Terrorism, an increased number of active shooter incidents, and pandemics, alongside other issues and trends like urbanization and climate change all create an urgent need for first responders to be equipped and available to provide various types of emergency response at the drop of a hat—from stepping in during moments of sheer panic and terror, like they did during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, to providing relief to victims of a natural disaster, like they did during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

IoT Enhances First Response

Edward Chow, manager of the Civil Program Office at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center managed by the California Institute of Technology, says today’s first responders are faced with increasingly complex and dynamic situations, and it is vitally important that first-responder organizations be able to access data. “From everyday paramedics trying to respond to heart attack emergency calls to firefighters trying to save lives in a large-scale burning factories, IoT-connected devices could provide the realtime patient vital signs and lethal chemical gas information needed to save lives,” he says.

Under funding from the Dept. of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed AUDREY (Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and sYnthesis) technology for first responders. The AUDREY Hastings experiment, a cross-border U.S./Canada initiative designed to enhance future communication and decisionmaking for first responders, demonstrated how AI and situational awareness technologies could assist paramedics. As part of the experiment, Chow says: “The team demonstrated the AUDREY technology in firefighting, search and rescue, and paramedic scenarios, (and) is in the process of licensing the AUDREY technology to commercial companies for first-responder applications.”

George Brunemann is the CTO of Known Quantity Sensors, which has done proof-of-concept work with the Dept. of Homeland Security on using occupancy sensors as a way of locating and tracking people during emergencies. He says: “We demonstrated the ability to give crews information while in route to the event that allowed them to plan their building approach based on known places in the building where people were trapped.”

According to Brunemann, the main opportunities for IoT technologies to assist first responders are in the areas of communication and situational awareness—both before arriving on scene and during an emergency. For example, being able to start triage and assessment while on the way to the emergency allows first responders to be better prepared for what they will face when they arrive and proactively plan the most effective way to address issues.

Brunemann says this involves things like the ability to communicate with other leaders already on the scene or with people inside the building, see the site before arriving and get details on where/how many people are in danger, get details about who is in the building and possibly even identify victims and potential hostiles. “During the emergency, IoT (technologies) can coordinate and track movement, relay the latest information on where people are located, and give realtime updates on changes in the situation,” he concludes.

Rob Huberty, cofounder and COO of ZeroEyes, says advanced sensors and emerging technologies have the ability to provide this information in realtime, allowing for more immediate, efficient, and effective action. “Instead of questioning decisions in after-action reports, we can provide information that could lead to better outcomes in a proactive manner,” he says.

“We can make our cities safer with access to critical information in a timely manner,” Huberty says. “The possibilities for other (AI) solutions are massive. If we can take definitive questions and combine them, AI can be a force multiplier.”

Nick Nilan, director of public sector product development at Verizon, says first responders face countless challenges, but the most important one may be accessing the right information at the right time. He says 5G will be instrumental in providing first responders with this access. In fact, he says: “The convergence of 5G and edge computing will fundamentally transform public safety—from critical communications and situational awareness to virtual reality and drones, these technologies will enable life-saving capabilities that will empower those who protect and serve our communities.”

5G’s higher bandwidth and lower latency means faster data transfer speeds, which will allow first responders to process critical information more efficiently. Combined with 5G, edge computing will help first responders effectively implement emerging technologies such as mixed reality or AI-enabled devices for crisis response. As examples, Nilan offers connected ambulances for faster patient transport during emergencies and search-and-rescue drones that can reach inaccessible areas when it matters most.

The Verizon 5G First Responder Lab, in partnership with Responder Corp., identifies promising companies from around the world and gives them access to 5G technology to develop, test, and refine their public-safety solutions. “The 5G First Responder Lab is helping to drive the future of public safety forward by providing opportunities for startups and new companies to develop their solutions,” Nilan says. “The lab does more than just power the technology. By working directly with the public safety community, Verizon and Responder Corp. help ensure that the technology being tested and developed will meet real first responders’ needs.”

CHDS K-12 School Shooting Database

The K-12 school shooting database documents each and every instance a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week.

Source: Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS)

The future of first response in light of technology innovation won’t be without its issues. David Ihrie, CTO of the CIT (Center for Innovative Technology), says alongside traditional challenges first responders face are emerging challenges resulting from new technologies. “The more traditional challenges in emergency response are basically around situational awareness and communications,” Ihrie explains. “More recently, emerging-technology challenges include things such as intercepted communications or social media making response more difficult, harassment of responders with drones, increasingly advanced computer-based solutions that may make it more difficult to operate, and others have both increased the range of threats that responders face as well as increased the complexity of those threats.”

The CIT is leading efforts to test prototypes of new technologies with responders across the country, and it is also acting as a thought leader to help understand and consolidate the lessons learned from these tests. The center also helps direct innovation so technology developers can respond to the sometimes-counterintuitive lessons that come out of actual field testing. With so many organizations and companies working toward a better future for first responders, there may come a day when technology can save the lives of first responders and civilians alike. It may even be able to prevent tragedy from striking at all.