Oklahoma Company ProTecht Develops Bodyguard Blanket to Shield Kids in Tornadoes, School Shootings

ProTecht, an Oklahoma company, has created a protective blanket it hopes kids will use in case a tornado or a shooting strikes their schools.

The Bodyguard Blanket is 5/16-inch thick rectangle bright orange pad that features backpack-like straps that allow users to put it on, and then duck and cover.

Steve Walker, an Edmond, Oklahoma podiatrist, came up with the idea after a massive EF-5 tornado struck last year in Moore, Oklahoma, killing 24 people including seven children inside an elementary school that didn't have a tornado shelter, the Oklahoman reports.

"We're trying to stop that blunt-force trauma when that rubble is falling down on a child, " Walker said.

He gave a sketch of the protective blanket to Stan Schone, an inventor and one of his patients. The two form half of the executive team at ProTecht.

"Instead of bending over and hoping for the best, they're afforded an extra layer of protection," Schone said.

At $1,000 per blanket, he and others with the company say buying one per student would be less expensive than building tornado shelters.

"By no means would we ever say that this is more protective," Walker said. "But when you have budget constraints, this might be a viable alternative."

ProTecht took a finished blanket to a shooting range and had it subjected to a National Institute of Justice Class 3A test, which is used to test body armor for police units. The classification implies protection against various projectiles, including 9 mm and .22-caliber bullets. It passed, Schone said.

The blanket has been in production for about 10 months, and the team started marketing it about a week ago, he said.

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