5G drones assist emergency services during operations

For rescue teams, every second counts – but they often lack decisive information on the operation site or the situation on the ground. Especially in complex, hard-to-reach areas such as forests, crews often reach their limits in the crucial first few minutes, because many details remain unclear over the phone.
To improve this situation Vodafone, the Rostock Fire Brigade, and Frequentis have joined forces under the leadership of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the ADELE funding project: with 5G-controlled drones, emergency services receive high-resolution live images directly to the control centre and emergency vehicles before arriving at the scene.

“When people’s lives are at stake, every second counts. We now provide emergency services with a digital tool that allows them to act faster and safer in emergency situations. Because drones share live images from the operation site even before rescue workers arrive there. This enables crews to help people in need much faster,” explains Michael Reinartz, Director Innovation at Vodafone Germany.

In this project, Vodafone’s 5G technology is combined with existing LifeX and ASGARD control centre software from Frequentis. If an emergency call is received that requires the deployment of a drone, the drone is automatically dispatched directly from the control centre. It flies completely automatically beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The DLR’s special rescue drone with high-resolution camera sensors then heads directly to the scene of the emergency and transmits high-resolution live video data directly to the control centre via Vodafone's 5G real-time network – even before the first emergency vehicle leaves the control centre. This provides emergency responders with important visual information, such as fire development, access routes, potential hazardous material storage locations, and the presence of people in the affected area. This information enables a more targeted planning of the required emergency units, reducing the average response time from over nine minutes to around two minutes. A clear time gain that can save lives.