HERL Receives U.S. Patent #11,161,684
Dr. Garrett Grindle, Dr. Rory Cooper, Ben Gebrosky, and Katherine Gaines of HERL and Sabah Ocasio and Heather Caron of the VA Medical Center in Syracuse, NY were awarded U.S. Patent #11,161,684, “Device and Method for Preventing Immediate Access to an Object.” This patent is a result of HERL's work with VA social workers in Syracuse, NY to help reduce the risk of suicide among Veterans by buying some time for them to reflect and perhaps seek assistance by delaying access to key for gun locks, which are provided free by the VA to eligible Veterans. Even time of reflection as little as five minutes has been shown to reduce incidence of Veteran suicide attempts.
