The benefits of livestreaming bodycams for emergency rescue & response
Bodycams have steadily been embraced by a large variety of sectors and industries. Paramedics, firefighters and other emergency rescue teams across the world have experienced their benefits in terms of protecting staff and providing evidence, as well as new ways to communicate with and support frontline professionals. Their crucial work allows society to function and saves countless lives. With livestreaming bodycams for emergency rescue operations, they themselves are protected and supported wherever, whenever.
What challenges exist for emergency rescue & response teams?
Serious complications exist with search and rescue operations, as they are often conducted over wide areas, with small teams that collect and gather data, and command and control at a distance. A research report from nearly a decade ago already highlighted the fact that social and ecological vulnerabilities are increasing the amount, and complexity of emergency situations, which requires a re-evaluation of how stakeholders work together and communicate. Communication, and the sharing of crucial relevant data are complicated and time-consuming, leading to the exploration of new technologies to support and improve operations.
After the hurricane Katrina disaster in the United States, authorities found that ineffective communication and data sharing were serious obstacles to proper emergency response, and that real-time data such as GPS locations and footage would have greatly improved rescue efforts.
The report explicitly states that there are currently severe limitations in terms of:
- the coordination of large scale civil operations
- the safety of civilians and volunteers
- eyes in the field: the more the better
- a central command post which is often in the dark, without the latest information from the field
In Europe, reports on the handling of emergency response at sea during the migrant crisis showed that the most severe problem was the quantity and quality of communications. Many teams, from many countries, operating in the same waters, result in splintered, haphazard and incomplete communication. This leads to less effective operations as well as increased risks during critical moments.
“The most challenging aspect to manage in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations is communication, especially in terms of quantity. It is necessary to enable communication flow and be able to reduce the amount of redundant information; to route that data that is not strictly relevant to the operation to other areas in order to only focus on what is directly involved in the coordination of SAR operations.”
Commander Sirio Faé | Rome Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) | Italian Coastguard
How can livestreaming bodycams support and improve emergency rescue & response operations?
Livestreaming bodycams have shown to greatly increase the quantity and quality of communication and information streams, allowing for better decision-making and support for field teams.
2021 research on livestreaming bodycams and accompanying data management software showed the great promise of bodycams for emergency rescue teams. Several field tests with livestreaming bodycams were conducted. The bodycams gathered constant data in the form of video footage, pictures and stills and GPS coordinates which were sent directly to the central command post. This approach offered serious benefits for the rescue operation as the entire team of managers, operators and frontline staff were:
- constantly and instantly informed of the latest developments and changes in the field
- always in visual, live communication with each other, allowing more eyes to analyse findings in the field in real time
- able to make quicker judgements, allowing for faster support and if necessary, direct redirection of field teams
- able to tag points of interest or evidence, and take notes alongside livestreamed bodycam footage for more effective registration and communication
Images, and especially live footage, are generally known to be much more effective for communicating complex developments on the ground.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
With livestreamed bodycam footage, less verbal communication through radio communications is necessary, resulting in valuable time saved when lives are at stake.
Various emergency teams have already implemented livestreaming drones to better communicate and operate, and it is only a matter of time before livestreaming bodycams, as the ideal eyes in the field, are further embraced for rescue operations. With extra support from specialists guiding and advising frontline rescuers in real time, more lives can be saved and operations can be effectively improved.
Livestreaming bodycams can also benefit future emergency operations, as everything that happens can be recorded, shared, analysed and built upon for learnings and future operations. Experiences of ZEPCAM customers with bodycams for training emergency personnel show the benefits:
- bodycam footage captured details or elements that were not analysed during drills, but afterwards. More data meant further improvements of frontline actions
- bodycam footage is valuable in terms of showing trainees their actions and pinpointing results, with tagging and notetaking embedded in the bodycam video management software
- bodycams offered a total view of any rescue operation, with the T3 livestreaming bodycam supporting communication between the command post and the field, and providing them with real-time, crucial information
New technologies are being developed and implemented every year for the improvement of emergency rescue operations. Livestreaming bodycams are breaking through, and make it possible to instantly and fully communicate crucial data from the field, support decision making at a distance, as well as allowing for better support for emergency rescue and response teams across the world.
>>ZEPCAM Livestreaming Bodycam Solutions for Emergency Rescue & Response
