ATLANTA — If you frequently find yourself extricating patients from Mercedes-Benz vehicles, a new app can help.
The official Rescue Assist app released by the company can show first responders where it is safe to make cuts into the vehicle. By looking at these diagrams, responders can avoid hitting fuel lines, battery cables or any other components that would affect the safety of the patient or caregivers when cut.
The newest update to Rescue Assist comes with an augmented reality view. Like the “Pokémon Go” app, users can point their phone camera at a real-world Mercedes vehicle and see a virtual overlay of the car on top of the actual image — sort of like an X-ray — that shows the relative location of the vulnerable parts.
TechCrunch notes that Rescue Assist is a step toward fulfilling the promise of augmented reality for EMS that first responders once expected from Google Glass.
This app will likely be used more frequently in Europe, where a greater number of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are found on the road.