Mercedes-Benz To Support First Responders With "Rescue Assist"

Virgil Hilts
by Virgil Hilts

With little fanfare Mercedes-Benz recently announced a claimed first-of-its-kind program designed to help firefighters and EMTs at sites of severe accidents involving Mercedes-Benz vehicles. With Rescue Assist, the company is installing QR code stickers on their cars so First Responders will be able to use a Smartphone to bring up a schematic of the vehicle showing where airbags, the fuel tank, and other critical structural components are located. Their intent is to make the accident scene safer for rescue folks and passengers, particular in cases where the “Jaws Of Life” are needed.

The QR code stickers will be applied to the inside of the fuel filler cover and the B-Post on the opposite side of the fuel tank. All Mercedes-Benz vehicles produced after October 31, 2013 have had the QR code adhesive labels installed at the factory. Rescue Assist retrofit kits were shipped to U. S. Mercedes-Benz dealers last week. Owners of 1990 to present models will be offered the product for free when they come in for service while more enterprising Benz stores may reach out to its eligible customers via direct marketing campaigns.

The following video includes supposedly unscripted comments from firefighters about Rescue Assist.

Naturally, the ultimate assessment of the validity of Rescue Assist will be to hear from the B&B, particularly those of you who are employed as First Responders…

Virgil Hilts
Virgil Hilts

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  • LeMansteve LeMansteve on Apr 11, 2014

    Will first-responders be required to use the QR code feature? If they don't use it and something goes wrong as a result of not using the guide, will first-responders be held responsible?

  • Thatrabidhobo Thatrabidhobo on Apr 11, 2014

    While not quite as important as proper labeling, this is certainly a step in the right direction. Currently the only apps available on this sort of stuff is limited to Hybrids and you have to manually identify the make, model, and year which isn't always plausible while on scene. Sometimes you can't identify a vehicle thats badly mangled much less in the middle of the night in pouring rain. (BTW thanks GM for using a dark and non-standard color to identify the high-voltage lines in Hybrids. Jerks.) I can see this being useful on serious entanglements since you have to take a few seconds to make a plan of attack anyways.

  • Qest Qest on Apr 12, 2014

    Having been one, I can say that while they are "America's Bravest," they are generally neither very well educated nor bright. Either there will be someone knowledgeable on the scene or there won't. The only time I imagine this being useful would be in extreme situations such as the vehicle needing to be entered from underneath, so there ought to be one there! At first blush, this seems like another German/American moment like the VW Phaeton where, in Germany, auto repair technicians are generally far more well educated, and presumably smarter, than they are here, so the Phaeton is a reliable vehicle; whereas the same vehicle serviced by American technicians is an iatrogenic (I learned that word from the Phaeton forum) nightmare. German rescue workers may be more educated and more intelligent on average, so this could be more useful there. Here, it seems like blame-avoidance.

    • Mieden Mieden on Apr 13, 2014

      American techs didnt make the Phaeton unreliable. Beyond the fact that the Phaeton was extensively over-over designed, how Americans service their cars is completely different from how Germans service their cars. Americans wait till something breaks and take it in to get it fixed. Germans service their cars regularly and pay attention to how the cars drive so if a failure is approaching they can catch it before it affects any other components. Also, take into account our yearly "inspection" (which some states dont even have...and most others that do are a joke), compared to their HU test. Ball-joints and tie-rod ends are not the only wear items under a car.

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