Simulating Search and Rescue Operations Using Swarm Technology to Determine How Many Searchers Are Needed to Locate Missing Persons/Objects in the Shortest Time

2019 ◽  
pp. 106-112
Author(s):  
John Page ◽  
Robert Armstrong ◽  
Faqihza Mukhlish
Keyword(s):  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Missing Persons

scholarly journals Strategies to Locate Lost Persons with Dementia: A Case Study of Ontario First Responders

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
N. A. Neubauer ◽  
A. Miguel-Cruz ◽  
L. Liu
Keyword(s):  
Practice Guideline ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Police Services ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Funding Information

Information on strategies and practices in the search of missing persons with dementia is inconsistent which creates challenges for first responders, such as police, when they choose appropriate search and rescue approaches. The purpose of this study was to describe current strategies among police services in Ontario. Telephone interviews with police were conducted. Questions included what strategies were used for locating missing persons living with dementia, and what gaps exist in search practices. Participants described they used high- and low-tech solutions in search and rescue. They identified gaps in education and awareness, proactive strategies, resources, and funding. Information collected from the interviews was used to develop a practice guideline for police in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Ontario.

scholarly journals Salivary Cortisol Interactions in Search and Rescue Dogs and Their Handlers

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Wojtaś ◽  
Mirosław Karpiński ◽  
Piotr Czyżowski
Keyword(s):  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Biological Material ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Pronounced Effect ◽  
Strong Interactions ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Hormone Concentration ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Exam Stress

Search and rescue dogs are an important link in the search for missing persons. The aim of the study was to assess exam stress in search and rescue dogs and their handlers. The study included 41 rescue teams taking exams of field and rubble specialties. The level of cortisol, which is the main glucocorticosteroid modulating stress reactions in humans and dogs, was analyzed. The biological material used to assess the hormone concentration was saliva collected in a non-invasive way. In total, 164 test samples were collected: two from the dog and two from the handler before and immediately after the exam. Rescue exams were shown to significantly increase salivary cortisol in both dogs and their handlers. Strong interactions between cortisol levels in human–dog teams were also found with a more pronounced effect in female dog–female handler dyads.

MISSING OLDER PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA — A HONG KONG VIEW

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (02) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA K.Y. LAI ◽  
JENNY C.C. CHUNG ◽  
THOMAS K.S. WONG ◽  
LAWRENCE W. FAULKNER ◽  
LOUISE NG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Electronic Database ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
Dementia Patients ◽  
A Prospective Study

This paper reviews missing person incidents that occurred in older persons with dementia reported in local newspapers from 1 January 1999 to 1 May 2002. Ten relevant incidents, two of which happened to the same person, were found in WiseNews, an electronic database of 21 local newspapers. There were four (44%) males and five (56%) females with a mean age of 77 (standard deviation=5). In six (60%) cases, the missing persons eloped from home and four (40%) outside of home. Nine (90%) of the cases required less than a day to three days to locate the missing person. Six (60%) cases resulted in injuries or death due to falls or traffic accidents. It is not uncommon for dementia patients to get lost. Public awareness and understanding of the phenomenon is very important because the survival of missing persons depends on the implementation of timely and effective search and rescue. This analysis confirms the need for a prospective study to further examine the characteristics of missing older adults and missing incidents, as well as the search strategies adopted by caregivers. 这篇文章旨在回顾由一九九九年一月一日至二零零二年五月一日以来在本地报章上报导过的有关老年痴呆症患者走失的个案。WiseNews是一个包含二十一份本地报章的电子资料库。我们通过WiseNews搜索到十宗有关的报导，其中两宗个案发生在同一个患者身上。走失患者当中有四名男性，五名女性，年龄由七十到八十六岁［平均数：七十七］。在六宗［六成］走失个案当中，患者是从居所走失的，而另外四宗［四成］则发生在居所以外的地方。九宗［九成］个案需要少於一天至三天的时间去寻回走失患者。六宗［六成］个案涉及受伤或死亡。走失现象在老年痴呆症患者当中颇为普遍，走失患者的安危取决於及时和有效率的搜索及拯救策略。因此，大众需要对这现象有更多的了解。本文的分析显示本地需要对此问题作前瞻性的调查，使本地社会及健康服务从业员能掌握走失痴呆症患者的特徵，一般走失的情况及照顾者面对这问题的策略，从而提供合宜的协助。

scholarly journals Investigating Methods for Integrating Unmanned Aerial Systems in Search and Rescue Operations

Drones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
William T. Weldon ◽  
Joseph Hupy
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Traditional Group ◽  
High Data ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are increasingly being used in search and rescue (SAR) operations to assist in the discovery of missing persons. UAS are useful to first responders in SAR operations due to rapid deployment, high data volume, and high spatial resolution data collection capabilities. Relying on traditional manual interpretation methods to find a missing person in imagery data sets containing several hundred images is both challenging and time consuming. To better find small signs of missing persons in large UAS datasets, computer assisted interpretation methods have been developed. This article presents the results of an initial evaluation of a computer assisted interpretation method tested against manual methods in a simulated SAR operation. The evaluation performed focused on using resources available to first responders performing SAR operations, specifically: RGB data, volunteers, and a commercially available software program. Results from this field test were mixed, as the traditional group discovered more objects but required more time, in man hours, to discover the objects. Further field experiments, based on the capabilities of current first responder groups, should be conducted to determine to what extent computer assisted methods are useful in SAR operations.

scholarly journals Mobile alert app to engage community volunteers to help locate missing persons with dementia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254952
Author(s):  
Noelannah Neubauer ◽  
Christine Daum ◽  
Antonio Miguel-Cruz ◽  
Lili Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Alert System ◽  
Police Services ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Care Partners ◽  
Community Volunteers ◽  
Phases Of Development ◽  
Canadian Provinces

The prevalence of persons living with dementia and at risk of going missing is rising. In this study, we engaged persons living with dementia, care partners, police services, search and rescue organizations, and health and social service providers to develop Community ASAP, a mobile alert system that engages community citizens, as volunteers, to look out for persons with dementia reported missing. We completed three phases of development and evaluation of the usability and functionality of the alert system with stakeholders in three Canadian provinces. In this paper we describe features of the Community ASAP and the findings of these evaluation phases.

Training police search and rescue teams: Implications for missing persons work

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110573
Author(s):  
Lorna Ferguson ◽  
Janne E Gaub
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Police Training ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Police Legitimacy ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Rescue Personnel

Police search and rescue teams are crucial players in resolving missing person cases. Resultantly, police employ a host of training for search and rescue members in collaboration with institutions, organizations, and groups. Such training, however, has not been studied. This warrants attention as, in a time of police legitimacy crises and austerity policing, appropriate and quality police training for effective, efficient practices is imperative. Therefore, we examined the training needs and offerings for police search and rescue personnel, and their impact on search and rescue operations and work, through thematic analysis of interviews with 52 police search and rescue members from 17 agencies across Canada. Findings suggest there are no homogeneous, structured, or standardized training offerings for police search and rescue personnel. Instead, training varies within and across agencies and regions, and between officers and roles, as it is commonly based upon anecdotal experiences and in-house developed “best practices.” We discuss the implications of these findings for police search and rescue operations and work.

scholarly journals A GRASP-Based Approach for Planning UAV-Assisted Search and Rescue Missions

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Casper Bak Pedersen ◽  
Kasper Gaj Nielsen ◽  
Kasper Rosenkrands ◽  
Alex Elkjær Vasegaard ◽  
Peter Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Sensors ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Search Region ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Solution Approach ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Search Area ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Fast Solution

Search and Rescue (SAR) missions aim to search and provide first aid to persons in distress or danger. Due to the urgency of these situations, it is important to possess a system able to take fast action and effectively and efficiently utilise the available resources to conduct the mission. In addition, the potential complexity of the search such as the ruggedness of terrain or large size of the search region should be considered. Such issues can be tackled by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with optical sensors. This can ensure the efficiency in terms of speed, coverage and flexibility required to conduct this type of time-sensitive missions. This paper centres on designing a fast solution approach for planning UAV-assisted SAR missions. The challenge is to cover an area where targets (people in distress after a hurricane or earthquake, lost vessels in sea, missing persons in mountainous area, etc.) can be potentially found with a variable likelihood. The search area is modelled using a scoring map to support the choice of the search sub-areas, where the scores represent the likelihood of finding a target. The goal of this paper is to propose a heuristic approach to automate the search process using scarce heterogeneous resources in the most efficient manner.

scholarly journals Drones as an Integral Part of Remote Sensing Technologies to Help Missing People

Drones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Maria Gaia Pensieri ◽  
Mauro Garau ◽  
Pier Matteo Barone
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Pilot Training ◽  
Valuable Contribution ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
Difficult Terrain ◽  
Ground Penetrating

Due to the versatility of the drone, it can be applied in various areas and for different uses and as a practical support for human activities. In particular, this paper focuses on the situation in Italy and how the authorities use drones for the search and rescue of missing persons, especially now that a 10-year plague that has afflicted Italy with a large number of such incidents annually. Knowledge of the current legislation, the implementation of the drone with other instruments, specific pilot training, and experiential contributions are all essential elements that can provide exceptional assistance in search and rescue operations. However, to guarantee maximum effectiveness of the rescue device, they should seriously consider including teams with proven expertise in operating drones and count on their valuable contribution. Besides drones’ capacity to search large areas, thereby reducing the use of human resources and possibly limiting intervention times, to operate in difficult terrain and/or dangerous conditions for rescue teams, remote sensing tools (such as GPR or ground penetrating radar) as well as other disciplines (such as forensic archeology and, more generally, forensic geosciences) can be implemented to carry out search and rescue missions in case of missing persons.

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