Thanks to a new EU-funded research, communication between rescue workers after a terrorist attack or a natural disaster could soon be made more efficient. Researchers constructed an Internet-based 'app' that can keep rescuers and their central control room in touch independently, opposed to relying on central wireless access points or the TETRA police radio system.

The PEACE ('IP-based emergency applications and services for next generation networks') project, which is funded under the 'Information and communication technology' (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), is an innovative new solution to ensure that communication cuts in disaster situations no longer hamper rescue efforts.

A team of researchers from Kingston University in the United Kingdom, inspired by some of the problems faced by the emergency services during the aftermath of the London bombings, constructed an Internet-based 'app' that can keep rescuers and their central control room in touch independently. The app, which can be used on an “tablet” or on any other personal digital assistant (PDA) device, also has the capacity to allow emergency service workers in the United Kingdom to talk to their counterparts in other Member States using a secure system.

The overall objective of the PEACE project is to provide a general emergency management framework addressing extreme emergency situations such as terrorist attacks and natural catastrophes, as well as day-to-day emergency cases based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The team from the United Kingdom also worked closely with the other seven partners involved in the PEACE project, spread across Greece, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. This collaborative approach allowed the different teams, which were all working on how to apply next generation networks and all-IP infrastructure networks to disaster scenarios, to share their findings and pull together knowledge. Thus, the Kingston researchers ensured their app was compatible with new sensors being developed by some of the other collaborators on the PEACE project.