Rescue Guide

Announcement sticker that a rescue card is in the vehicle.

FIA international sticker

A rescue data sheet or a Rescue Card (depending on the manufacturer also use sheet or simply leaflet called) is a tool for rapid recovery of people from her vehicle after a traffic accident . On it, components relevant for the rescue, such as airbags , belt tensioners , batteries , fuel tanks or reinforcements of the body, are shown in a vehicle sketch. It thus supports the fire brigade in quickly and safely identifying the optimal points of attack for rescue equipment such as spreaders and rescue shears . In order to avoid language problems, a lot of information is given in this guide using symbols and sketches.

background

The desire behind this is to create a uniform basis for obtaining information, as is already the case, for example, with dangerous goods (by means of danger labels, the dangerous diamond or the TUIS information system ). In order to ensure that the rescue workers on the scene can use the appropriate rescue data sheet for the vehicle, vehicle drivers were asked by motor vehicle associations and fire departments to print out the data sheet in color and place it uniformly behind the driver's sun visor. Since the rescue card is not currently available for all vehicles, this should be indicated by means of a sticker on the windshield.

Fire brigades, the vehicle industry and automobile clubs also work intensively for the centralized availability of the rescue data sheet via multimedia. In the future, this solution is intended to ensure that fire brigades do not have to rely on the presence or accessibility of a stored card at the place of operation, and at the same time that the model-dependent data sheets can also be clearly assigned to heavily deformed vehicles via a license plate query. Such a system has been provided in Germany by Deutsche Automobil Treuhand since February 2013 . However, there is often the risk that the deformation of the vehicle wreckage means that the exact type and year of construction cannot be identified precisely. In this case there is sometimes the possibility that the police who are also on site can communicate the data to the fire brigade based on the license plate number.

history

Compression of a fender

As a result of advances in vehicle development, especially in the area of safety, reinforcing elements have increasingly been installed in vehicle bodies. These elements have significantly improved occupant safety and have thus contributed to the sharp fall in the number of road deaths over the past few years. More complex safety technology and more stable vehicle construction thus preserve important living space in the passenger cell, which, however, places new demands on the rescue workers and can make access to the interior of the vehicle more difficult in the event of a rescue. According to a study by the ADAC , the time required for a rescue increases dramatically with newer vehicle models. For example, with vehicles built between 2005 and 2007, in almost half of the cases it takes more than an hour for the accident victim to be admitted to a hospital. For the years 1990 to 1992 this rate is only 20 percent.

In Germany , the Association of the Automotive Industry has published technical information for fire brigades since the introduction of the airbag in the early 1990s. From 2007 the VDA worked intensively with the German fire brigades ( vfdb ) on the creation of manufacturer-independent, standardized rescue data sheets - and a “vfdb guideline for tactical rescue procedures”. The rescue data sheets were announced in March 2009 and presented to the fire services at the IAA 2009. In the meantime, the standards for the rescue data sheets have been adopted by most vehicle manufacturers outside the VDA.

In May 2009, the ADAC started an initiative, the aim of which is to equip all new vehicles with standardized rescue cards. The situation is similar in Austria. Here, too, the ÖAMTC and the Federal Fire Brigade Association turned to the auto industry to introduce rescue cards with a joint campaign. In the meantime, many of the vehicle manufacturers are already making rescue data sheets available in some form.

Retrofit rescue card

Most car manufacturers also offer rescue cards for free download for their older vehicles that are not yet factory-fitted with rescue cards. These cards can be printed out and laminated and stuck behind the driver's sun visor. Windshield stickers can be obtained free of charge from automobile clubs , in Germany also from DEKRA and GTÜ .

Rescue card via QR code

The Daimler AG also has the so-called "Rescue Stickers" introduced in late 2013: Each passenger cars from Mercedes-Benz and Smart receives two factory sticker with a QR code . The stickers are mounted on the inside of the tank cap and on the opposite side of the vehicle on the B-pillar . The vehicle-specific rescue card is called up using a smartphone and any QR code reader app ; the language version is transferred to match the smartphone setting. The advantage of the QR code method lies in the vehicle-specific assignment to the correct rescue card. Rescue workers no longer have to identify the (sometimes badly deformed) vehicle themselves, this reduces the risk of misallocation and saves time. For the second half of 2014, Mercedes has announced an app that can be used to display the rescue cards even without an Internet connection. Since January 2014, it has been possible to retrofit the stickers for models from Mercedes-Benz and Smart from 1990 onwards that have already been delivered.

Since July 2014, it has been possible to obtain QR badges for retrofitting from a supplier for almost all vehicle types.

Other means of transport

Rescue data sheets are not only available for road vehicles, but also for rail vehicles and aircraft ; for example from Deutsche Bahn and the aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus . The Bundeswehr also offers rescue data sheets for its aircraft.