Abstract:

In this paper, four recent Search and Rescue (SAR) deployments of our team are briefly presented as baseline for contextualizing the challenge of designing the next generation of assets and tools for the field operations. Lack of preparedness, coordination and poor perimeter monitoring is, as expected, a major factor in large-scale disasters. Specific differences in task prioritization and speed are evident between small-scale events like train accidents and large-scale events like devastating earthquakes, leading to corresponding changes in the deployment or even the planning phases of a SAR mission. Citizens and especially spontaneous volunteers are important assets often overlooked. The “last mile gap” and changes in First Aid / medical response are also very critical factors that emerge more evidently as the scale of the disaster becomes larger. Finally, a few important guidelines and good practices are proposed for SAR-related R&D projects.

Keywords: Search and Rescue, First Responders, crisis management, emergency response, USAR, flash flood, wildfire.