Strong earthquakes in “Turkey-Syria” at dawn on February 6, was considered a tragedy of great natural disaster that hit humanity, with the latest (February 11) reporting the death toll from the great earthquake this. The death toll has risen to nearly 24,000 and more than 85,000 people have been injured. Government officials are not helping the victims as quickly as they would like.
In addition to human and dog rescue teams, In the future, another “rat” rescuer may be added to the team. Joining the search for the earthquake victims is HeroRATS, or “Rescue Rats,” from Apopo, a non-profit organization from Tanzania. It is an African rat specifically trained to search. (Currently, these rats have not been used to search for real earthquake victims.)
According to Sander Verdiesen, an electrical engineer who works with Apopo, these “seekers” have a unique ability to dig deep. under the pile of rubble or get where search dogs cannot enter
The Apopo organization has been working with rats for over a decade to use them for “mine detection” in Africa, using rats’ extraordinary sense of smell to find bombs. In recent years, a humanitarian organization, GEA (Disaster Search and Rescue Volunteers), has approached Apopo with an offer to train rats for search and rescue missions. who is still in the process of training at the moment
photo of Apopo
The important equipment that must always be with these young people is “A backpack with a small camera attached to it,” which can send video footage to the rescuer’s phone outside. It also has a two-way microphone. This allows the rescue team to speak to the victim as well.
The rats were trained to pull the microphone switch on the vest when they found someone. When the trainer received a signal that a survivor has been found, the trainer then beeps back at the mouse. to tell them to come back out. You will be rewarded with peanuts, avocados or bananas.
“We can’t teach you to talk. So we needed a way to communicate with the survivors in the ruins,” said Verdiesen from the Eindhoven University of Technology, who invented and designed a camera backpack to be worn on these heroic mice. explain more
photo of Apopo
Apopo researchers and rat trainers also discussed the benefits of developing rats as explorers. If compared to other projects that brought in technology such as robots to help find earthquake victims The use of robots was found to be more expensive. and often have trouble navigating under the piles of rubble. And there was the problem of getting stuck under the rubble of the building.
But for these trained African rats They are a species that has evolved specifically for underground exploration. It has an excellent sense of smell so it searches for humans quickly and if there is no contact signal They can find their way back to the surface on their own.
These young searchers are still regularly trained in their search skills. They spend 15 minutes a day moving through a “training area” designed to look like a crumbling structure. They have learned to find prey trapped under the rubble. Learn how to turn on the switch for location sharing. and they can look for a way out of the ruins according to the instructions
picture of Apopo
The team plans to go to Turkey to continue training with the GEA, although it is not yet ready to conduct actual operations against the current disaster.
However, to date APOPO’s “HeroRATS” have helped over 1.8 million people escape the threat of unexploded “mines” from past wars. and could protect at least 250,000 people from tuberculosis infection. while saving the lives of 25,000 people.
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References: fastcompany, apopo.org, Boredpanda
