A new app has been launched by Euro NCAP to help emergency responders safely get occupants out of a vehicle following a collision.

The app, called Euro Rescue, has been created with The International Association of Fire & Rescue Services (the CTIF), and centralises the manufacturers’ rescue sheets which provides all the crucial information rescuers need to carry out occupant extrication quickly and safely.

This includes the location of components like airbags and pre-tensioners and high-voltage electrical cables and batteries, all of which could present a hazard to trapped occupants and to the rescuers themselves.

“As planned in our 2020-2025 roadmap published in 2017, Euro NCAP has added tertiary (post-crash) safety in its 2020 rating,” said Pierre Castaing, President of Euro NCAP.

“This Euro Rescue application, the result of joint work between manufacturers, fire and rescue services and Euro NCAP, is the first visible result of the progress that can be made in terms of tertiary safety; others are to come.”

The app can be downloaded for free and can be used both online and offline, allowing rescuers to access the information even when there is little or no network coverage at the scene of the crash.

Euro Rescue has been launched in English, French, German and Spanish. From 2023, the app will be available in all European languages.