ISAR+

Online and Mobile Communications for Crisis Response and Search and Rescue

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The iSAR Project aims to research and develop guidelines and an associated platform that, in emergencies or crises, enables citizens using new mobile and online technologies to actively participate in the response effort, through the bi-directional provision, dissemination, sharing and retrieval of information essential for critical PPDR intervention, in search and rescue, law enforcement and medical assistance. Empowered by new communication media, such as mobile phones with cameras and internet-based applications connecting to social media platforms, citizens are the in situ first sensors, but their added-value involvement in crisis response efforts is often disregarded by PPDRs, as they struggle to timely develop an adequate situational awareness. iSAR innovates the approach to the dynamics between citizens and PPDRs in crises, allowing (i) the leverage of PPDRs’ levels of shared awareness and performance, benefiting from citizens’ published information, (ii) the exploitation of mobile platforms’ ubiquity to search, locate and effectively communicate with citizens and (iii) the redirection of citizens’ large energy and information flow into PPDRs platforms. Joining large companies, SMEs, Universities, RTOs and a wide community of end-users and experts from Europe, Chile and the US, the iSAR Consortium is one of the Project’s strengths, for it is a multi-disciplinary and complementary collective, with solid competences and experience developing R&D projects. Its ambitious goal is to create guidelines and a platform that, respecting the organizational culture of crisis response and EU legislation and concerns on privacy, considers the related organisational, human, technological, legal and ethical dimensions to enable a gradual evolution towards the full implementation of iSAR services, an efficient and effective solution to articulate the involvement of new media users in the effort to ensure citizens’ security in SAR and crisis situations.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU team is developing systems allowing citizens to send and receive information aiding emergency response. The successfully demonstrated concept utilises mobile devices in contexts including search and rescue and medical assistance.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

These days, most people carry sophisticated communications devices with them at all times. Yet, during emergencies, when the need for communication is most critical, such citizen resources are barely utilised.

The EU-funded 'Online and mobile communications for crisis response and search and rescue' (http://isar.i112.eu (ISAR+)) project set out to include citizens in emergency response. The 19-member consortium is utilising citizens' mobile devices for bi-directional flow of emergency response information, including search and rescue and medical assistance. The guidelines allow smooth integration of the mobile devices into existing emergency networks. ISAR+ has demonstrated its concepts via a prototype technological platform, refined in conjunction with iterative user input. The project started in early 2013 and will end in June 2015.

Initial work involved defining user needs and creating a matching concept prototype. The prototype was developed and validated through several versions in response to user feedback. The device was scoped according to two main criteria: functional benefit and risk of implementation. The team first selected the riskiest requirements, subsequently validated with the user community.

The resulting system was tested during an emergency command exercise, which included users, in Portugal. The ISAR+ prototype successfully exchanged information with citizens, and served as an information system facilitating management of resources and site control. After the trial, project researchers gathered additional user feedback for further analysis.

ISAR+'s system facilitates community emergency communication, whereby citizens can acquire information to help each other and first responders. The system also expands access to emergency information services for people with disabilities.