Civil Protection

GNSS offers a unique tool to support management of various types of emergencies. Positioning and reporting is vital during emergency management for police, fire brigades, civil protection, ambulances, and other related departments.

     Crisis and emergency situations require a joint effort by different forces in a coordinated way and in stressful environments. In large-scale disasters, infrastructure for transport and communication is likely unavailable. Roads, power lines and water distribution systems may be damaged or even destroyed. As a consequence, rescue or assistance operations could be very difficult. It is vital that basic infrastructure is quickly restored to get first aid to victims. Galileo will be a valuable tool to support situations. It is high reliability, even in emergency situations and difficult environments where it is paramount to ease the management of natural or man-made disasters.

Prevention of catastrophic events through surveying and monitoring of assets such as dams and bridges, including support to cartography for the management of emergencies, are also areas where Galileo and EGNOS can bring significant benefits.

Synergies between European GNSS and Copernicus (Earth Observation) are being leveraged.