Tactical Navigation Support for Firefighters: The LifeNet Ad-Hoc Sensor-Network and Wearable System

Abstract

Abstract. We present a concept and implementation for supporting tactical navigation of firefighters in structural fires, called LifeNet. It is based on a sensor network that firefighters deploy on-the-fly during an intervention and a wearable system that provides them navigational support. The system was designed in collaboration with the Paris Fire Brigade and is based on intensive empirical studies of their work practice. The article focuses on the exploration of human factors related to the LifeNet concept, including appropriation, interaction, as well as the relation to current and potential future work practice. These aspects are discussed for LifeNet and a few related approaches against the findings from our empirical studies.

How the internet of things technology enhances emergency response operations

“…To provide adequate situational awareness and decision-making support to manage crisis situations, researchers and practitioners in disaster management have urged attention to the development of emergency response information systems (ERISs). Emergency response information systems should support first responders by enhancing their situational awareness which will lead to better decision-making [1]. It is argued that human decision-making failures during catastrophic incidents such as Bhopal [2], the firefighters' deaths during 9/11 [3] and the Three Mile Island nuclear crisis [4] were caused by situational awareness failures and the lack of support of decision-making.…”

“…Enhanced situational awareness leads to better decision-making in ER operations [1]. The IoT technology possesses the ability to provide real-time and comprehensive data about the incident scene via wireless sensor networks, RFID and other techniques.…”

Future Research on Cyber-Physical Emergency Management Systems

“…Table 1 also summarises and compares proposals that have been made for search and rescue systems. In [30,34] searching victims or tracking their movements is the focus, while in [35][36][37], attention is payed to tracking rescuers (or firefighters) to guarantee their safety. Based on the presence of victims, in [38], the search and rescue space is reduced, and in [32,33], a communication backbone is formed using robotics.…”

“…to extract knowledge from sensing data (e.g., counting, discovery, localization and tracking of civilians) [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Moreover, dynamic prediction and forecast of environmental changes should be conducted to avoid unnecessary casualties [20,21,[39][40][41][42][43][44].…”

Assessment of a Smart Sensing Shoe for Gait Phase Detection in Level Walking

“…The results obtained have shown the possibility to use personal wearable devices to assist and support chronic patients [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], elderly people [8,9], emergency operators [10,11] and also healthy subjects for sports, wellness and prevention [12][13][14]. At the same time, the wearable technology market has exploded and is expected to further increase over the next few years, as proved by the growing interest of big players such as Google, Apple and Samsung.…”