From March 27 to 31, 2023, all the partners met in Modane for the PréPILOT and the General Assembly. The majority of technicians arrived on Sunday evening and the integration phase began on Monday morning.

The program took place as follows:

  • Integration of technologies, days dedicated to technical partners to be able to assemble the different tools
  • Intrinsic technology tests (weight, resistance, etc.)
  • System tests (connecting tools together)
  • Testing of systems in an environment deemed relevant (here tunnel)

Carrying out the tests planned for the project made it possible to properly measure the different performances of the tools and the system.

Tool training (coordinated by ENSOSP) enabled more than 30 firefighters (from SDIS 73, 74 and 13) and other first responders to get to grips with the various tools through workshops.

The first feedback from firefighters shows that certain technologies could have an interesting use in the field, for example: using detectors to locate victims under the snow or in buildings through their mobile phones, detecting breathing behind a wall, loading a geolocation map when entering a building. But they know that these technologies are not yet marketable as they are and that their evolution will have to be monitored in the coming years.

Thanks to the particular geographical location of Modane, these tests could be carried out in different types of tunnels, but also on snowy mountain sites or clearing rescue. The organizing team was reinforced by firefighters who came to test and help with logistics, which contributed to the scale of this event.

Finally, the program ended with the holding of the general assembly in person and remotely. This meeting provided an opportunity to review the project over the past 6 months and was an opportunity for constructive discussions.