Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System

This study aimed to shorten firefighter search times during indoor fires, allowing more people to be rescued, by enhancing disaster-prevention capabilities using building technologies. In indoor fires, fatalities are often caused by the failure of firefighters to rescue individuals in a timely manne...

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Main Authors: Tzu-Wen Kuo, Ching-Yuan Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Fire
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/114
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author Tzu-Wen Kuo
Ching-Yuan Lin
author_facet Tzu-Wen Kuo
Ching-Yuan Lin
author_sort Tzu-Wen Kuo
collection DOAJ
description This study aimed to shorten firefighter search times during indoor fires, allowing more people to be rescued, by enhancing disaster-prevention capabilities using building technologies. In indoor fires, fatalities are often caused by the failure of firefighters to rescue individuals in a timely manner. The question of how to effectively increase the probability of survival while waiting for rescue behind closed doors warrants in-depth research and analysis. Therefore, to ensure that people live in safe environments, there is an urgent need to develop a building door panel material with an emergency call function to prevent such incidents from occurring. Utilizing the PRISMA method, we conducted a comprehensive review of the existing literature to identify the key issues and limitations associated with the current search-and-rescue techniques. Subsequently, the identified primary factors were analyzed using the TRIZ method to determine the key factors that influence the success of rescuing trapped individuals, and a notification system was designed to address this issue. Based on the premise that it is advisable to wait for rescue during a fire, we utilized a smartphone to scan a QR code and transmit the exact location information to the fire department. Through extensive participation and feedback from firefighters, we developed a rescue notification door panel and obtained a patent for it. This system can significantly reduce the time required for search-and-rescue operations in fire incidents. The experimental results show a reduction of one-third in search times.
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spelling doaj-art-7a296cfaf1e34e2a847cdcdf32f0062d2025-08-20T02:11:05ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552025-03-018311410.3390/fire8030114Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification SystemTzu-Wen Kuo0Ching-Yuan Lin1Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106335, TaiwanDepartment of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106335, TaiwanThis study aimed to shorten firefighter search times during indoor fires, allowing more people to be rescued, by enhancing disaster-prevention capabilities using building technologies. In indoor fires, fatalities are often caused by the failure of firefighters to rescue individuals in a timely manner. The question of how to effectively increase the probability of survival while waiting for rescue behind closed doors warrants in-depth research and analysis. Therefore, to ensure that people live in safe environments, there is an urgent need to develop a building door panel material with an emergency call function to prevent such incidents from occurring. Utilizing the PRISMA method, we conducted a comprehensive review of the existing literature to identify the key issues and limitations associated with the current search-and-rescue techniques. Subsequently, the identified primary factors were analyzed using the TRIZ method to determine the key factors that influence the success of rescuing trapped individuals, and a notification system was designed to address this issue. Based on the premise that it is advisable to wait for rescue during a fire, we utilized a smartphone to scan a QR code and transmit the exact location information to the fire department. Through extensive participation and feedback from firefighters, we developed a rescue notification door panel and obtained a patent for it. This system can significantly reduce the time required for search-and-rescue operations in fire incidents. The experimental results show a reduction of one-third in search times.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/114smartphonesdistress signalssearch and rescueburning buildingfirefighterdisaster prevention
spellingShingle Tzu-Wen Kuo
Ching-Yuan Lin
Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
Fire
smartphones
distress signals
search and rescue
burning building
firefighter
disaster prevention
title Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
title_full Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
title_fullStr Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
title_full_unstemmed Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
title_short Smart Building Technologies for Fire Rescue: A QR Code-Enabled Notification System
title_sort smart building technologies for fire rescue a qr code enabled notification system
topic smartphones
distress signals
search and rescue
burning building
firefighter
disaster prevention
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/114
work_keys_str_mv AT tzuwenkuo smartbuildingtechnologiesforfirerescueaqrcodeenablednotificationsystem
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