Mobile Phone Use for Aeromedical Evacuation in High-Rise Building Fires

Mobile phones can be a good tool for emergency calls in a fire disaster, especially in high-rise buildings. Our study showed that in two fire incidents, 13 people were evacuated by helicopter. Of these 13 people who were rescued by helicopter, none had burns or inhalation injuries. In these two fire incidents, most of the people had not received evacuation training for fire disaster. The study population also lacked basic knowledge of aeromedical evacuation. When they called the emergency number (119 in Taiwan, similar to 911 in the United States) with their mobile phones, the on-duty officer at the National Fire Agency instructed them to move to the rooftop and wait for an air-rescue team. According to our study, mobile phone use with assistance of an alarm center and strengthening of disaster fire-evacuation training can reduce fire-related morbidity and mortality.