The initiative of a doctor in harnessing technology has led to the development of an app that can help locate victims trapped in debris during a natural disaster when communication fails.
The CEO of Six Sigma High Altitude Medical Services for Rescue, Pradeep Bhardwaj, said that his company has developed a software app, which can be tracked via mobile phone. The principle behind the Real Time Location application is based on ham radio used by amateurs to communicate with one another. However, the app that is downloadable to a mobile phone is not for communication, but continuously sends out signals to be detected by special equipment.
Speaking to IANS via NDTV, Bhardwaj said, "The application does not require mobile network or internet connection to communicate. This is based on satellite which will continuously transmit coded signals but which cannot be used to communicate."
The Real Time Location app can transmit a signal detectable within 50 kilometers radius. Bhardwaj said that the development team kept security concerns in mind and designed the app in such a way that people tracking the signal can receive information on its location with precision. He added that the Telecommunications Ministry had already given the company a license to operate the system.
Bhardwaj said, "The Real Time Location application is made keeping in mind the rescue operations in high altitude areas where mobile towers network or Internet fails being hit by a natural calamity. People or soldiers who get trapped in the debris or snow can easily be helped out using the application."
The same publication pointed out that so far Bhardwaj and his team has saved over 5,600 victims stuck in high altitudes. The Six Sigma is reputable for establishing a base camp at a height of 24,500 feet on Mt. Everest during the Nepal earthquake, where they played a significant role in helping the Indian Army rescue people, according to Mobiletor.
According to Bhardwaj, the company would send out a proposal for the application to be installed in the cell phones of soldiers and people living in high altitude regions, prone to earthquakes and landslides. The application could help track those soldiers trapped in the avalanche recently in Siachen, had it been installed in their mobile phones.
Watch the footage below for more information on the Real Time Location app.