Adapted Situation AwareneSS tools and taIlored training scenarios for increaSing capabiliTies and enhANcing the proteCtion of First RespondErs – ASSISTANCE is an international research project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme in Secure Societies Challenge addressing the SU-DRS02-2018-2019-2020 (Technologies for first responders) topic.

The main purpose of ASSISTANCE project is twofold: to help and protect different kind of first responders’ (FR) organizations that work together during the mitigation of large disasters (natural or man-made) and to enhance their capabilities and skills for facing complex situations related to different types of incidents.

This will be achieved by accomplishing the following operational objectives:

O1. To address the FRs expressed needs and preferences in terms of useful information for increasing their capabilities and new sensors mounted on unmanned platforms or integrated in their wearable equipment.

O2. To develop a novel SA platform, including the integration of UAV, Robots and drones’ swarms and innovative modules, able to be adapted to the specific information needs of the different types of FRs organizations that cooperate during the response to a large disaster (natural or man-made)

O3. To establish the core of an advanced training network based on Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR) and Augmented Reality (AR) along with a set of training curricula tailored to the needs of the different types of first responders (e.g. firefighters, sanitary staff, police, etc.) and characteristics of the type of incident.

O4. To provide a robust network infrastructure for ensuring FRs and unmanned platforms connectivity during the mitigation operations and alternative ad-hoc network capabilities based on drones’ swarm for ensuring the basic sensors and modules connection.

O5. To validate the project results in a cost effective way under real conditions in a controlled environment through 3 pilot demonstrations which will involve FRs from different organizations.

O6. To measure the societal impact of the project and assure compliance with legal, gender and ethical EU principles and requirements, identify lacunae and hurdles and develop concrete recommendations to policy makers and FRs with the aim to improve the current level of protection for the FRs and increase their capabilities in a legal and ethical manner.