Launching the Healthmate
In the late 1970's, the founder of Austin Air began his mission to improve respiratory health. He realized that the quality of the air we breathe had a direct impact on us. By improving the quality of the air in our environment, he knew that he would improve the quality of our lives. We would like to share with you our story of how it all began
At the beginning of our search for a better way to control respiratory symptoms, we learnt that the tiniest particles and even gas molecules were most harmful to the lungs. The first logical step was to find an air cleaner that could remove these irritating particles and harmful gases from the air.
At that time, household air cleaners were designed for cosmetic cleaning, as they were only equipped to remove visible dust from the air. These cleaners could not filter the worst offenders, the particles that you cannot see or smell. In a typical clean home, there are up to 5 million undetectable particles per cubic foot, all capable of having an adverse effect on those suffering from respiratory illness.
Realizing that these astonishing particle counts were the culprits behind asthma attacks and allergic reactions, it started to make sense that sufferers' symptoms were commonly more troublesome at night while sleeping. As this is when our body's natural rhythm is at its slowest and our lung capacity is reduced by up to 40%.
Austin Air recognized an opportunity to help sufferers of chronic respiratory illness and decided that the solution would be to start from scratch. We began to develop an air cleaner that would be used in the bedroom at night. And so began our search for the best and most effective substances to filter out the dust, particles and gases that were causing reactions and disturbing sleep.
To take the cosmetic household air cleaner to the next level, we looked beyond what was already being used. We focused our research on the substances that were being used to filter out the tiniest particles for other purposes. Our search led us to the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. We found that high-efficiency particulate air filters (HEPA Filters) were being used in laboratories and clean rooms to keep harmful microorganisms from spreading to other parts of the building and out into public spaces.
Naturally, we contacted the manufacturers of HEPA filters to develop a smaller-scale version we could install in household air cleaners. Several firms, such as Maddocks Engineering and Hollingsworth & Vose, world leaders in HEPA filtration engineering, assisted us in the development of what would be the first HEPA air cleaner made for the general public.
Once we had found a solution to the particle irritants, we sought to also remove gas molecules that aggravate respiratory problems. Our search for a substance to remove gaseous irritants led us to the U.S. army, where we learned about the effectiveness of activated carbon in gas masks. We then contacted the manufacturers of the gas masks to help us manufacture activated carbon for use in our air cleaners.
The result was the Austin Healthmate™. As the first air cleaner that removes dust, particles and molecular gases, the Austin Healthmate™ remains the gold standard air cleaner to which all other air cleaners are compared. As the Healthmate™ increased in popularity, we developed a long and rewarding association with Phillips Publishing. During that time, the Austin Healthmate™ was featured in the prominent and highly successful newsletters of Dr. Julian Whitaker, Dr. Christine Northup and Dr. Marcus Laux.
Many of the subscribers to these medical newsletters lived in metropolitan areas such as New York City. As a result of our newfound publicity in these areas, we started getting requests for smaller units from people living in areas where smaller apartments are the norm.
Thus, the Healthmate Junior™ was born. The Healthmate Junior™ allowed people living in smaller spaces to enjoy all the benefits of the original Healthmate™.
Our on-going research has always kept us in close communication with respiratory experts and the medical community. So we are frequently learning of new ways to help more diverse groups of respiratory illness sufferers.
The development of the Healthmate Plus™ can be credited to Dr. Doris Rapp, a renowned international expert in child allergies and the author of New York Times bestseller "Is This Your Child". In addition to her book and publications, Dr. Rapp's ground breaking research has been featured on popular television shows such as the Oprah Winfrey show and Phil Donahue. She is one of the leading researchers to introduce the concept that everyday chemicals directly affect respiratory health.
Dr. Rapp brought to our attention that there is a large and growing group of people whose respiratory systems are especially sensitive to certain chemicals. Her research revealed that exposure to everyday chemicals in the environment is damaging to the lungs and can worsen existing symptoms.
Working with Dr. Rapp helped us to understand that whilst the Healthmate™ was doing a remarkable job, we could improve results even further if we developed a system that removed a group of specific chemicals known to be particularly harmful. We at Austin Air seek to reach as many respiratory sufferers as possible, so we began to investigate how to help this group.
We consulted with leading experts in this field Barneby & Sutcliffe and soon developed a special formula to remove the chemicals known to aggravate respiratory symptoms. The result was the Healthmate Plus™.
In 2008 Austin Air was approached by the National Sleep Foundation. The NSF is a not for profit organization established in 1990 that is dedicated to improving sleep health and safety through education and public awareness. The NSF shared our view that the quality of the air we breathe has a direct impact on the quality of our sleep and in turn our wellbeing. They requested the highest quality and most effective machine we could build.
Around this time we were also supplying air cleaners to a research team at Johns Hopkins University Medical Centre, to assist in their air quality studies. Together with Dr Jameson Mukasa they were studying the use of gas stoves in HUD housing and the resulting gases being emitted in the home.
Dr. Mukasa's and the team at John Hopkins expertise and guidance were essential in the development of what would become known as the National Sleep Foundation Bedroom Machine™.
This brings us to where we are today. After many years of working closely with members of the medical community, the US military and organisations such as the Centre for Disease Control, we have found new ways to develop and perfect our products.
It has been this commitment to constantly improving our air cleaners that makes Austin Air a market leader. Our products are now sold in over 130 countries around the world, despite never having advertised nationally or internationally. Austin Air has built its business solely upon personal recommendations and word-of-mouth success stories.
It is our goal that one day, all those suffering from chronic respiratory illness will breathe a sigh of relief, effortlessly.