News

This Friday Andorra's Fire Brigade and Andorra Telecom presented a new tool for locating missing persons. A practical demonstration was performed during the 69th Edition of the Congress of the International Commission of Alpine Relief (ICAR) in Soldeu, which draws to an end tomorrow.

The simulation, which took place on l'Avet piste, and which was watched live by congress attendees, involved the location of two previously hidden mobile phones. The Lifeseeker tool allowed firefighters to determine the exact position of the two devices from the rescue helicopter after flying over the area.

Thanks to a monitor, the public was able view the exact information received by the device installed in the helicopter at all times.

Lifeseeker is a missing persons mobile phone search system. It enables devices to be detected even in areas without coverage. It determines the exact location and the same time provides a channel of communication with the person being searched for.

The tool converts mobile phones into an emergency beacons that can guide rescuers to the person's exact location, and operates without interfering with telecommunication networks.

Jordi Farré, assistant head of the fire brigade, was very pleased with how the demonstration went, stating that "in less than 20 minutes two mobile phones were found in two completely different places", adding that "we expect to have the tool by the beginning of 2018."

The acquisition and commissioning of the tool is the result of a partnership between Andorra Telecom and Centum, who developed and sell Lifeseeker. The congress, which brought together about 400 professionals from the mountain rescue services, was an excellent platform for demonstrating the potential of this new technology.