Flist: an additional alarm for emergency

The flist, an innovation by Eric Geelhuysen and Toine van Buul, is likely to become an indispensable product for emergency relief. This is an electronic device that disrupts the FM frequencies are in a radius of 200 meters and transmit, through the car radio, a signal composed of three rings.

Public safety-vehicles are well equipped. All available solutions to warn other traffic are used when a vehicle with warning-signals is approaching. As an crucial add-on to the existing signals like audio and light, Flister® is developed. This transmitter is developed because cars nowadays are very well isolated, with high-quality audio and air-conditioning systems. Therefore it gets harder to be able to penetrate a vehicle with the available acoustic signals of public safety vehicles. Tests show that very often for example only last-minute an ambulance is noticed by other traffic, resulting in impulsive reactions with possible dangerous maneuvers.

The sound of cars today is more optimal and allows the air conditioning in summer to keep the windows closed. Therefore, drivers no longer the horns of vehicles at or only when these vehicles are nearby, which can lead to awkward and dangerous maneuver.

Flister® can help warn car drivers in a earlier stage to avoid possible dangerous impulsive reactions. Drivers of a vehicle will have necessary extra seconds to react on an approaching ambulance, policecar or firetruck, which allows them to make safer driving decisions.

Flister® also provides to resist severe hearing damage of ambulance-drives, police- and firemen due to the maximum level of output of the sirens on their vehicles. The level of this output often reaches 85dBa or more. Labor unions already often brought this serious problem up.

The first tests carried out in the Netherlands showed that, with this device, motorists react much more quickly and effectively to the approach of an ambulance. The driver of the emergency vehicle has less need to perform sudden maneuvers, and patients in ambulances are less shaken. The use of sirens and lights out, the only flist comes in addition to alarms since the radio may be extinct. The audible alarms may be of a lesser intensity, drivers of emergency vehicles often suffer from hearing problems.

Mr. Eurlings, Dutch Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management said that if the final results of these tests prove positive, it will give the green light for national use of flist.

Flister® transmits signals influencing all possible FM-frequencies a few hundred of metres surrounding a public safety vehicle operating with alarm-signals. Flister® mutes car-radio’s of cars in the area of the rapidly approaching public safety vehicle. Together with this a typical Flister® audio-siren-signal is transmitted that warns other drivers, as well a short temporary RDS-text will be displayed on the radioscreen of a car. Also a CD that is played in a car will be cut-off.

Flister® is technically ready to influence navigation-systems to visually attend car drivers on the position of alarm-vehicles. Radiostations, governments & users Flister® has set up an intensive cooperation with radio-operators, the (local) government and the public safety disciplines to come to a final product that operates exactly the way it is supposed to. Flister® is now active in an ambulance, fire-truck and police car. Most of the reactions of users and civilians are very positive; drivers of public safety vehicles notice much more fluently moving traffic when approaching with signals in combination with Flister® and civilians give their feedback via control rooms, saying that the system is a big advantage. Furthermore, Flister® will allow governments to turn down the siren-volume to avoid hearing damage.

Category:

• Auto Innovation

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