A Smart Wearable System for Firefighters for Monitoring Gas Sensors and Vital Signals

The leakage of flammable products and toxic gases can cause serious disasters, a scenario that professional rescuers are forced to dealing with. Therefore, it is extremely important to continuously monitor the safety of the environment and the physical integrity of the professional during a rescue. This work aims to develop a wearable smart system for monitoring and analyzing gases in the environment and, at the same time, rescuer’s vital signs. Thus, a hardware-software system based on gas sensors and a heart rate sensor embedded in a commercial smartwatch was developed. An external agent can monitor the data/signals of the rescuer through on IP Access (Web Monitor) and a Mobile Application (App Monitor). Taking into account the dangerous nature of the task, warning signs for the rescuer are based on vibration (embedded also on the smartwatch), lights (ring of LEDs), and a screen OLED (smartwatch). Tests were conducted with the gas sensors and a comparison between Photoplethysmography (PPG) devices for vital signals monitoring. This study demonstrates a methodology of build of a smart clothing to protecting life and preventing accidents with hazardous gases.