In a traffic accident, every minute counts. Especially for firefighters, who need to access vehicles to help passengers. To lend them a hand, Renault has since this year incorporated a QR code, called the Rescue Code, into all of its models. What purpose ? How does it work ? 20 minutes make the point.
How does the Rescue Code work?
This is a QR code allowing firefighters to access a vehicle’s emergency files from a simple smartphone. By scanning the Rescue Code, firefighters have direct access to its characteristics (motorization, location of batteries), which facilitates the extraction of the victim and reduces the risk of battery fire.
“There are two vignettes. One at the front right of the vehicle, another at the rear left, on the rear window. They are located diagonally, so as to be sure that whatever the type of impact, there is always one that is preserved,” explains Claire Petit Boulanger, tertiary safety expert for the Renault group.
How does it facilitate the intervention of firefighters?
During an accident, one of the challenges for first aid is to find the technical information of a vehicle as quickly as possible in order to extricate it. These characteristics differ from one model to another and are represented on a detailed intervention sheet placed in the car. Originally in paper format, its use was not systematic for firefighters. “The document was four pages long… It made us waste time, which was not profitable for the victim”, testifies Christophe Lenglos, lieutenant-colonel of firefighters from Yvelines, seconded to the engineering of the Renault group.
This system would save them up to ten minutes on an intervention. “It allows us to carry out our missions with more serenity and to be more efficient”.
Is this service free?
“It was a paid option, but since this year, all Renault models leaving the factory are directly equipped, without the customer having to pay additional charges. To date, there are just over 2,000 referenced vehicles,” says Christophe Lenglot.
As for Dacia, another manufacturer of the Renault group, this device will be offered as a paid option. A marketing choice motivated by the profile of its customers, “less fond of the embedded system”.
Will the Rescue Code be rolled out to other brands?
“We really want this system to become more democratic,” says Claire Petit Boulanger. We would like the Euro Ncap [l’organisme européen qui certifie la sécurité des voitures] requires all manufacturers to put a QR on their windshields”.