Expediting Search and Rescue After Earthquakes

After a natural disaster, time is of the essence to find and rescue missing people. In collapsed buildings, survivors could be trapped under enormous piles of rubble. Even with the assistance of specialized teams or trained dogs, it can take days to find people, and by then, responders might be too late. With NASA’s help, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was able to produce designs and prototypes for a tool that could detect people trapped under several feet of rubble, one that’s now being used for several public safety applications.