Method and system for situational awareness for emergency response

• US 9,659,484 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2016
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rapidsos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Rapidsos, Inc.
• Inventors: Mehta, Anil, Martin, Michael John, Horelik, Nicholas Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): SIVJI, NIZAR N
• Application Number:
  US15/342,093
• Publication Number:
  US 20170124853A1
• Time in Patent Office: 202 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/006 Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 26/00 Alarm systems in which substations are interrogated in succession by a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 26/007 Wireless interrogation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72418 for supporting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/15 Information service where the information is dependent on the location of the subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5116 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for sending emergency alerts. In some embodiments, sensors and wearable devices may trigger and send the emergency alerts and/or warning signals via available communication devices. Multi-media emergency alerts are also disclosed that include situational awareness information for effective and efficient emergency response.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a) a communication device;

b) a wearable device comprising at least one processor, a memory, at least one sensor, a network element, a user interface, and instructions executable by the at least one processor to create an emergency alert application comprising;

i) a sensor module receiving data from the at least one sensor;

ii) an interface module receiving at least one emergency indication from the user interface; and

iii) a communication module establishing an indirect communication link with an emergency management system, the communication link comprising;

1) sending an alert to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system, wherein the alert comprises the at least one emergency indication, data from the at least one sensor, and location information from the wearable device or the communication device, wherein the alert comprises information about the communication device, wherein the information is selected from the group consisting of;

location, identity of a user of the communication device, and relationship between a user of the communication device and a user of the wearable device;

2) receiving at least one data request from the communication device, wherein the data request originates from the emergency management system; and

3) responding to the at least one data request by sending updated data from the at least one sensor to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system to provide situational awareness during an emergency response;

c) a server configured to provide an emergency management system application comprising;

i) an alert module receiving an alert from a communication device, wherein said alert originates from a wearable device, wherein said alert comprises at least one emergency indication, data from the at least one sensor, and location information from the wearable device or the communication device;

ii) an update module sending at least one data request to the communication device for delivery to the wearable device and receiving updated data from the communication device that originates from the at least one sensor of the wearable device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises an indirect communication link module receiving an alert from the wearable device and delivering the alert to the emergency management system, wherein the alert is transmitted as a digital signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication module selects a communication device from a list of communication devices for receiving the alert, wherein the communication module selects a communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device based on communication link quality, wherein each communication device is scored according to one or more factors relevant to communication link quality between each communication device and the wearable device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more factors are selected from the group consisting of:

signal strength, channel latency, error rate, availability of wireless or wired channels for communication between the wearable device and the communication device, and transmission delay between the wearable device and the communication device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the indirect communication link further comprises sending an alert to a routing device for delivery to a communication device when no communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device is available.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises at least one multimedia message, wherein the at least one multimedia message comprises a plurality of data types.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the emergency management system converts the at least one multimedia message into a compatible format before delivering the at least one multimedia message to an emergency dispatch center.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the wearable device sends an alert autonomously without user input when data from the at least one sensor indicates an emergency situation, wherein sensor readings indicate an emergency situation when a sensor reading falls outside of an alarm threshold, said threshold defined by a range of values.

9. A wearable device for requesting emergency assistance comprising:

at least one processor, a memory, a user interface, at least one sensor, and a network element, and a computer program including instructions executable by the at least one processor to create an emergency alert application comprising;

a) a sensor module receiving data from the at least one sensor;

b) an interface module receiving at least one emergency indication from the user interface; and

c) a communication module establishing an indirect communication link with an emergency management system, the communication link comprising;

i) sending an alert to a communication device distinct from the wearable device for delivery to the emergency management system, wherein the alert comprises the at least one emergency indication, data from the at least one sensor, and location information from the wearable device or the communication device, wherein the alert comprises information about the communication device, wherein the information is selected from the group consisting of;

location, identity of a user of the communication device, and relationship between a user of the communication device and a user of the wearable device;

ii) receiving at least one data request from the communication device, wherein the data request originates from the emergency management system; and

iii) responding to the at least one data request by sending updated data from the at least one sensor to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system to provide situational awareness during an emergency response.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the communication device comprises an indirect communication link module receiving an alert from the wearable device and delivering the alert to the emergency management system, wherein the alert is transmitted as a digital signal.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the communication module selects a communication device from a list of communication devices for receiving the alert, wherein the communication module selects a communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device based on communication link quality, wherein each communication device is scored according to one or more factors relevant to communication link quality between each communication device and the wearable device.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the one or more factors are selected from the group consisting of:

signal strength, channel latency, error rate, availability of wireless or wired channels for communication between the wearable device and the communication device, and transmission delay between the wearable device and the communication device.

13. The device of claim 9, wherein the indirect communication link further comprises sending an alert to a routing device for delivery to a communication device when no communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device is available.

14. The device of claim 9, wherein the alert comprises at least one multimedia message, wherein the at least one multimedia message comprises a plurality of data types.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the emergency management system converts the at least one multimedia message into a compatible format before delivering the at least one multimedia message to an emergency dispatch center.

16. The device of claim 9, wherein the wearable device sends an alert autonomously without user input when data from the at least one sensor indicates an emergency situation, wherein sensor readings indicate an emergency situation when a sensor reading falls outside of an alarm threshold, said threshold defined by a range of values.

17. A method for sending an alert from a wearable device to an emergency management system by using a communication device to establish an indirect communication link, the method comprising:

a) receiving, by the wearable device, data from at least one sensor associated with the wearable device;

b) receiving, by the wearable device, at least one emergency indication initiated by a user interacting with the wearable device;

c) sending, by the wearable device, an alert to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system, wherein the alert comprises the at least one emergency indication, data from the at least one sensor, and location information from the wearable device or the communication device, wherein the alert comprises information about the communication device, wherein the information is selected from the group consisting of;

location, identity of a user of the communication device, and relationship between a user of the communication device and a user of the wearable device;

d) receiving, by the wearable device, at least one data request from the communication device, wherein the data request originates from the emergency management system; and

e) responding, by the wearable device, to the at least one data request by transmitting updated data from the at least one sensor to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system to provide situational awareness during an emergency response.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the communication device comprises an indirect communication link module receiving an alert from the wearable device and delivering the alert to the emergency management system, wherein the alert is transmitted as a digital signal.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the communication module selects a communication device from a list of communication devices for receiving the alert, wherein the communication module selects a communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device based on communication link quality, wherein each communication device is scored according to one or more factors relevant to communication link quality between each communication device and the wearable device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more factors are selected from the group consisting of:

signal strength, channel latency, error rate, availability of wireless or wired channels for communication between the wearable device and the communication device, and transmission delay between the wearable device and the communication device.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the indirect communication link further comprises sending an alert to a routing device for delivery to a communication device when no communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device is available.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the alert comprises at least one multimedia message, wherein the at least one multimedia message comprises a plurality of data types.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the wearable device sends an alert autonomously without user input when data from the at least one sensor indicates an emergency situation, wherein sensor readings indicate an emergency situation when a sensor reading falls outside of an alarm threshold, said threshold defined by a range of values.

24. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media encoded with a computer program including instructions executable by at least one processor to create an emergency alert application comprising:

a) a sensor module receiving data from at least one sensor associated with a wearable device worn by a user;

b) an interface module receiving at least one emergency indication initiated by the user interacting with a user interface of the wearable device; and

c) a communication module establishing an indirect communication link with an emergency management system, the communication link comprising;

i) sending an alert to a communication device distinct from the wearable device for delivery to the emergency management system, wherein the alert comprises the at least one emergency indication, data from the at least one sensor, and location information from the wearable device or the communication device, wherein the alert comprises information about the communication device, wherein the information is selected from the group consisting of;

location, identity of a user of the communication device, and relationship between a user of the communication device and a user of the wearable device;

ii) receiving at least one data request from the communication device, wherein the data request originates from the emergency management system; and

iii) responding to the at least one data request by transmitting updated data from the at least one sensor to the communication device for delivery to the emergency management system to provide situational awareness during an emergency response.

25. The media of claim 24, wherein the communication module selects a communication device from a list of communication devices for receiving the alert, wherein the communication module selects a communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device based on communication link quality, wherein each communication device is scored according to one or more factors relevant to communication link quality between each communication device and the wearable device.

26. The media of claim 24, wherein the indirect communication link further comprises sending an alert to a routing device for delivery to a communication device when no communication device suitable for directly communicating with the wearable device is available.

27. The media of claim 24, wherein the wearable device sends an alert autonomously without user input when data from the at least one sensor indicates an emergency situation, wherein sensor readings indicate an emergency situation when a sensor reading falls outside of an alarm threshold, said threshold defined by a range of values.