The toolkit that gives first responders a life-saving head start
Whether it’s a house fire, a bomb alert or a flash flood: first responders face dangerous situations where quick and informed decision-making can save lives. Making our societies more disaster-resilient is a key objective of EU research. Emergencies due to extreme weather are on the rise, while crises are becoming more complex and widespread. The INGENIOUS project put cutting-edge technology at the heart of a modular suite of interconnected solutions that could provide emergency response teams with improved protection, operational capacity and information-sharing capabilities. Funded by the EU and South Korea, it developed a Next Generation Integrated Toolkit (NGIT) which aims to facilitate the work of first responders at each step of disaster management.
Real-time insights to manage threats
“INGENIOUS follows a unified approach where information collected is shared with first responders on a need-to-know basis. The tools and components help them assess threats, share information and plan emergency responses,” says Angelos Amditis, R&D director at the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems in Athens, the project host. What exactly does the NGIT include, and how does it work? The kit integrates robotics, IoT, wearables, sensors, AR as well as communication and localisation components for use by first response teams and accompanying K9 units.
Smart gear, smart data sharing
This fully interconnected technological equipment is deployed as part of the responders’ uniforms, boots and helmets and the dogs’ gear. In addition, the toolkit includes drones and other smart devices on the ground to monitor, map and assess the incident scene. “They will for instance track responders’ proximity to team members, victims, assets and hazards in real time,” Amditis explains. To provide responders with the right information at the right time during an operation and share relevant data with public safety agencies in real time, a common operational picture (COP) platform gathers data from all components. A set of mobile apps for first responders completes the picture, enabling them to better coordinate operations in the field.
User needs: not an afterthought
To make sure that the toolkit effectively meets the needs of incident responders, the project team relied on close collaboration between end users and technical partners from the start. “Forums for end user participation and input included for instance workshops, lab and small-scale tests, as well as two full-scale exercises involving complex response scenarios,” Amditis notes. They could observe the prototyping process and convey operational requirements, and were trained on the use of the tools and services developed. The INGENIOUS team also put a special focus on making sure the toolkit fulfilled all ethical, privacy and data protection principles. It took a proactive approach through the creation of a dedicated working group and the implementation of an Ethical and Privacy Impact Assessment plus (EPIA+). Among the toolkit’s solutions, the team has already identified 12 products which are almost ready for market deployment and could be commercialised within a few years. For the remaining components, developments are planned to get the full system ready for commercialisation.
Keywords
INGENIOUS, first responders, emergency response, disaster-resilient, integrated toolkit, common operational picture, Ethical and Privacy Impact Assessment
