Underground Radio™ revolutionizes subterranean emergency rescue capabilities

Vital Alert Technologies Inc has signed two exclusive licence agreements with the Los Alamos National Laboratory for Underground Radio™, a technology that will provide Through-The-Earth Communication™, (two-way voice and text) for first responders, rescue and security teams, underground miners and the public in critical emergency situations around the world.

Underground Radio, originally developed by Los Alamos for the Department of Energy, is being commercialized by Vital Alert Technologies for use by emergency rescue crews in urban centres and by the mining industry.

“The new technology is a breakthrough in digital and wireless communications,” said Joe Miller, president and CEO of Vital Alert. “As a pre- and post- emergency warning, evacuation, and rescue communication system, it solves RF (radio frequency) radio failure problems and eliminates systems downtime complications in difficult environments such as subways, tunnels, skyscrapers, and mines. The new technology will also greatly enhance the ability of mining companies to protect their workers.”

Underground Radio is a through-the-earth communications mechanism that offers high-level security to critical government, industrial, military, commercial, and public infrastructure. It can also be used to respond to threats of terrorism and natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires. It uses very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic radiation and digital audio compression technology to carry voice and text data. The VLF signals also can transmit tracking and location data for radio users in the case that they are unable to respond.

“This is a technical solution to the problem of voice communication in underground areas. It is also inexpensive to build,” said David Reagor, the principal investigator of the Los Alamos team who originally developed the technology.

Funding for Underground Radio came from the US Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial Technology and from Laboratory Directed Research and Development - a program in which a portion of the Laboratory’s operating budget is used to fund outstanding, emerging or innovative science and technology.

Source: Media Network, VitalAlert Technologies

From the bookshop   Click here

• Get our news headlines for your website • Submit your news story