INTREPID platform: new technologies at the service of the safety of the first responders in search and rescue operations

The scenarios that follow a natural or man-made disaster are always chaotic, changing, and, above all, dangerous for first responders, who must deal with complex and hostile areas while searching for and rescuing victims. Making urgent decisions on the ground, without having reliable information about the safety of the work area, makes it difficult to respond quickly and effectively. The INTREPID project is part of the HORIZON 2020 research and innovation programme funded by the European Union (EU). The main objective of INTREPID is to develop a single platform that integrates different modular solutions to facilitate the communication, exploration, and assessment of dangerous and potentially inhabited sites. For this, it uses technologies such as extended reality, positioning applications, network amplifications in hard-to-reach places, and intelligent cyber assistants among others. These realistic tools have been tested and improved throughout the project during controlled simulations in different scenarios such as a one-metre flood, an industrial chemical incident, and an explosion in a hospital. The data collected in these simulations has served to optimize this technology which is focused on meeting the specific needs of different groups of end users.