Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B25/00—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
  • G08B25/005—Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B25/00—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
  • G08B25/01—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems characterised by the transmission medium
  • G08B25/016—Personal emergency signalling and security systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
  • H04M3/42136—Administration or customisation of services
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
  • H04M2242/04—Special services or facilities for emergency applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
  • H04M2242/30—Determination of the location of a subscriber
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
  • H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
  • H04M3/42034—Calling party identification service
  • H04M3/42059—Making use of the calling party identifier
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
  • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
  • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
  • H04M3/5116—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing for emergency applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
  • H04W4/90—Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W76/00—Connection management
  • H04W76/50—Connection management for emergency connections

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for managing emergency calls received by an emergency centre and originating from a user/citizen.
• the present invention can be used in a cellular telecommunications system.
• an emergency service which, by means of the single emergency number "118", coordinates all the typical rescue activities of an emergency centre .
• the service depending on the gravity and priority of the emergency call received, organizes the mobilization of a helicopter, a specially equipped first-aid vehicle, a mobile reanimation unit or an ambulance.
• a telephone operator when a call is received, a telephone operator answers and has the task of. recording information relating to the nature of the call, its urgency, the location of the call and so on, so as to be able to send out as soon as possible a mobile emergency unit, such as one of those mentioned above.
• the telephone operator depending on the location from where the call originates or - should it be different - the location where the emergency is present, sends out the mobile unit which is most closely situated.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a method for managing emergency calls which is able to overcome the drawbacks mentioned with reference to the known art .
• the present invention is aimed at providing a method which allows the emergency centre to be put into contact with a specialized operator available in the vicinity of the emergency zone.
• Figure 1 shows a flow chart of a method according to the present invention
• Figure 2 shows a schematic illustration of an area of application of the flow chart shown in Fig. 1.
• the description of the method according to the invention will refer to a particular emergency situation, or an emergency requiring first aid, but the present method of the invention may also be used in operations of other types, such as those performed by the fire brigade, police, forest fire- ighting services, etc.
• 1 denotes a grid representing a geographical area for application of the method, in which a user/citizen 2, an emergency centre 3 and a mobile unit 4 are situated.
• Each square la of the grid 1 represents a coverage cell of a radio mobile communications system, such as GSM, namely each square la represents a method for cellular coverage of the territory.
• a radio mobile communications system such as GSM
• the territory in accordance with radio mobile technology, is divided into a large number of adjacent cells which are repeated in a geometrically uniform manner and in particular each cell has a main radio station which irradiates the said cell .
• the splitting technique in densely populated areas the splitting technique is used, said technique consisting in dividing up a large-size cell into a certain number (typically 3) of smaller cells. In this way it is possible to pass gradually, with successive splitting steps, from large cells used in rural areas (with a radius of several kilometres) to cells having a radius of a few hundred metres, for the more dense coverage required in large urban centres .
• the present invention may also use other types of communications systems, such as for example the satellite system GPS, DECT, etc.
• the user 2 makes an emergency call 5 to the emergency centre 3, dialling a telephone number, for example the central number "118".
• the emergency call 5 made by the user 2 originates for example from a call location lb.
• the call location lb may or may not coincide with the location of the emergency.
• the emergency call 5 is routed to an emergency centre 3 which manages the call.
• the emergency centre 3 is able to record the identification data of the emergency call 5 ; for example the location of the emergency lb is recorded.
• the emergency centre 3 transmits
• This first-aid centre mobilizes the mobile rescue units 4, such as an ambulance for example, which are required at the location of the emergency (dot-dash line 6a in Figure 2) .
• These operators OP ⁇ may be external to the emergency centre 3 or may not form part of the personnel within the emergency centre 3.
• the list 7 is managed directly by an additional management centre (not shown in these figures) or by the emergency centre 3.
• the emergency situation is managed in parallel as described below.
• the list 7 comprises for example reanimators, specialists, qualified personnel or also any one who has undergone recognised training, such as BLS (Basic Life Support) , ALS (Advanced Life Support) , ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) , and is able to act in emergency situations .
• BLS Basic Life Support
• ALS Advanced Life Support
• ATLS Advanced Trauma Life Support
• ACLS Advanced Cardiac Life Support
• the momentary location of the operator LOi, at the time the emergency call 5 is made is associated with each operator OPi.
• the selection of the i-th operator OPi is performed by means of a predefined relation for determining the proximity to the location of the emergency lb and the i-th location LOi.
• a predefined proximity relation may require that the selected operator OP, or the location LO in which he/she is present at the time of the call to the emergency centre 3 , be within a radius of 500 metres from the location of the emergency lb.
• an operator OP is selected from the list 7 of operators OPi depending on his/her present or momentary position using means which are known per se, for example software means.
• the identification data of the emergency call 5 or the location of the emergency is then transmitted (broken line 8) to the selected operator OP so that the selected operator OP is able to reach rapidly the location of the emergency.
• the emergency centre 3 transmits this data to the mobile unit 4 mobilized beforehand.
• the mobile unit 4 is made aware of the fact that a medical operator OP able to provide professional assistance with the rescue operations will be present at the location of the emergency lb. It is obvious that, depending on the location LO of the selected operator OP, the selected operator OP will reach the location of the emergency lb before or at the same time as the mobile units mobilized by the mobile unit centre 4.
• third parties such as for example a mobile telephone company, are able to offer the service, providing in real time, upon request of the emergency centre 3 or an additional emergency centre, the location LO of each operator OPi present in the list 7 of operators.
• the proximity relation therefore corresponds to a comparison between the cell which represents the location of the selected operator OP and the cell lb which represents the location of the emergency.
• the selection may be performed, for example, by imposing as a rule, that the cell of the emergency location should be adjacent to the cell in which the call was made, or that said two cells should coincide .
• the proximity relation varies depending on the area covered by the grid 1, be it a rural zone or an urban zone, the proximity relation varies .
• the rule may envisage that the emergency cell can be reached from the cell of the call location by means of a minimum travel path which passes through a predetermined number of cells, for example two, while in the case of rural-area cells the rule envisages that the cell containing the emergency location should correspond to the call cell .
• the method according to the present invention has a particular advantageous application if the identification data of the call furthermore comprises the type of emergency call 5 and the list comprises for each operator OP the type of operator TOi.
• the step of selecting the i-th operator OPi is performed in such a way that furthermore the type TO of selected operator OP has a predefined compatibility relation with the type of emergency call 5.
• the type of call comprises for example a heart attack, a trauma resulting from a road accident, a respiratory arrest and other similar traumatic pathologies, while the type of operator represents the specialization of the operator, for example reanimation, cardiology or pneumology.
• the innovative method envisages as a first step following occurrence of the emergency (step 10) that of making an emergency call (step 11) in order to contact the operator of the emergency centre 3 by means of a communications device of the type commonly used .
• the operator at the emergency centre 3 records the data of the emergency call 5 (step 12) , namely records the identification data of the location of the event and/or the type of trauma.
• the emergency centre 3 mobilizes immediately the first-aid mobile unit 4 (step 18) .
• an operator OPi forming part of the predetermined list 7 is selected depending on said identification data, such that the location of the event lb and the chosen operator OP have the prechosen proximity relation.
• step 14 the identification data recorded by the operator at the emergency centre 3 is transmitted to the chosen operator.
• step 15 It is essential to check the availability of the selected operator OP (step 15) and this may be performed, for example, by means of a direct telephone call to the mobile number of the operator OP or by sending to the operator an SMS text message containing the identification data of the call, the location lc and the type of emergency TE and awaiting the reply, for example, by means of SMS or a phone call.
• the method according to the invention envisages repeating, for a predetermined number of different operators selected from the list, for example five, the step of selecting and communicating with the operator.
• the method nevertheless envisages the possibility of communicating with an internal operator at the emergency centre 3 (step 16) so as to provide the necessary assistance for the emergency in progress .
• the chosen operator makes his/her way to the location of the event lc so as to assist, with the operations, the mobile unit 4 which has already arrived or is about to reach the location of the emergency lc.
• the method according to the invention is able to satisfy the requirements referred to in the introductory part of the present description and overcome at the same time drawbacks arising in connection with the known art.

Landscapes

• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Emergency Management (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=32676854

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (5)

Citations (3)

• 2002
  • 2002-12-20 IT IT002730A patent/ITMI20022730A1/it unknown
• 2003
  • 2003-12-19 AU AU2003295179A patent/AU2003295179A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-12-19 WO PCT/IB2003/005613 patent/WO2004057901A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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