A sticker programme to assist emergency services has now been fully rolled out by Mercedes-Benz.
The Rescue Assist sticker incorporates a QR code, which rescuers can scan using an enabled smartphone or tablet.
Doing this opens up a digital rescue card that shows all model details including the location of vital vehicle components, such as fuel tanks, airbags and electric cables.
According to Mercedes this information enables a fast and safe rescue, minimising the risks for both occupants and emergency teams, and in the process saves around two minutes of precious time.
If no mobile internet connection is available, the rescue services can also make use of a free-of-charge app specially developed for this purpose. This allows digital rescue cards to be called up offline from the device’s memory, which can be updated with new and modified rescue cards at the touch of a button.
Rescue Assist QR code stickers can now be retrofitted to Mercedes-Benz UK vans built since 1996 free of charge, as well as being included as standard to all new models.
Experiencing the time-saving benefit first hand as part of a staged occupant rescue on a Sprinter panel van, Andy Gillett, Watch Commander at Broughton Fire Station, Milton Keynes, led a team of firefighters to practice using the Rescue Assist QR codes, as the following video shows.
The location of the Rescue Assist sticker is standardised for each Mercedes-Benz van model, easily accessible to emergency service teams.
In the case of the Vito and the Sprinter, it is located on the B-pillars on the driver’s and the co-driver’s side. In the case of the Citan, the QR code is inside the fuel filler flap and on the B-pillar on the other side of the vehicle.
