Mercedes-Benz Launches Rescue Assist

LONDON - September 11, 2014: Mercedes-Benz has created an incredibly simple and effective way of cutting the time it takes to extract the occupants of a car at the scene of a crash – the unlikely solution is a humble set of stickers.

Called Rescue Assist, the stickers are part of a programme being introduced to the UK for the first time. They’re mounted inside the fuel filler cap and on the opposing door aperture and feature QR codes, designed to be read by any enabled smartphone or tablet.

Contained within the QR code is the key information needed by the emergency services to quickly, safely and efficiently extract the occupants without endangering either the individuals involved in the incident or those responsible for their rescue.

The information – covering everything from the make, model and specifications of the car as well as the location of any high voltage power cables in the case of Hybrid vehicles and the associated safety systems – can be accessed far more efficiently through a QR code reader than through the current process, which involves consulting a database and locating the exact model of car. On average the QR codes save around two minutes at the point at which the emergency services first arrive on the scene.

Craig Flannery, Learning & Development Manager at The Fire Service College commented: ‘We’d like to be in a position where all cars have QR Codes, simply because it’s going to reduce the amount of time taken to extricate the casualty, which in turn is going to improve survival rates.’

The QR codes feature on every new Mercedes-Benz car and can be retrofitted, free of charge, by any Mercedes-Benz Retailer to any model built from 1990 onwards.

It’s hoped the technology will be adopted across the automotive industry, with Mercedes-Benz waiving the patent on the QR code stickers to encourage this process.

Customers wishing more information on how to have QR code stickers fitted to their Mercedes-Benz free-of-charge can either contact their local Retailer or visit the Mercedes-Benz UK website or follow this link: bit.ly/W4zfwl