Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters
Large and unaccounted numbers of victims in disasters, events, or fires are often trapped in buildings or debris, and must be located and rescued as soon as possible. This study transforms smartphones into indoor locating tools without extra modification or complicated program installation, consider...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/19/7502 |
| _version_ | 1797476885951676416 |
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| author | Yenpo Tai Teng-To Yu |
| author_facet | Yenpo Tai Teng-To Yu |
| author_sort | Yenpo Tai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large and unaccounted numbers of victims in disasters, events, or fires are often trapped in buildings or debris, and must be located and rescued as soon as possible. This study transforms smartphones into indoor locating tools without extra modification or complicated program installation, considering smartphones are likely to be carried when disasters strike. The study creates a system that converts smartphones into a lifesaving tool for trapped victims and rescuers. This study employs the Bluetooth beacon in smartphones to send signals using its low power consumption feature. The signal could continue transmitting for rescuers to locate trapped victims for longer. Rescuers could use the Bluetooth function on a regular notebook computer to search such signals without any hardware implementation or modification, allowing them to locate and determine the position of many trapped victims simultaneously. Implementing this system will decrease the search and rescue team’s need to enter unsafe areas and increase their rescue speed, a critical factor for the survival of trapped victims. Furthermore, when disasters strike, the smartphone calling function might not work, and the trapped victim might be too weak to call for help. Thus, autoreply messages from victims’ smartphones could help them be located within a 2-m error, even if covered by fallen debris such as wood piles or tiles. This effort will increase the chance of finding trapped victims within the golden rescue hours and reduce the exposure time of search and rescue teams in unsafe environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:10:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-687b63202870438f88229cbca4aa7e24 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:10:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-687b63202870438f88229cbca4aa7e242023-11-23T21:50:13ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-10-012219750210.3390/s22197502Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in DisastersYenpo Tai0Teng-To Yu1Department of Resources Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, TaiwanDepartment of Resources Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, TaiwanLarge and unaccounted numbers of victims in disasters, events, or fires are often trapped in buildings or debris, and must be located and rescued as soon as possible. This study transforms smartphones into indoor locating tools without extra modification or complicated program installation, considering smartphones are likely to be carried when disasters strike. The study creates a system that converts smartphones into a lifesaving tool for trapped victims and rescuers. This study employs the Bluetooth beacon in smartphones to send signals using its low power consumption feature. The signal could continue transmitting for rescuers to locate trapped victims for longer. Rescuers could use the Bluetooth function on a regular notebook computer to search such signals without any hardware implementation or modification, allowing them to locate and determine the position of many trapped victims simultaneously. Implementing this system will decrease the search and rescue team’s need to enter unsafe areas and increase their rescue speed, a critical factor for the survival of trapped victims. Furthermore, when disasters strike, the smartphone calling function might not work, and the trapped victim might be too weak to call for help. Thus, autoreply messages from victims’ smartphones could help them be located within a 2-m error, even if covered by fallen debris such as wood piles or tiles. This effort will increase the chance of finding trapped victims within the golden rescue hours and reduce the exposure time of search and rescue teams in unsafe environments.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/19/7502smartphoneBluetoothlocatinghazardvictims |
| spellingShingle | Yenpo Tai Teng-To Yu Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters Sensors smartphone Bluetooth locating hazard victims |
| title | Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters |
| title_full | Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters |
| title_fullStr | Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters |
| title_short | Using Smartphones to Locate Trapped Victims in Disasters |
| title_sort | using smartphones to locate trapped victims in disasters |
| topic | smartphone Bluetooth locating hazard victims |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/19/7502 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yenpotai usingsmartphonestolocatetrappedvictimsindisasters AT tengtoyu usingsmartphonestolocatetrappedvictimsindisasters |