# HelpResponder--System for the Security of First Responder Interventions
## 1 Introduction  
Location and guidance services based on the current conditions and hazards play a critical role in emergencies. Accessing real-time information on what is happening and deciding how to evacuate people is vital, both for victims and for rescue personnel intervening in the evacuation/emergency. This information is essential in a fire emergency in indoor or large spaces (i.e., hospitals, universities, shopping centers, educational centers, galleries, and tunnels) where a priori information on the fire source and spread within the facilities is unknown. In emergencies, flame detection systems quickly detect hazard situations that reduce the danger for human lives, limit the fire propagation, and minimize its negative economic impact. Fire transforms a closed space into a hostile environment [1, 2, 3]. Referring to specific numbers, 87 firefighters died in 2017 in the United States, 49 of whom were in emergency services [1]. Exposure to fire conditions, such as smoke inhalation, burns, excessive effort or stress, or being trapped, accounts for more than 60% of firefighter deaths, and caused more than 20% of fire injuries [2]. In particular, this investigation concerns localized fires in gallery-like geometries. This matter falls within various fire fields, such as fire safety in specific, confined places such as a parking lot, underground mining, or tunnels. The spreadof fire and smoke circulation in a parking lot is an essential issue for people's security, and the risk of death for people in such public areas has to be estimated. Numerical simulations treated this question in [4]. The general problem of fires in tunnels is also prominently featured; the safety matter is an old topic [5; 6]. Thus, adding general preventive measures, such as fire detection and monitoring systems, would minimize the number of potential accidents. Unfortunately, current flame detection systems need to be close to the fire focus and are not always reliable because smoke and some features of some elements (colors or textures), such as fluorescent bulbs or lamps, do not necessarily indicate fire [7; 8]. To propose a solution to this problem, all possible useful data during these situations must be collected and analyzed in real time. There are some solutions to improve a firefighter's services in emergencies [9]. In monitoring and sensing, students at the University of Missouri S&T have created FREAS [10], which sends data to the fire department during an intervention. It is therefore crucial to collect information from the environment in the moments prior to the intervention of fire fighters, and also prior to the autonomous navigation [11]. The information obtained from the environmental state is helpful for operational tactics. Moreover, to improve the environmental acquisition, the inclusion of images from the environment could offer relevant information. Most solutions usually use RGB cameras to explore the indoor environment [12]. However, those solutions cannot be applied indoors with no visibility. This paper describes a platform to provide support services to Security, Prevention, Rescue, and Evacuation Services in indoor interventions. Our work's main contribution is the detection and geo-location of the fire focus to establish the emergency team's best access and intervention routes. We have oriented our research on locating the fire focus before the firefighters' intervention, even when the fire is almost imperceptible, thus reducing exposure to risk and potential accidents, offering added communication and visibility levels where it is not available. Firstly, We start with a review of current techniques. Secondly, the global description of our proposed architecture is explained: a Beacon Network, a Mobile Ground Autonomous Vehicle with an on-board fire detection infrared vision system, the protective firefighter equipment with embedded IMU sensors for position tracking, a real-time communication link, and a monitoring interface.