Research on labor consumption and rescuers’ physiological parameters progress in the case of practical training in a mobile training facility

An important factor in ensuring success in an intervention operation in dangerous environments lays in the training process, in conditions as close as possible to real intervention situations, as well as the manner of setting up rescue teams. In order to organize the intervention process as efficiently as possible, when setting up rescue teams we must take into account work consumption and physiological parameters achieved by members of the rescue teams during practical training carried out within the mobile training facility. In case of special incidents, the rescue intervention can take place in areas with small (limited) sections, spaces with high temperature, in low visibility conditions, which would make rescuers’ intervention even more difficult. Conditions mentioned above can be easily created within the rescuers’ mobile training facility, endowment of INSEMEX Petroșani, facility that through its equipment and facilities, allows monitoring of labour consumption and physiological parameters of rescuers throughout and in all training situations. The current paper presents training methods of intervention and rescue personnel within the mobile training facility and progress of work consumption / physiological parameters of rescuers throughout these practical exercises, with the aim of preparing intervention and rescue teams for situations close to real ones.

Research on rescuers’ training process in toxic / explosive / flammable environments

The paper presents the structuring of physical effort put in by rescuers during training, taking into account the activity specific psychosocial factors, structuring that aimed at streamlining the training process of intervention and rescue personnel in toxic / explosive / flammable environments. Training routes with various degrees of difficulty, allowing the simulation of intervention activities in horizontally and vertically confined spaces, low visibility, high temperature and humidity environments were analysed, for each the specific labour consumption being calculated. A dysfunctional phenomenon caused by the intervention and rescue activity is fatigue, perceived as a body reaction to readjust and restore its functions following intense or repeated body requests for energy consumption. Not only physical fatigue (which can be controlled through exercises) is specific for rescue and intervention activity but also mental fatigue. In addition to physical and technical training, psychosocial training of people who carry out intervention and rescue activities was followed in the training programs.

Stress and psychological resilience in intervention and rescue activities

Nature of intervention and rescue personnel activity places them at the top of professions that face a considerable number of occupational health and safety risks. Often, this occupational category does not face a single safety risk, but a complex combination of risk factors, including unpredictability of situations in which they are required to work. Emergence of stress and other psychosocial risks in work processes requires the implementation of an anticipatory attitude and a constant level of vigilance to identify and evaluate them. In intervention and rescue, the issue of regulating and self-regulating the individual’s behaviour is essential, as exceptional acts performed in unusual conditions require adaptive mechanisms as close as possible to perfection. Developing resilience should focus on amplifying already present strengths (physical and mental characteristics and abilities), rather than managing negative effects of operational stressors. The current paper presents a theoretical approach of the concept of resilience, appliable to intervention and rescue activities and suggests several ways to develop rescuer’s resilience.

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

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.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness and Associated Factors in Military Search and Rescue Personnel

BACKGROUND: Abnormal excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) has been reported worldwide, but too little is known about EDS and its determinants in Search and Rescue (SAR) populations. We aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal EDS and contributing factors among Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) SAR helicopter personnel.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of N = 175 RNoAF SAR personnel completed an electronic survey including socio-demographic and lifestyle questions. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used as both a continuous and categorical outcome variable to measure EDS.RESULTS: Abnormal EDS defined by ESS was found in 41% of the participants in this study. We observed no associations between socio-demographic and lifestyle factors and abnormal EDS in this study. DISCUSSION: There is a high prevalence of abnormal EDS in the current RNoAF SAR population. Despite this elevated level of fatigue, we did not find that the socio-demographic and lifestyle factors assessed in this study were associated with abnormal EDS in RNoAF SAR helicopter personnel. Also unusually, the study cohort did not demonstrate higher scores in factors found to change ESS scores in similar study populations (e.g., caffeine use, tobacco use, exercise level). Further research is required to investigate other factors (organizational, operational) that may be associated with abnormal EDS in this and other SAR populations.Akter R, Larose TL, Sandvik J, Fonne V, Meland A, Wagstaff AS. Excessive daytime sleepiness and associated factors in military search and rescue personnel. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(12):975–979.

Modelling Wireless Robots for Urban Search and Rescue in Artificial Rubble

<p>Using robots to assist rescue personnel in USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) missions is an active area of research. Researchers are developing robots to penetrate into rubble to gather information about the environment and to search for victims. The School of Engineering and Computer Science of Victoria University of Wellington is developing a team of robots, the "robot family" to help at disasters. The robot family is a three-tier system. The first tier the "grandmother" which carries second tier "mother robots" to the rubble. The mother robot each launches a group of the third tier "daughter robots" that will penetrate the rubble surface. The daughter robots will burrow deep into the disaster site. They will be equipped with sensors to search for and locate trapped persons. They are designed to be small, battery operated, low cost and disposable. The team of robots is hierarchically structured and to be remotely monitored by rescue personnel at a safe distance from the rubble via a wireless communication link. This thesis describes the successful implementation of a wireless communication platform for the team of robots. This was verified using a simulated rubble site. A suitable ZigBee wireless module was selected by comparing a list of target brands to form the wireless network. A group of simulated wireless daughter robot models were developed by attaching wireless modules to microcontrollers. An automatic routing wireless network was implemented between the robots. They were deployed into artificial rubble and the communication system was characterised. Proof of concept experiments were carried out and demonstrated that rescue personnel using a computer at a safe distance outside the rubble could successfully establish reliable communication to monitor or control all robots inside the artificial rubble environment.</p>

Modelling Wireless Robots for Urban Search and Rescue in Artificial Rubble

<p>Using robots to assist rescue personnel in USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) missions is an active area of research. Researchers are developing robots to penetrate into rubble to gather information about the environment and to search for victims. The School of Engineering and Computer Science of Victoria University of Wellington is developing a team of robots, the "robot family" to help at disasters. The robot family is a three-tier system. The first tier the "grandmother" which carries second tier "mother robots" to the rubble. The mother robot each launches a group of the third tier "daughter robots" that will penetrate the rubble surface. The daughter robots will burrow deep into the disaster site. They will be equipped with sensors to search for and locate trapped persons. They are designed to be small, battery operated, low cost and disposable. The team of robots is hierarchically structured and to be remotely monitored by rescue personnel at a safe distance from the rubble via a wireless communication link. This thesis describes the successful implementation of a wireless communication platform for the team of robots. This was verified using a simulated rubble site. A suitable ZigBee wireless module was selected by comparing a list of target brands to form the wireless network. A group of simulated wireless daughter robot models were developed by attaching wireless modules to microcontrollers. An automatic routing wireless network was implemented between the robots. They were deployed into artificial rubble and the communication system was characterised. Proof of concept experiments were carried out and demonstrated that rescue personnel using a computer at a safe distance outside the rubble could successfully establish reliable communication to monitor or control all robots inside the artificial rubble environment.</p>

Research on Intelligent Evaluation Model of Railway Internationalized Earthquake Emergency Rescue Talents Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Theory

Earthquakes occur frequently in the 21st century and cause a large number of casualties; induced secondary geological disasters will cause more serious casualties. How to reasonably deal with the earthquake disaster to carry out emergency rescue work is becoming increasingly urgent; the ability level of earthquake disaster emergency rescue personnel is directly related to the follow-up relief effect. Based on this, aiming at the emergency rescue ability of nationalized railway management talents in high-intensity earthquake areas around the world, this paper will use the methods of analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy theory to construct an intelligent evaluation model of railway international earthquake emergency rescue personnel ability. In addition, this paper carries out a questionnaire survey of experts in related fields and model empirical research and puts forward optimization measures and suggestions for the personnel training of railway international earthquake emergency rescue in high-intensity seismic areas based on the results of model evaluation.

Research on designing and making of a mobile training facility for intervention and rescue personnel in toxic / flammable / explosive environments

The decisive factor in ensuring success for an intervention and rescue operation in toxic or chemical aggressive environments lies in optimal and efficient design of the training process for rescue personnel, including intervention in confined spaces. The current paper shows the designing and making of a modern infrastructure - mobile training facility with different high difficulty degree training routes, allowing the simulation of intervention activities in confined areas, horizontally and vertically, spaces with low visibility, above normal limits temperature and humidity, etc. as well as the measurement of several physiological parameters (pulse, blood oxygen level, calories consumed, etc.) that allow permanent monitoring of rescuers’ health condition during the training process. The mobile training facility consists of a space for physical training (endless ladder, impact device, treadmill, elliptical bike, stepper), an indoor training circuit and a control room that allows the coordination of all activities carried out within an exercise. The platform on which the training facility is placed can be moved to the business quarters where intervention and rescue activities take place, so that personnel engaged in this activity go through a complex training program, as close as possible to real-life interventions.