How 5G can save lives by helping first responders

5G could make the difference between night and day for firefighters.

With smoke, flames and a claustrophobic mask, entering a burning building is an act of faith. Firefighters are taught never to leave the wall because they could be disoriented, run out of air and die.

"Before, we were looking for people almost as if you were blind," said Harold Schapelhouman, Fire Chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

This could change with technology such as C-Thru from Qwake. The augmented reality helmet uses thermal imaging so that the wearer can see through the smoke and the darkness and quickly locate the victims. In the future, an AI assistant could filter through the sound of screams, sirens, and flames, and provide only the information that firefighters need.

Although the headphones now exist, it is part of a myriad of tools used by first responders who could benefit from a big boost of 5G. The new ultra-fast wireless technology has arrived, not just for smartphones. As these networks move into new areas, everything from drones to connected ambulances can help rescuers deal with fires, hurricanes, bombings, active shooting and medical emergencies.

Verizon, AT & T, Sprint and T-Mobile have launched their 5G services in the United States, and 5G networks are available in Australia, parts of Europe and all of Seoul. First responders seek to take advantage of faster speeds, higher capacity and lower latency, or latency between when you ping the network and when you get an answer.

Once 5G is available across the country, emergency responders can do more and work more quickly at the scene of a disaster. They are now using 4G LTE and Wi-Fi, but these networks are slower and less reliable. They are easily congested, especially in case of emergency, when everyone uses their phone. When the 5G arrives seriously, it will be able to connect a multitude of dead end devices but it will allow the machines to process the data fast enough to make life-saving decisions.

Here are some examples of how first responders are using 5G.

Fire helmets in augmented reality

"It can get very dark in broad daylight in a house with all the lights on," said Kirk McKinzie, Captain and Technologist of the Cosumnes 73-C Fire Department in Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento, capital from California. "I have been unable to see my hand in front of my face many times."

It's here that the San Francisco-based start-up Qwake enters the scene. Its technology allows firefighters to see through smoke, toxic gases and darkness to find their victims and comrades, and to spot objects and holes in the ground that would otherwise be invisible.

It's an idea born from a volcano. Sam Cossman, CEO and co-founder of Qwake, wanted to have a tool to safely navigate his expeditions through volcanic craters filled with smoke, but he did not exist. So he put together a team to build it himself.

Traditionally, firefighters and volcanic explorers carried thermal imaging cameras to view shape contours via infrared detection. Qwake has moved this portable camera to the height of his eyes, coupled with augmented reality and a tiny computer – the same one used by autonomous cars, said Cossman – and has it integrated in a single equipment of fight against the fire: the helmet. He named the C-Thru system.

Looking through, firefighters see the silhouettes of objects and otherwise indistinguishable people in a room filled with smoke, surrounded by a bright green.

McKinzie and Schapelhouman were the first to try C-Thru during burn tests in 2017.

"Where there is darkness, C-Thru brings light," said McKinzie. "The equivalent of comparison is like night and day."

"Fireman after firefighter, older firefighters from our organization at the most recent [and] The youngest, all looked through this system and went to see "http://www.cnet.com/", added Schapelhouman. "That's it, that's what we were looking for."

C-Thru needs the 5G for the next series of updates. Qwake Prepares for Wireless Technology Using a Test Network in Verizon's 5G First Responder Laboratory in Washington, DC Verizon's 5G network is still in its infancy – available only in Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis , Washington, Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis. -St. Paul and Providence, Rhode Island. – the laboratory provides access to 5G for startups.

The first startups allowed in the lab have been working on things that can be done with 4G "but not very well," said Nick Nilan, director of public sector development at Verizon. When you add 5G to the composition, everything is overloaded, from video streams to sensors to real-time data analysis.

C-Thru could not only be the companion of a firefighter on the front line, but also broadcast real-time video to the commanders from the outside. Advanced 5G technology treats the data produced by smart devices closer to where they are created, rather than sending them into the cloud and vice versa.

Qwake also plans to add location tracking to the system, so firefighters leave a digital "navigation trail" for an unobstructed evacuation exit if they become disoriented. Location tracking can be done to some extent using 4G, said Cossman, but it will be much more accurate using 5G.

"Every firefighter essentially becomes a human sensor mapping this complex environment that evolves dynamically in real time," he said.

Addition of 5G to drones

The 5G could also bring a lot to the world of drones. Drones are already used in emergency situations, such as searching for missing persons, delivering medical equipment to remote areas and patrolling when seizing high-risk search warrants.

Schapelhouman also uses drones when he collaborates with the Coast Guard, giving them the merit of preventing what could have been a bodily recovery. They could even be used for the destruction of bombs, said Lt. Dan Donelli of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

DJI says its drones have helped rescue 257 people in 117 incidents around the world since 2013.

"This is a game changer for law and fire and for the safety of people," Donelli said. "As an organization, it makes sense to save time, save money, but most importantly save lives."

During the deadly Fire Camp Fire in Paradise, California in 2018, DJI performed more than 500 drone missions to map the entire fire zone. During the battle to help fight the fire, the first responders had a 360-degree view and produced images before and after the destruction.

"Once everyone has seen the data that we have been able to gather in a considerable amount of time, it's almost obvious to integrate it into your response team," said Romeo Durscher, director of public safety at DJI.

There are "a lot of big ideas" about what 5G will bring to drones, Durscher said. This includes their flying higher and further, and downloading drone data much more quickly.

"We will see a significant impact once the entire network is in place and once we have the ability to actually get that amount of data," Durscher said. "That will then … make much better and faster decisions."

But a PwC expert warned that the 5G might not help drones fly much further than treetops.

"There is a dirty little secret about drones and cellular networks that nobody talks about," said Dan Hays, an American partner of the firm's telecommunications business strategy. "Cellular networks are designed for ground connectivity … they do not provide good connectivity beyond a few hundred meters."

These limits do not prevent public security agencies from watching drones and 5G. For example, new wireless networks could allow simultaneous control of multiple drones, said Chris Smith, vice president of technology for the global public sector of AT & T.

Artificial intelligence: a rescue assistant

Launch artificial intelligence in the mix of first responder technology, and faster speeds, shorter loading times and the superior capability of 5G are essential.

The Fire Services of Cosumnes and Qwake are collaborating with the US Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Branch to form an AI platform under development by NASA.

The Assistant for the understanding of data through reasoning, extraction and synthesis (Audrey) learns to ensure the safety of firefighters using data ranging from the speed at which a fire develops to the way in which the contents of a building can affect the growth and heat of the fire. He can predict and give advice on how long it stays to firefighters before a building is too dangerous to survive or if a backdraft is coming up.

Audrey needs the 5G. Combining video, audio and sensor data with machine learning technology to predict what the fire will do in the future requires a lot of bandwidth.

A recent burning test alone produced a terabyte of data, said McKinzie. "That's where the 5G is – we have to be able to transmit large data sets."

Officers and vehicles connected to 5G

First responders are increasingly connected to smart devices. In the fire department, it is planned to connect temperature indicators to the Internet to provide information about buildings and people; connect the heart rate and respiratory monitors to detect any firefighter changes; and connect sensors to monitor the amount of oxygen remaining in a bag. Vital statistics could be recovered in the middle of firefighting, said AT & T's Smith, so commanders can see if heat stroke is a risk.

Ambulances, fire trucks and police cars are already equipped with their own routers, Nilan said. They move hot spots that fuel things such as dashboard cameras, license plate recognition, ticketing and telemedicine systems.

Just wait until they hit the 5G.

"The 5G first will give a much faster speed … to support the plethora of devices," said Nilan.

A city that is already working on 5G ambulances is Barcelona. The Spanish government of Catalonia presented smart vehicles at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.

Vehicles use 5G for data speeds of up to 5 Gbps, returning data to hospitals. They receive remote assistance from their doctors in the form of real-time HD video, and will soon connect to the surrounding infrastructure so they can take full advantage of everything.

"From car to crisis is something we are very focused on," Smith said.

The connection of so many devices involves the need to quickly analyze the information. The sheer volume of data requires greater bandwidth, as well as shorter loading times, allowing it to be examined as quickly as possible and to make quick decisions.

Fortunately, these are the features of 5G.

In the future, 5G connections could be used to integrate digital floor plans with AR equipment so that first responders know where to go and how to turn off elevator systems. Or as soon as someone dials 911, a 3D card can be shared on his phone via 5G to help them escape, McKinzie added.

"There is so much more [possible] we are doing now, "said McKinzie.

Give first responders a slice of the 5G network

5G networks can cut individual spectrum slices to provide specific devices or customers with the type of connection they need, another aspect that could be a boon to first responders.

An operator could assign certain waves to the exclusive use of the first responder, in order to prevent the network from being encumbered by devices other than emergency devices.

In an emergency, cellular networks are often so congested that they slow down to the point of becoming unusable. It's like trying to send an Instagram at a stadium concert, but worse.

"The first thing that happens when something serious happens – everyone takes their cell phone and calls 911, then goes to FaceTime, or Twitter Live, or Facebook," said Warren Shepard, head of Georgia for emergency management at Homeland Security. Critical infrastructure and key resource unit, told CNET's sister site, TechRepublic, earlier this year. "They are trying to disseminate all this data."

One solution is the ability of 5G to guarantee a critical communication capability. Barcelona will add 5G radios to its ambulances to allow them to have their own free internet in case of emergency.

AT & T and Verizon both stated that they planned to cut some of the 5G networks in case of emergency. But the details have yet to be defined. Nilan said the options are to give a slice to all first responders, or a finer allocation for each separate capacity as needed.

From AR fire masks to drones and to AI, the 5G has the potential to provide a lot of relief to first responders.

"Frankly, technology is the only thing that can bring the greatest humanitarian gain in the rare precious moments when time is short-lived and decisions are crucial," McKinzie said.