Road accidents, medical alerts, and fires cause desireable damage to lives every year. This week’s IoT use case focuses on how commercial IoT information can provide valuable data to first responders to accidents of all types. This IoT use case moves beyond the Internet of Life-Saving Things (IoLST) devices designed specifically for first-responder use. Instead, it focuses on how first responders can also leverage IoT data from healthcare, smart homes, smart buildings, smart communities, smart grid and smart vehicles to provide critical environmental and personal insights to assist first responders during emergencies.
One example for sharing IoT data with first-responders is through IoT health-related devices like wearables and in-home monitoring solutions. It’s a fairly basic concept but medical personnel are contacted, these devices should automatically connect with medical analytics to provide the first-responders with preliminary data. For example, what environmental and physiological conditions were present leading up to the medical situation? A quick assessment via IoT device could arm first-responders with critical data to better provide care immediately. When life or death could mean a matter of seconds, a quicker preassessment made available through the Internet of Things may change the outcome significantly.
Another example would help firefighters respond better to situations. As an article from urgentcomm.com, pointed out regarding firefighters “more information and data available [for first responders], about the type of hazardous materials they can expect to encounter, what part of the plant has gone up [in flames], and what parts are nearby that might explode that they’ll want to concentrate on in their fire suppression.” Early warnings and quick assessments before arrival could drastically alter the approach and increase the likelihood of containment.
These are only two examples of how the IoT data can be leveraged by first-responders. There are plenty more when you apply creativity to problem-solving using the power of the Internet of Things.
