A few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

Johnathan Harrison knows this all too well as he has been a paramedic for over 25 years.

While on duty in 2009 in Tennessee, his paramedic team received a call regarding a two-year-old under possible cardiac arrest.

Required to follow GPS coordinates in order to locate the child’s home, the team raced to the location.

Upon arriving at the GPS coordinates, the team did not see any mailboxes or driveways, but kept moving along slowly, searching.

They finally found four mailboxes with the correct address, but each were labeled A, B, C and D. They followed the driveway up to where they found four trailer homes.

Calling dispatch to confirm which home, Harrison was told the child was located in the third home from the end.

With his emergency bag in hand, he raced up to the third home where there was no answer.

Realizing it could be the wrong home, Harrison ran around the trailer, over to the third home on the opposite end where he found the door unlocked, entered the home and found a woman doing CPR on the child, taking over immediately.

With the inaccuracy of the GPS and unclear description of the home, this added an additional four minutes to response time.

Harrison knows that those precious minutes could have made a difference as the child unfortunately did not make it.

Calls like that one answered by Harrison and many other first responders across the country always remain with them.

Harrison began to think about ways to help first responders locate homes more quickly and accurately, thus the idea of The Locator was born.

He approached Danny Cupples, a critical care paramedic, who became his first partner in the endeavor of creating a working product that includes a strobe light connected to a phone app.

With patents pending, funds began to run out. Needing additional support, Harrison approached Dr. Michael Taylor, also a member of a 911 Board in Tennessee.

“I explained how we wanted the product to work to Michael,” Harrison said. “He understood the need for this thing and became a supporter and investor immediately.”

Through trial and error and a few hiccups along the way, funding began to run out once again.

Harrison then sought out Carl Brooks, one of the top five investors in Tennessee. Brooks quickly agreed to become an investor in the life-saving technology.

With the additional investor, The Locator and it’s phone app became patented and entered production.

The Locator is a combination of a free locator app and a smart LED bulb.

“From the time you call 911, the app turns the bulb into a strobing beacon that changes colors and helps first responders positively identify your exact location, significantly cutting down on response time,” Harrison said. “Be visible and be found with The Locator.”

Harrison based the company headquarters in Henryetta at 108 S. 4th Street.

He and his family are Henryetta residents. For more information about The Locator, visit TheLocator911.com or TheLocator911 on Facebook or Instagram.

How it Works: The Locator is a smart LED light bulb that you use to replace your existing front porch light bulb or light that is most visible from the road. Download the free Locator app and connect the bulb via WiFi on your smart phone. The bulb is used as a regular light until 911 services are needed. The light switch must remain on.

When 911 is called, the app takes over the bulb and converts it to a strobing beacon that changes color from red to blue to white and identifies the exact location that 911 was called from. No guessing or radio confirmation from responders is needed. The locator gives a positive visual confirmation of right where responders need to be.