DOI: 10.11648/j.sdcomput.20260101.13 ISSN:

Design and Implementation of an Emergency Victim Localization and Rescue Coordination System for Disaster Response

Paulo Kapembe, Zacharia Mzurikwao, Candida Mwisoba, Joseph Salawa
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Communication failure during disasters can significantly delay the identification, localization, and rescue of affected individuals. When conventional communication infrastructure becomes unavailable or unreliable, victims may experience difficulties in communicating their emergency conditions and location to rescue personnel. This study presents the design and implementation of an Emergency Victim Localization and Rescue Coordination System for Disaster Response. The system was developed to provide a simple and accessible mechanism through which victims can submit emergency information and location data using a smartphone-based web interface, while rescue personnel can monitor submitted incidents through a centralized web dashboard. An ESP32 microcontroller is incorporated as the embedded control unit of the system and provides local system monitoring and status indication. The victim interface collects information including the victim's name, contact information, emergency category, description, and geographical location. Location information is obtained through browser-based geolocation services when permission is granted, while a map-based location-sharing option provides an alternative when automatic location acquisition is unsuccessful. Submitted emergency records are stored in a cloud database and synchronized with the rescue dashboard, where responders can view victim information, geographical coordinates, priority levels, and incident status. The prototype was implemented and evaluated through hardware testing, web-interface testing, database communication testing, and end-to-end emergency-reporting tests. The implemented system demonstrated the feasibility of integrating victim reporting, location acquisition, cloud-based data management, and rescue coordination into a single low-cost platform. The developed solution provides a practical approach for improving situational awareness and supporting faster coordination of emergency response activities, particularly in resource-constrained environments.

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