E-RESCUE - Changing forever the way we rescue crash victims - Saving time and lives during the Golden Hour

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Buses are regarded as the safest vehicles in the road. However, each year terrible bus crashes are reported in the media. According to the World Health Organization, about 84,500 people were killed on roads in Europe in 2015. Of this figure, about 20,000 European buses and coaches were involved in crashes, with 30,000 bus occupants severely injured, and 150 occupants killed. A critical issue after a bus accident is the efficient rescue of victims. Bus collisions are considered mass casualty incidents, with many victims involved (up to 80 passengers can travel in a bus). This implies that emergency medical services resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. As a result, the intervention times of emergency services can take too long (more than 2 h) and because the rescue time is critical for survival, bus accidents typically end up with too many fatal victims or severely injured people. The E-RESCUE project aims at introducing into the market the first post-accident safety system to facilitate the rescue of victims after a bus accident and to reduce the emergency services' intervention time, thus increasing the victims’ chances of survival and minimising injuries. This will be enabled thanks to our patented technology, which is the first in-vehicle system for the immobilization and extrication of victims. E-RESCUE is the first system to be installed in all seat buses, so with ERESCUE each passenger would have their own extrication system built into their seat. Thanks to E-RESCUE the rescue time can be reduced up to 70% (30 min Vs 2 h) compared to conventional techniques used by emergency response teams. Hence, E-RESCUE has the potential to reduce the fatal victims and severe injuries in bus occupants by more than 50% in bus accidents. The E-RESCUE changes for ever the way we rescue crash victims. It starts now in the bus industry and it will move forward to the car industry too.