Can you briefly introduce AKUT?
For AKUT, we can say that it is Turkey’s first volunteer search and rescue team, which was founded in 1996 by a handful of mountaineers with the principles of volunteerism and gratuitous benevolence, which demonstrated great usefulness in the August 17, 1999 Earthquake, which caught Turkey extremely unprepared, and which has been continuously trying to improve itself in order to best fulfill its responsibility as a pioneering and leading institution ever since. AKUT, the pioneering institution of our country in search and rescue, has completed its organization in 33 regions and continues its activities with more than 1500 volunteers. In addition to our association, where we coordinate our search and rescue efforts not only in Turkey but also in major disasters around the world, we also carry out a wide range of social responsibility projects with our foundation. We also continue our services to our country and nation through various institutional structures such as Sports Club, Publishing House, Children’s Academy, University Communities, Education and Research Institute, High School Disaster Awareness Trainings.
How did you decide to use Arvento Vehicle Tracking and Person Tracking Systems in search and rescue operations?
As AKUT, even though we are volunteers, we are aware of how important and vital our responsibilities are. For this reason, we pay attention to follow the developing technology and new developments in the advanced countries of the world. Every such development and innovation not only increases our operational capability and enables our volunteers to work more safely, but also contributes to our ability to participate in more operations and achieve better results. In our search and rescue operations, since the vehicles cannot move after a certain point and the personnel continue their journey on foot in the terrain, we decided to use person tracking devices both for the tracking and guidance of the personnel and for the safety of the team. We received very positive results in the tests we conducted to ensure the compatibility of Arvento systems with the GSMs and radio infrastructure we use, as well as our digital maps, and we now use this technology in almost all our operations where we work in large areas in the field.
Arvento’s Vehicle Tracking and Person Tracking systems have provided us with a capacity that significantly increases the safety and efficiency of our teams in an area such as search and rescue, where personnel can be anywhere, anytime in the field and knowing their whereabouts in real time is vital in some cases. From the center, we can track our teams in the field on the map, direct them much more accurately according to updated information, and see where they are at any moment. We can now easily track the searched areas, possible locations of the target, and the current status of the teams from the Center and make the necessary directions. With Arvento, we are both more efficient and feel safer.
What were the reasons for choosing Arvento Systems?
As Turkey’s pioneer and most experienced organization in the field of search and rescue, we started using the Vehicle and Person Tracking devices of Arvento company, always thinking about how we can move faster in operations, how we can contact our volunteers more efficiently in field conditions and guide them more accurately. We have been working on this project for a long time, and we have received very positive results both in the test phase and in real operations against time. We are pleased to use it because it is a system that significantly meets our needs in this regard. By the way, I would like to thank Arvento again for their support, which is very important for AKUT, and for their understanding and solution-oriented attitude from day one.
How do you utilize Arvento Systems in search and rescue operations?
With our Vehicle and Person Tracking devices, we can see the locations of our volunteers and all our teams on the field in real time and manage them from the center. By combining all the information reaching the center from various sources, we can more accurately direct our teams in the field to high probability areas and act more efficiently and faster in operations. In the debrief meetings we hold after the operation, we are able to recreate the entire process from start to finish, with times, key moves and point positions on the map again and make healthier analyzes.
Due to geographical obstacles, those working in the field can only see what is in front of their eyes and can only cover a part of the terrain with the maps in their hands. However, our volunteers specialized in mapping, who can follow their movements from the center over the whole map, can direct the teams in the field much more accurately with great efficiency. This ever-developing technology, which is now more suitable for field use, has enabled us to see and interpret the whole process from different angles.