BMW is launching an innovative system that greatly assists in accidents. Called Enhanced BMW Assist Emergency Call, the system works with the popular ConnectedDrive to send alarm for rescue as soon as a collision has happened.
Information sent to the rescue service includes precisely where the accident happened, what car is involved, what happened to it and the probably injuries sustained by the occupants. Therefore incapacitated passengers involved in an accident need not wait until someone else spots their misfortune on the side of a road before they can call for help. The car will do that on their behalf with better detail than before. Basically many sensors located in the car within airbags, the body structure and so on, determine with accuracy what type of accident has occurred and take the appropriate response.
Currently more than half a million BMWs have the automatic emergency call in countries like Australia, Kuwait, the USA, Italy and Germany?
Press Release
Quick and appropriate assistance � precisely this is what counts in a road accident
Developing innovative technology, BMW helps to alarm the rescue service as quickly as precisely as possible after a collision. And now the latest result of BMW�s development activities in this area is entering series production: The enhanced BMW Assist emergency call ensures that the rescue forces have even more details on the type of collision and possible injuries before they even arrive at the scene of an accident, and are therefore able to prepare appropriate medical treatment of the victims in good time.
On average, about 10�15 minutes elapse in Germany between alarming the rescue services and their arrival at the scene of an accident. The requirement is an immediate emergency call with a precise description of the location, the place where the accident occurred. BMW equipped the first cars with an automatic emergency call function back in 1997 � and in the meantime more than 500,000 cars are equipped with this system in the context of BMW ConnectedDrive. The BMW emergency call function is a feature of BMW Assist in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Great Britain, Canada, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Australia, and has already ensured rapid assistance the world over in more than 25,000 cases. Apart from the exact location of the car, the BMW emergency call function immediately provides data on the vehicle after a collision, enabling the BMW Call Centre to identify the car. This information then goes straight to the nearest rescue service, helping to save valuable time which, in an extreme case, may mean either life or death.
More precise information ensuring appropriate help
The new, enhanced BMW emergency call function ensures even more helpful information prior to a rescue mission. For now the data collected by sensors in the car is evaluated to provide precise information on the type of collision and the risk of injury. Hence, the rescue service alarmed by the BMW Call Centre knows right from the start where the accident happened and what car is involved. And thanks to the enhanced emergency call function, they also receive additional information on the risk of injury to which the occupants were exposed, thus initiating their rescue service not only quickly, but also with the appropriate response.
Taking the information and data provided by the enhanced BMW emergency call service, the rescue specialists know right from the start whether and to what extent medical treatment of the victims in an accident is required. Currently an emergency doctor has to be called to the scene of an accident in Germany subsequently in every third case, since the injuries suffered by the individuals involved ultimately turn out to be more severe than originally assumed. The enhanced BMW emergency call function, on the other hand, enables the rescue service to quickly recognise an accident with the risk of severe injury.
Development of BMW Accident Research in cooperation with the largest Accident Clinic in the USA, the William Lehmann Injury Research Center (WLIRC).
To obtain the best possible information on an accident and its consequences, the enhanced BMW Emergency Call Service takes a wide range of data into account. Numerous sensors in the car such as the airbag sensors, seat and belt sensors on the front seats, etc, provide information on the type of collision and the risk of injury involved. The sensors also register the activation or non-activation of all restraint systems in the car as well as the occupancy and belt status of the front seats. This serves to detect frontal, rear-end, side-on or multiple collisions clearly distinguished from one another. A possible rollover of the car can also be registered and detected in this way. And to evaluate the car�s data, BMW�s accident researchers, cooperating with the William Lehmann Injury Research Center (WLIRC) in the USA, have developed a special algorithm.
Applying this algorithm, the relevant vehicle data is calculated to provide a clear picture of the accident scenario, the BMW Call Centre then sending an appropriate message together with the vehicle�s location and data to the nearest rescue service, where appropriate rescue assistance may be initiated immediately and with the right kind of support.
BMW Assist with emergency call function available on all BMW models
The enhanced emergency call function is part of the BMW Assist telematics service and is available in all BMW models with the exception of the BMW 7 Series, the BMW Z4 and the BMW X3 starting immediately in Germany, Austria and Italy. Further countries will follow in 2008.
Source: BMW
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