Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters
When natural disasters or man-made catastrophes topple buildings,
search and rescue teams immediately set out to recover victims trapped
beneath the wreckage. During these missions, time is imperative, and
quickly detecting living victims greatly increases chances for rescue
and survival.
A new radar-based technology named Finding
Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) has been
developed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and
Technology Directorate (S&T) and the National Aeronautics Space
Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to detect a human
heartbeat buried beneath 30 feet of crushed materials, hidden behind 20
feet of solid concrete, and from a distance of 100 feet in open spaces.
In the past several months, S&T and JPL have been testing and
developing several FINDER prototypes. Last June, DHS and first
responders used the prototype to conduct more than 65 test searches with
two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams: the Virginia Task Force
One (VA-TF1) at the Fairfax County Fire Department training center and
Virginia Task Force Two (VA-TF2) in Virginia Beach, Va.
“Testing
proved successful in locating a VA-TF1 member buried in 30 feet of mixed
concrete, rebar, and gravel rubble from a distance of over 30 feet,”
said John Price, S&T program manager. “This capability will
complement the current Urban Search and Rescue tools such as canines,
listening devices, and video cameras to detect the presence of living
victims in rubble.”
In disaster scenarios, such as earthquakes and tornadoes, the
wreckage is made up of twisted and shattered materials. Radar signals
bounce back so signals are complex. “Isolating the relatively weak
signal of a heartbeat within the noisy signals becomes a difficult
task,” said Edward Chow, JPL program manager. “JPL's radar expertise
helps in this challenge.”
JPL uses advanced data processing
systems to pick out faint signals. The microwave radar technology is
sensitive enough to distinguish the unique signature of a human's
breathing pattern and heartbeat from other living creatures. The
advantage of this technology is in allowing first responders to quickly
ascertain if a living victim is present in the debris. The technology is
sensitive enough that victims, whether conscious or not, can easily be
detected, which helps responders decide the most efficient course of
action.
“It is anticipated that a commercialized technology could
be ready to be used in search and rescue operations as early as spring
2014,” Price said.
Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters
