New safety app for emergency services

Euro NCAP has introduced a mobile app for first responders in Europe as it seeks to improve post-crash safety.

The app – called Euro Rescue – includes key information about the vehicle, enabling first responders to understand what they can and cannot do at the scene of an accident, in the so-called “golden hour”.

Car manufacturers compile Rescue Sheets and Emergency Response Guides, which are standardised summaries of all the crucial information rescuers require in order to carry out occupant extraction quickly and safely. This includes the location of components and high-voltage electrical cables and batteries, all of which could present a hazard to trapped occupants and to the rescuers themselves.

Now, Euro NCAP together with The International Association of Fire and Rescue Services, has centralised the manufacturers’ rescue sheets in the new Euro Rescue app, which can be downloaded free of charge and can be used both online and offline.

Initially launched in English, French, German and Spanish, the app will be available in all European languages from 2023.

Pierre Castaing, president of Euro NCAP, said: “As planned in our 2020-2025 roadmap published in 2017, Euro NCAP has added tertiary [post-crash] safety in its 2020 rating. This Euro Rescue application, the result of joint work between manufacturers, fire and rescue services and Euro NCAP, is the first visible result of the progress that can be made in terms of tertiary safety; others are to come.”