A-Life - Alpine Avalanche Rescue with Wearable Sensors

Avalanches are one of the major threats to life in high mountain terrain. Once buried by an avalanche, survival chances dramatically drop from 92% after 15 minutes to only 30% after 35 minutes mostly due to the lack of oxygen. It is therefore extremely important to rescue any victims as fast as possible in order to maximize survival chances. All too often, immediate search performed by survivors or witnesses of an avalanche are the only chance of a victim to be unburied in time and survive. The chances of survival by companion rescue are 4 times as high as by organized rescue teams.

Today mountaineers are equipped with avalanche rescue beacons, that continuously broadcast signals for localization in case of emergency. This enables survivors to start the rescue procedure before professional aid arrives. Those beacons are worn close to the body, typically under the sweater and the jacket. The beacons operate both as sender and receiver. By default each device is switched to send, such that it continuously broadcasts signals. After an avalanche has come to rest all survivors take their devices and switch them to receive. They can then follow the received signals to locate their buried comrades. However, avalanche beacons capabilities are limited to location sensing.

Our vision is to provide rescuers and mountaineers with information that goes far beyond location sensing: Knowledge about a victim's physical situation is a rich source of information for rescuers. In particular, vital sign functions determines the urgency of a victim to receive aid. After an avalanche has come to rest, a closed air bubble in the snow in front of the mouth can help buried victims to survive under snow cover much longer. Air pockets are a very good indication of working respiration tracts. Awareness of a victim's orientation definitely helps to define the starting point of the channel and limits injuries through shovels. It also tells where not to step in order to preserve an existing air pocket.

Sensors, such as oximeters, oxygen sensors and accelerometers, can give access to valuable information beyond the human senses. Sensors worn by mountaineers can reveal information already before victims are uncovered.

We believe, that rescuers can enormously benefit from emerging sensor technology. This technology can supply rescuers with valuable insights to the vital sign functions of their comrades. Then, rescuers hopefully can avoid wasting valuable time with recovering victims who already died, while for other victims, that are still alive, aid may come too late. Our vision is to augment today's avalanche beacons, which mountaineers are wearing anyway already, with sensing capabilities.