Dubai Police Unveils New Emergency Detection System
Dubai police unveiled Android-based Emergency Detection System (ELS). This system is designed to accurately determine the place of occurrence of an emergency and more rapid response.
The emergency location is transmitted only when the user of a smartphone with the Android operating system calls the UAE emergency number. The Emirates is the first country to launch such a system in the Middle East and North Africa; in the whole world, a similar system operates in 14 countries.
Today in the UAE, about 95% of emergency calls come from mobile phones.
Kamel Butti Al Suwadi, head of the Dubai Police Operations Division, said the technology was implemented following recommendations made at the annual meeting of the UAE Government.
The officer emphasized that the government insisted on the need to introduce positioning technology during emergencies - this step is necessary to reduce response time and more rapid assistance.
“We managed to achieve this technology by modernizing the technical equipment of the police stations. The latest geolocation detection systems using satellite technology were installed in the police departments,” said Mr. Al Suwadi.
“In order to help in an emergency, it’s very important for the police to know the exact coordinates and time, simplifying the procedure for obtaining such data, law enforcement agencies will be able to save a lot more people,” said Naur Kudsey, head of the Business Development and Partnership Program on Android platforms of the unit Google in the Middle East.
The location function to save lives is already working in Dubai. The remaining emirates are also interested in introducing ELS technology; negotiations are currently underway with the Dubai police to create similar emergency assistance tools in other regions of the country.
