Water Rescue has taken a new dimension thanks to a new water rescue robot named Emily which is short for Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard. Before EMILY’s arrival, the water rescue was a delicate and cumbersome operation where time was of the essence so that lives can be saved.
A lot of the workforce was also involved as well as heavy machinery in the form of boats, slings, ropes, protective equipment among many other things. Not anymore. EMILY has features which the designers and engineers of this machine took the time to put together to make this life-saving device, which will have an enormous impact on water rescues.
Why EMILY was built
A successful water rescue operation requires victims being reached in the fastest time possible. This ensures that fatalities and injuries are kept to a minimum, and thus more lives are saved. While humans have been doing this job for the longest time, they have limitations.
These include speed, and sometimes weather conditions get rough, and a human rescue becomes impossible. With EMILY, those human limitations are erased and what we have is an efficient life-saving machine. As a 30-year-old veteran of the L.A Fire Department, Frank Boiteux put it, “EMILY is a self-propelled life jacket.”
Features of EMILY
The US Navy funded the research that culminated in the building of this Remote control lifeguard, and this rescue robot’s crowning moment came when the robot rescued 300 Syrians off the coast of Greece.
Weighing 25 pounds and four feet long, EMILY is powered by an electric motor which is compatible with water and shoots out a water jet stream that propels it in the same way a jet ski does. It is controlled by remote control.
The upgraded version has a two-way radio and a set of cameras that send a live feed to a mobile phone fitted with a compatible app. The motors have also been upgraded to a more important status to be able to battle currents, obstacles and any other severe conditions that may occur during a rescue. In case the rescue takes place at night, EMILY is fitted with enough light to facilitate that.
Can carry out mass rescue missions?
A total of eight people can be recovered at a time and reeled back to safety courtesy of a 200-foot long line that is attached to EMILY. Its bright colors, bright orange and yellow, and bag like structure make EMILY very conspicuous in water for the controller and the party being rescued.
EMILY is also built with a high hull; Kevlar reinforced and aircraft grade composites that can take a lot of beating. According to the inventor Tony Mulligan, “ EMILY can be thrown off a helicopter or bridge and then driven by remote control to whoever needs to be rescued.”
So far, Hydronalix, the company that manufactures EMILY has already sold units to search and rescue units of Countries like Mongolia, Greece, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, France, Brazil, Mexico and a host of others.
EMILY is the future of water rescue around the world, and nothing beats technology that saves lives.
