LifeTEC: A Compact and Economic System for In-the-Field Management of Firefighting Services Through TETRA

The objective of the LifeTEC platform is to support the management of a team of firefighters through the provision of geolocation data to an operation coordinator on the field. LifeTEC is based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), a communication technology already being used by emergency services, but its operation does not require TETRA network coverage. The local coordinator requires a generic Android device connected to a TETRA terminal to display the location of the assets (e.g., on-foot firefighters, fire trucks), together with additional information, on a map. There was collaboration with professional firefighters during the development of LifeTEC, both for validation purposes and to ensure the usefulness of the solution in actual cases. Results show the utility of the platform outdoors, especially in remote rural areas with poor or no existing coverage of mobile communication technologies. A comprehensive comparison with the current state of the art is also provided. No other solution other than LifeTEC provides the same set of characteristics: operation without any network coverage, no specific dependency on any manufacturer, low complexity, and reduced costs.