Rescue support in large-scale emergencies

Abstract

The invention relates to rescue support in large-scale emergencies. A method for rescue support involves distributing responder devices (11) to individuals (10) within a geographical area and having the responder devices (11) activated. If a large-scale emergency occurs, a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20) is caused to operate within the geographical area to receive distress signals (DS) transmitted by the activated responder devices (11). A computer system (21, 40, 60) processes the distress signals (DS) to obtain detection data for the individuals (10), the detection data comprising locations of the respective responder devices (11) and health conditions of the respective individuals (10). The computer system (21, 40, 60) generates a priority ranking chart (600) for the geographical area based on the locations and the health conditions of the respective individuals, the priority ranking chart (600) indicating one or more sub-areas to which rescue operations are to be given priority.

Claims

1. A system for rescue support, the system comprising: A fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20) deployed within a geographic area, the unmanned aerial vehicles (20) being configured to receive distress signals (DS) transmitted by transponder devices (11) worn or carried by individuals within the geographic area in the event of a large-scale emergency, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicles (20) include one or more environmental sensors (26) for generating environmental data, the environmental data including one or more images and representing the surrounding environment of the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20), and Computer system (90), said computer system (90) is configured to: The distress signal is processed to obtain detection data (DD) of the individual, the detection data (DD) including the location of the corresponding transponder device in the transponder device (11) and the health status of the corresponding individual in the individual, and Based on the location and the health status, a priority ranking chart (600) is generated for the geographic area, the priority ranking chart (600) indicating one or more sub-areas (P1, P2, P3) to be prioritized for rescue operations. The computer system (90) is further configured to process the one or more images to determine the infrastructure status within the geographic area, and also to generate the priority ranking chart (600) based on the infrastructure status.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The distress signal (DS) includes physiological data from one or more sensors of the corresponding transponder device (11) or one or more sensors (15) associated with the corresponding transponder device (11), and wherein the computer system (90) is configured to determine the health status of the corresponding individual based on the physiological data.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The computer system is also configured to determine the grouping of the detection data (DD) at least based on the location of the corresponding transponder device (11), wherein the priority ranking chart (600) is generated based on the grouping.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein, The computer system (90) is configured to: identify selected individuals among the individuals in the geographic region based on the health status of the respective individuals, and determine the grouping for the selected individuals.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein, The grouping results in multiple groups of individuals, wherein the computer system (90) is configured to determine the individual density in a corresponding group among the multiple groups, wherein the one or more sub-regions (P1, P2, P3) include one or more groups among the multiple groups that have the highest individual density.

6. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is configured, when processing the distress signal (DS), to: extract an identifier from the corresponding distress signal among the distress signals, and determine the location and the health status for each unique identifier.

7. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is configured to indicate the position of an individual or all individuals in the priority ranking chart (600).

8. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is configured to generate a count of surviving individuals in one or more sub-regions (P1, P2, P3) based on the detection data (DD), and to include the count in the priority ranking chart (600).

9. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is configured to indicate the location of one or more rescue teams relative to the geographic area in the priority ranking chart (600).

10. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to receive rescue status data indicating locations accessed by one or more operational rescue teams, and to indicate the accessed locations on the priority ranking chart (600).

11. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to generate the priority ranking chart (600) based on the environmental data.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein, The one or more environmental sensors (26) include one or more of the following: imaging devices, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, sound detectors, weather sensors, wind sensors, humidity sensors, dew point sensors, material sensors, and radioactive sensors.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to determine one or more sub-regions (P1, P2, P3) based on the environmental data.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to include at least a portion of the environmental data in the priority ranking chart (600).

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to: determine, based on the infrastructure status, the estimated arrival times of one or more rescue teams located at their respective current locations relative to the geographic area to the one or more sub-areas (P1, P2, P3), and include the estimated arrival times in the priority ranking chart (600).

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to: select one or more candidate rescue teams from a set of available rescue teams based on the infrastructure status, and indicate the one or more candidate rescue teams in the priority ranking chart (600).

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to: select a transportation mode from a set of available transportation modes for at least one rescue team based on the infrastructure conditions, and indicate the transportation mode in the priority ranking chart (600).

18. The system according to claim 1, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to: determine transportation routes for rescue teams to one or more sub-areas (P1, P2, P3) based on the infrastructure conditions, and indicate the transportation routes in the priority ranking chart (600).

19. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to provide access to the controllers (21) of the unmanned aerial vehicles (20) in the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20) via the priority sorting chart (600).

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein, Access to the controller (21) includes: an interface (CH) on the priority ranking chart (600) for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to a selected location in the geographic area, and / or an interface (602F) on the priority ranking chart (600) for real-time access to the environmental sensors (26) on the unmanned aerial vehicle (20).

21. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The distress signal (DS) includes at least one of the distance (D1, D2, D3) and direction (α) from the corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle (20) to the corresponding transponder device (11), wherein the computer system (90) is configured to generate the position of the corresponding transponder device (11) based on the current position of the corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle (20) and at least one of the distance (D1, D2, D3) and direction (α).

22. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the system further comprising the transponder device (11), the transponder device (11) being configured to be worn or carried by the individual and capable of operating to transmit the distress signal, the transponder device also being capable of operating to measure one or more physiological parameters of the individual and including the measured one or more physiological parameters in the distress signal.

23. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to enable the display device (61) to display the priority sorting chart (600).

24. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The computer system (90) is also configured to indicate the infrastructure status on the priority sorting chart (600).

25. A computer-implemented method for rescue support, the method comprising the following steps: Acquire (405') detection data representing a distress signal, which is sent by a transponder device worn or carried by an individual in a geographic area after a large-scale emergency and received by an unmanned aerial vehicle in a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles deployed in the geographic area, the detection data including the location of the corresponding transponder device and the health status of the corresponding individual. as well as Based on the location and health status, a priority ranking chart is generated for the geographic area, indicating one or more sub-areas that should be prioritized for rescue operations. The feature is that the infrastructure status within the geographic area is determined by processing one or more images representing the surrounding environment of the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20) and generated by one or more environmental sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicles, and the priority ranking chart is also generated based on the infrastructure status.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The step of acquiring (405') detection data includes: determining the health status of the corresponding individual based on the physiological data included in the distress signal.

27. A computer-readable medium comprising computer instructions (92A) that, when executed by a processing system (91), cause the processing system (91) to perform the method of claim 25 or 26.

28. An apparatus including logic units (91, 92) configured to control the apparatus to perform the method of claim 25 or 26.

29. The device of claim 28, further comprising a signal receiver (24) for receiving the distress signal, wherein, The logic units (91, 92) are also configured to acquire at least a portion of the detection data (DD) by processing (405) one or more distress signals received by the signal receiver (24).

30. The device according to claim 28, wherein, The device is an unmanned aerial vehicle (20).

31. A method for providing relief support, the method comprising the following steps: Distribute (401) transponder devices to individuals within a geographic area; The transponder device described in (402) is activated; Following a large-scale emergency in the geographical area, control (403) of a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of operating within the geographical area receives distress signals transmitted by the transponder equipment, and To make a computer system work, in order to: The distress signal is processed to obtain detection data of the individual, including the location of the corresponding transponder device and the health status of the corresponding individual. Based on the location and the health status of the corresponding individuals, a priority ranking chart is generated for the geographical area, indicating one or more sub-areas that should be prioritized for rescue operations. The feature is that the infrastructure status within the geographic area is determined by processing one or more images representing the surrounding environment of the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (20) and generated by one or more environmental sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicles, and the priority ranking chart is also generated based on the infrastructure status.

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