Special vehicles used in rescue operations by fire brigade units

The paper provides an overview of existing design solutions for special vehicles used in rescue operations by fire brigade units. Both vehicles dedicated to rescue services and adapted military machines, as well as a group of unmanned platforms, are presented.Dynamic economic development and global technical progress bring an increase in threats and force the search for new techniques for their elimination in the event of destructive incidents. Chemical accidents pose a particular threat to people, the natural environment, and members of rescue entities. Solutions used in European Union countries are based on typical firefighting equipment and special chemical rescue vehicles, whose crew enters the danger zone directly. Rescuers are protected by respiratory protection equipment and gas-tight suits. The rescuer’s working time is limited by the protective duration of the safety equipment (approximately 20 – 30 minutes). Direct rescue operations are often carried out in explosion hazard zones, and the very difficult conditions in which rescuers have to operate cause them significant physical strain, which results in the need for frequent rotation of rescue teams in operational zones. Threat identification is based on databases/labeling and portable identification and measurement devices.
Improving the effectiveness of rescue operations in danger zones can be achieved by introducing remotely controlled mobile platforms, equipped with appropriate gear and operated in a teleoperator system. In this way, the rescuer-operator (…)

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