5G drones assist emergency services during operations

Emergency 112: An inaccessible accident or a forest fire is spreading rapidly. For rescue teams, every second counts – but they often lack decisive information on the operation site or the situation on the ground. Especially in complex, hard-to-reach areas such as forests, crews often reach their limits in the crucial first few minutes, because many details remain unclear over the phone.

To improve this situation Vodafone, the Rostock Fire Brigade, and Frequentis have joined forces under the leadership of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the ADELE funding project: with 5G-controlled drones, emergency services receive high-resolution live images directly to the control centre and emergency vehicles before arriving at the scene.

“When people’s lives are at stake, every second counts. We now provide emergency services with a digital tool that allows them to act faster and safer in emergency situations. Because drones share live images from the operation site even before rescue workers arrive there. This enables crews to help people in need much faster,” explains Michael Reinartz, Director Innovation at Vodafone Germany.