Overview
- The peer-reviewed study, published in JAMA, used a randomized, blinded, sham-controlled design in Italy with 36 enrolled adults, 24 of whom completed burial tests under at least 50 centimeters of snow.
- All 12 participants using the functioning Safeback SBX avoided the prespecified oxygen saturation cutoff of 80 percent and targeted 35 minutes underground; 11 completed the full duration and one exited early for skin irritation.
- Controls using a nonfunctioning device had a median burial time of about 6.4 minutes, with seven critical desaturation events and several early stops due to shortness of breath or panic; only one reached 35 minutes.
- Air sampling showed more favorable pocket gases with the device, with oxygen around 19.8 percent versus 12.4 percent in controls and carbon dioxide about 1.3 percent versus 6.1 percent.
- The SBX is a roughly 500-gram, battery-powered backpack fan that directs ambient air through shoulder-strap outlets; researchers emphasize the results come from controlled simulations and say larger, real-world studies and operational integration remain to be assessed.