The RESPOND-A project aims to improve the information management systems of the emergency teams by combining different cutting-edge technologies.
Drones, robots and intelligent waistcoats have been used in a demonstration to validate the use of innovative tools.
Technicians from Valenciaport, Valenciaport Foundation, Local Police and Fire Brigade took part in this pilot project
Robots with gas sensors or specialised in the transport of material, drones with thermal cameras or waistcoats for emergency teams with vital signs monitoring… are some of the innovative technologies that have been tested this morning in an emergency situation in the Port of Valencia. The Clock Building and the adjoining esplanade hosted a demonstration of the RESPOND-A project, an initiative that aims to improve the information management systems of emergency team professionals by combining different cutting-edge technologies.
The aim of this event, which was organised by the Valenciaport Foundation and the València Local Police, with the collaboration of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), was to demonstrate and validate in the port area the use of one of the tools developed within the framework of the project: a 5-level communication architecture that facilitates the exchange of information between the rescue teams and the advanced command centre.
The pilot consisted of a simulation of a collision between two tankers with dangerous goods, which resulted in a suspected fire and a possible spill in the water. Then, it was demonstrated how to deal with this emergency by testing various tools such as drones with 4K cameras, 360º video, ground robots with thermal and video cameras, waistcoats for the emergency teams with vital signs monitoring, personal cameras for the rescue teams, augmented reality, etc. The images and data from all these tools have been centralised and integrated into a system that acts as an advanced command centre, carrying out all these communications with 5G technologies.
The day before the demonstration, a training session was held for the rescue teams to teach them how to use the tools necessary to carry out the pilot by means of practical exercises and a serious game.
Thanks to this exercise, the technologies developed during the project have been validated to complement the current self-protection plans in and around the Port in contingency scenarios, disaster mitigation, as well as search and rescue of people.
The RESPOND-A project is an initiative co-funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 programme, with an amount of more than 7 million euros for its development and which began last June.