Improving the Emergency Services

The three primary emergency services in the UK are the Police Force, the Fire Brigade and the Ambulance Service, though there are others you could consider. All are characterised by a need for a fast response, timely arrival at emergency sites and the tools and expertise to deal with problems upon arrival.

Once an emergency has been reported, a procedure will be triggered and this should result in the appropriate personnel and equipment arriving at the site of the emergency and in a timely manner. Service personnel will work together, with the public and casualties, and with their equipment. Teamwork is of vital importance, as is command and control.

Such fast and appropriate response relies on meticulous planning and training. Multiple systems will be working together using data from many different sources. Specialised equipment must also be robust so as not to fail under harsh conditions. However, it must also be effective and easy to use.

Since funding, resources and time are limited, efficiency in the emergency services directly translates into more lives saved and better outcomes for the public.

Task

Your company have been tasked with improving efficiency in the emergency services. How you go about this is entirely up to you. You must first consider what problems the emergency services currently have and whether you will try and improve overall efficiency or try to identify and fix a particular problem or bottleneck. For instance, perhaps travel during rush hour traffic is the biggest factor affecting response rate for ambulances in cities. Your solution could be a new device, tool or system, or an improvement on a current one. Problem areas you could consider include, but are not limited to:

• Situational Awareness, e.g. firefighters in a smoky building, or first responders at a mass casualty incident.
• Communications. Between responders or back to HQ? Do these rely on existing infrastructure?
• Safeguarding Existing Infrastructure. What existing infrastructure do the emergency services use, how much of this is public and how reliable is it? (Look up what Verizon did during the Californian wildfires)
• Casualty location/ Search and Rescue. In what scenarios is this a more important factor? How is this done during flooding, for example?
• Casualty Handling/ Treatment. Often a casualty must be moved from difficult to reach and sometimes dangerous situations. Specialised equipment may be involved. Speed is a factor, but so is casualty safety and responder safety. What technology is currently used in such situations, could you improve it?
• Primary Tasks. What are the primary tasks of the individuals on the ground? Could you improve on firefighting, police or ambulance equipment?

Considerations

Equipment reliability is paramount. Your solution must work when required, sometimes after a long period of non-use.

You should identify clearly the problem you are trying to solve, and consider the value that your solution provides. You must also consider the cost of developing, producing and distributing the solution.

Your solution must be robust and able to operate in its environment or else be highly replaceable. The materials of construction must be carefully considered, with cost, manufacturing and service in mind.

This task is open-ended and will require innovative thinking. You will have a range of engineers in your team so you must identify your strengths and work to them.