New #TechForGood premieres with Vodafone and Salvamont Romania

Vodafone Romania and Salvamont (National Association of Mountain Rescuers) strengthen their partnership of over 19 years and mark a new first in the use of technology and Artificial Intelligence for saving lives. One year after the launch of digital solutions with drones which, together with the power and reliability of the Vodafone GigaNetwork 5G and GigaNetwork FIBRĂ networks, help to significantly reduce the time it takes to search for victims and save more lives, Salvamont Romania benefits for the first time nationally from the first digital sonar underwater detector – AquaEye VODASAFE, the Water Rescue Buoy (FReD: Fast Rescue Device) robot, its own underwater drone and a scuba jet to reach hard-to-reach underwater places.

The equipment was purchased in the context in which the number of incidents that take place in partially flooded caves, lakes, canyons and on the courses of mountain rivers is constantly increasing, with most interventions having a high degree of difficulty.

“In the almost 40 years since I have been doing this noble profession, I have had the opportunity to experience all stages of the evolution of mountain rescue – from improvised equipment, which did not offer any guarantee regarding the safety of the rescuer and the rescued, then to high-performance rescue equipment and first aid, to equipment that uses the highest level of technology and Artificial Intelligence. For years we relied only on a handful of equipment and the dedication and effort of mountain rescuers, but now, as a result of almost 20 years of collaboration with Vodafone Romania, we use the latest generation innovation and technology in rescue operations. At the same time, the fact that we have become a training and information resource for rescue teams from countries with a great tradition confirms to us that our choice and courage to approach, innovate and develop new solutions in mountain rescue is the right one and this means saved lives”, said Prof. Sabin Cornoiu, director of the Salvamont-Salvaspeo Gorj County Public Service and president of Salvamont Romania.

The equipment purchased based on the partnership with Vodafone and with the support of the Gorj County Council ensures much faster, less expensive and reduced-risk interventions for Salvamont Romania’s aquatic and underwater rescuers.

“Our mission is to connect society, with the help of technology, for a better future. In the more than 25 years of existence and innovation in Romania, Vodafone has invested locally over 5 billion euros and we continue to make our contribution every day to have a direct, positive and real impact on the lives of communities. We believe in the power of technology, and the partnership with Salvamont Romania is an example of good practices, in which the private environment and civil society change the world in which we live for the better. Innovation is part of Vodafone’s DNA and we are proud to know that all the resources invested in the partnership with Salvamont Romania save lives”, said Alexandra Olaru, Legal & External Affairs Director, Vodafone Romania.

The AquaEye VODASAFE underwater detector is based on high technology and Artificial Intelligence and uses a digital sonar type system to scan the search area at a depth of 50 meters in just a few seconds. The detection algorithms are trained to differentiate between people and other objects in the water, marking the exact position of a person and thus being able to cover an area of more than 8000 m2 in a single operation.

The Water Rescue Buoy robot (FReD: Fast Rescue Device) is a revolutionary device, intended to change the way people are rescued from open waters, namely mountain lakes, 6 times faster than by the classic method. The robot is operated by a lifeguard, and once it is launched, it can ensure floating at a fixed point, for 4 people at the same time, in calm water. At the same time, the robot can be prepared for launch in less than a minute, unlike classic missions, which require the preparation of boats and intervention crews.

The underwater drone is one of industrial caliber, used exclusively for professional scenarios, in this case underwater search missions for lost persons. It can reach up to 150 m underwater, with an autonomy of 5 hours, topographical system, video camera and robotic arm.

The scuba jet is an underwater jet propulsion system used as a propulsion system for rescuers in hard-to-reach underwater or remote locations where additional energy and power is needed and that do not allow access to a boat. This is a modular system that allows different configurations, depending on the specifics of each rescue mission, and has several types of engines, propellers and batteries.

In parallel, in support of the new underwater equipment and rescue teams, the drones offered by Vodafone are used to transport equipment and rescue victims from stretches of water, in open spaces. In addition, Vodafone continues to provide support for the training of mountain rescuers, the most recent example being the Aquares 2023 exercise, the first professional training course for Romanian mountain rescuers in water rescue, with mountain specifics. Held between July 18 and 19, the exercise included practical search activities – rescue from mountain waters with water rescuers and divers, the use of rescue dogs in the mountain aquatic environment, respectively the organization of the triage and first aid medical point.

80% of Salvamont Romania teams use drones in mountain rescue missions, thus reducing up to ten times the time required for searching and rescuing victims. In Romania there are 42 mountain rescue teams, organized in 26 counties, and in 17 counties they are already operating with drones and technology provided by Vodafone, the rest being equipped.

At the same time, digital solutions with Vodafone and Salvamont drones open new horizons in terms of fields of use. One year after the launch of the program, drones are being used, for the first time nationally, to scan the areas affected by earthquakes in mountainous areas of tourist interest. Recurrent actions are aimed at identifying large, potentially unstable or dislodged rocks from the slopes. During the analysis stage, areas identified with possible problems are mapped and subsequently inspected by professional climbers.

Romania has become, in the last year, the only country in Europe with national coverage for the processing of frames through the SARUAV program, which uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically detect people. This program is part of the solutions available to the Salvamont-Vodafone National Data Analysis Center, which, connected to the GigaNetwork FIBRĂ network, analyzes and processes the data coming from the field (from the drone for photogrammetry) in just a few minutes (approx. 100 photos in 2 minutes). Starting from August 1 – Salvamont Romania day, 11 local dispatch centers will become operational at the national level for processing the automatic detection of people, with the help of the SARUAV system, in the counties of Brașov, Sibiu, Mureș, Prahova, Harghita, Maramureș, Dâmbovița, Hunedoara, Mehedinți, Cluj and Neamt. They will work alongside the National Data Analysis Center located in Gorj County. Romania will thus be in first place in terms of national coverage in this regard and in second place worldwide, in terms of the number of local analysis centers.

From the most recent data communicated by Salvamont Romania, in the first six months of 2023 over 4900 people who were in danger were rescued, more than a third of them being handed over by Salvamont to the Ambulance, Smurd and Heli Smurd Services for emergency transport to hospital. Currently, the Salvamont-Vodafone National Dispatch receives over 14,000 calls annually, of which over 8,000 are about victims of mountain accidents and the intervention of Salvamont teams is required. More than 100,000 Romanians have installed the Salvamont application (available for free on Android and iOS), a complete mountain information and orientation guide, which also offers the SOS option – the functionality that allows users to use a position localization service the phone, through which the dispatcher can be notified in real time about their coordinates.

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