New search and rescue technology helping locate missing people faster

Some new technology out of Vancouver is helping locate missing people underwater faster, helping search and rescue teams around the world.

The technology utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ultrasound to identify human bodies that may be trapped underwater. It can reduce search times from days to hours.

Bill Bolton, a senior trainer in advanced tactical search and rescue, was on The Mike Farwell Show June 13 to talk about the new tech called AquaEye.

“It is a game change, it really is. It’s not the only tool to use but its certainly the first thing I jump on and get out of a vehicle before anything else,” said Bolton. “It will allow us to scan a body of water, that could actually be up to an acre in area, in about a minute.”

The handheld sonar device allows for easy transport, so nothing needs to be constructed onto a boat.

It will help police services like the one in Waterloo Region to close cases faster and spend less hours searching.

“It didn’t take long to understand that this definitely is a tool that can certainly save a lot of time, a lot of anxiety and allow us to move on to something more quickly,” said Bolton.

Search times can range from hours to days to weeks for rescue teams but this device cuts those times down, giving closure to families looking for a missing person quickly.

AquaEye is owned and distributed by a company called VodaSafe. On the website it says it can reduce search times by 87 per cent.

“You stand on the shoreline, you put it in the water, you push the button you sweep it over the water and then it will basically send a signal out. And if there is a body, it will pick it up, it actually marks it on the screen with an x or a zero that these are areas to be searched,” said Bolton.

Divers are then sent out to search over the area where the body was located.

Bolton said their biggest goal is to bring closure to families, which this new technology allows them to do in less time.