans

Millions of US veterans have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnoses, many due to witnessing traumatic and lifethreatening events during deployment, and Tyler Skluzacek, a 2012 graduate of MLHS, is helping alleviate PTSD with an app he introduced last week.

Skluzacek unveiled the my- Bivy mobile app at the Lonsdale American Legion Club on Thursday, April 7 to an audience of family members, veterans, and anyone interested in knowing more about the invention. MyBivy stands for my bivouac, which is a military encampment with tents or shelter in which to rest.

For an hour, Skluzacek talked about how the system works and answered questions about its use and offered information how to get it.

He said he started the app’s creation in September 2015, when he attended the HackDC, a 36-hour “hackathon” in Washington, DC where, he said, “you sit at a computer to create a piece of software that has meaning.” He flew to the event because he was interested in PTSD, something his father, veteran Patrick Skluzacek, suffers from due to serving in the Iraq War.

His team, called “The Cure”, won the competition (and $1,500 prize), then created a Kickstarter fundraising account that has raised $26,000 to be used toward the app’s creation.

“Clearly, a lot of people wanted this application,” he said.

He then competed in the entrepreneurship competition MobDemo, in Minneapolis in November and again won the top prize of $20,000.

“Things are moving fast. This started in September and is done today. You never see apps get done that fast,” he said.

Using smartphone technology, Skluzacek explained the watch will “learn its wearer” for the first 10 days to monitor the wearer’s movements and heart rate, record vital signs and pinpoint when the wearer is about to experience a night terror, then stop it in its tracks. It does so by gently vibrating just enough to wake the wearer, but not enough that they become fully awake, so he or she can continue to sleep deeply.

Skluzacek said the app is similar to that of a service dog that notices a veteran start to shake or sweat from a night terror and will put a paw on their shoulder to calm them down.

“We’re trying to make one of those service dogs that you don’t have to feed,” he said.

So far, the app is.....

To see more on this story pick up the April 21, 2016 print edition of The New Prague Times. 

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