About AlpDIRIS

The border area between Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) and Slovenia is prone to several disasters and the regional orography can make rescue operations very complicated. For example, a plane crash would be a serious challenge for the first responders due to the mountainous terrain where several rescue entities have to cooperate. The ALPDIRIS project takes inspiration from the scenario of a plane crash in the Slovenian mountains near the Italian border, with a forest fire as direct consequence. The location is only reachable by car from the Italian site. The Chief in command for the search and rescue mission would be from Slovenia. Slovenian Mountain rescuers and fire brigades would try to reach the site of the accident from the Slovenian side while Italian mountain rescuers and fire brigades would provide support from the Italian side. First responders are faced with communications problems between the teams, operational centres and the headquarters. Information exchange between the entities to provide situational awareness is difficult with mainly voice communication, e-mails or faxes. A Protocol signed in October 2015 by the Civil Protection of the FVG Region (PCRAFVG) and the Republic of Slovenia defines several educational and training activities of personnel and volunteers on the procedures for mutual cooperation in emergencies. From the Civil Protection project ALPSAR, the Slovenian and PCRAFVG mountain rescuers have already tools for an effective cooperation and information exchange. The project proposes to update this tool with additional reporting functions used by UN OCHA and feature needed for disaster relief (e.g. information of building, bridge and road status, location of shelters and support centres etc) and to open it to all actors involved in disaster relief intervention in the border area allowing a better digital information sharing. To solve the lack of communication infrastructure at disaster sites, the project aims at implementing a cell system based on mobile telecommunications technology 4G LTE-Advanced together with satellite access to create a high-performance mobile coverage in border areas, especially mountainous, affected by disasters.