Driverless Cars and The Future of Emergency Response

This article was originally published by Medlert Inc. 
 
Google put the driverless car on the map; BMW and Mercedes are taking it to production as early as this year by some predictions. Apparently, computers are safer and more efficient drivers than drivers of the human variety.
 
Computers don’t rubberneck. They don’t fight with their spouses during the evening commute. They are more consistent, predictable, and less distracted. But in the case of an emergency, how else might a driverless car help you?
 
Recently, I sat down with Roger Hixson, the Technical Director at the National Emergency Number Association (the 9-1-1 Association). I couldn’t resist asking where he saw driverless cars fitting into the future of emergency response.
 
Could Your Car Call 9-1-1 For You?
“The United States Department of Transportation has long envisioned cars being able to automatically connect through to 9-1-1 and report their status if something abnormal happens,” Hixson said.
 
Hixson went on talk about how, in the future, cars could be enabled to make automatic calls to report an emergency. An emergency call might then trigger a roadway or helicopter-mounted camera to redirect and capture the situation. In the case of a car wreck, the computer system could automatically change the roadway signs, redirect other driverless cars, or send automatic notifications to drivers headed that way.
 
Your car sitting in the parking lot at your office might even reprogram your commute to avoid traffic, without consulting you although it might auto-notify you. Roadways could be quickly and automatically cleared for emergency response vehicles, when needed, and get people help faster.
 
The potential of driverless cars to automatically communicate with the emergency response system is just one example of where we’re headed.
 
The Digital Revolution & Emergency Response
There’s a lot happening behind the scenes when it comes to reconfiguring the American emergency response system to run on digital and mobile technology.
 
In talking, Hixson compared the 9-1-1 system to a gas station.
 
“When you go to a gas station, you just expect gas to be there,” said Hixson. “Most of us don’t give much thought to the refinery process or how oil is getting to the gas station. Similarly, you know to call 9-1-1 in an emergency, but most people don’t think of what’s happening behind the scenes to bring help to your door.”
 
A lot has been happening in the last 10 years to enable the emergency response system to seamlessly connect with the mobile and digital technologies that are a part of our everyday lives. There are so many ways to communicate these days—phone, text, video, Skype and other IP calling programs, G+ chat, messaging programs, and the list goes on.
 
“Nearly 15 years ago, we realized that we had to build a more technologically advanced system to deal with different types of calling beyond voice calling,” said Hixson.
 
“We needed an IP-based system that was more feature rich. This system, which we call next generation 9-1-1, is more flexible and distributed. We are in the process of rolling out this system now. Depending on where you live, it’s in a different stage of planning or completion.”
 
Emergency Response Is About Quickly Moving Information and People.
I wanted to know what immediate changes an end user might see in the next generation 9-1-1 system. For example, in some states you can already send a text to 9-1-1. Other states are working on launching this capability.
 
Hixson said the four biggest telecom companies—Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T—are all expected to roll out SMS capabilities for 9-1-1 by May 15, which will work through either today’s Enhanced 9-1-1 system or with NG9-1-1. Hixson also talked about the NG9-1-1 based capability to send different types of information, including video, photos, and texts, for example from a crime scene or an emergency situation, through NG9-1-1 directly to the 9-1-1 dispatcher.
 
“As we move over to IP to IP communication in the emergency response system, calls will move more quickly. You’ll be able to not just call 9-1-1 but also send video or text,” said Hixson.
 
“This system could also enable a dispatcher to send a building floorplan or telematics data from a car crash, for example, directly to the field responder. This way an EMT might know on the way to the scene of an accident, how many people were in the car, who was wearing a seat belt, and how fast the car was going.”
 
That information, along with additional information from the scene, could also be sent to the trauma center prior to victim arrival.
 
If you programmed your car’s computer to share your medical record in the event of an emergency, EMTs might even know critical medical information like your blood type, medical history, or allergies to medication, before they ever reached you.
 
For an example of this type of technology at work in real life read Roger Hixson’s article: In the Near Future. Of course, smart cars are just one part of the future of emergency response.
 
In a world that is ever more digital and mobile, new systems including the emergency response system will adapt to better take in, move, and distribute critical, personalized information to connect people with the right kind of help and achieve a faster, smarter emergency response.