When search and rescue operations are carried out in wooded areas and other types of natural terrain, the delays and restrictions that emergency services all too often encounter can be a matter of life and death for those involved. This problem sparked a group of researchers at Frankfurt UAS into action - and the results of their SIRENE project are now set to help rescue teams and other organizations get to incident sites in these difficult-to-reach areas without delay. The project sees Frankfurt UAS in collaboration with the German Forestry Council (KWF), NavLog GmbH and the Hesse State Office of Land Management and Geoinformation (HVBG), and has received funding totaling 336,685 euros over a period of two years from the LOEWE campaign for the development of scientific and economic excellence as part of the Hessen Modellprojekte program.

"For far too long, there has been no comprehensive, long-term solution for launching and coordinating search and rescue operations or controlling and monitoring the process as a whole," explains Dr. René Thiele, Professor of Geoinformatics at Frankfurt UAS. "Finding a way to close these gaps in the system is crucial. SIRENE is designed to map the entire workflow seamlessly - from reporting an incident and coordinating rescue teams and equipment right through to the emergency operation itself, first aid, monitoring and documentation." SIRENE makes use of interactive mobile geoinformation systems (GIS), relevant geo databases, specialist rescue management data and real-time information, with three new applications set to be developed and launched. The first is the free "rescue app", designed for locating people involved in incidents via GPS. Next up is a "rescue suite" for use in control centers, available in web and desktop versions and responsible for coordination - from incident reporting through to launching a rescue operation. Last but certainly not least, the third app is a "rescue pilot" for managing the mission itself.

These three new components developed through the SIRENE project will build on the existing “Rettungskette Forst” forest rescue network from collaboration partner NavLog GmbH, which has provided access to its database of rescue launch points in Hesse, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein for use in the research project.

Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences 60318 Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
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