Ocean City, Maryland, a long strip of land sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Coastal Bays, is one of the Chesapeake region’s most popular places to swim, boat, surf, and fish. It’s also one of the busiest for water rescues.
The Ocean City Fire Department has just acquired a potentially life-saving handheld tool that uses artificial intelligence to help find victims in the water more quickly.
It’s called the AquaEye, a device that combines the latest sonar technology with A.I. When held by a first responder looking for someone in the water, it sends a sonar pulse out to 50 meters (164 feet) and listens to the return echo. The device can discern which echoes match the echoes from a human body and indicate the location of the missing person on the screen.
It’s especially useful for waterways with little visibility, like the Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays.
The makers of AquaEye, Copper Collar Group, say AquaEye can scan an acre of water in under two minutes. It should allow the Ocean City Fire Department to cover larger areas more quickly and efficiently.
It’s already being used by other agencies in the Bay region, nationally and around the world. One of its largest customers is the national rescue response agency in the country of Indonesia.
The device is designed for “grab and go” situations, according to the company. It will operate continuously for 8 hours before needing to be recharged in its charging dock and it’s buoyant, waterproof, and can withstand salt and sand.
In Ocean City, dive team department members have undergone training in the ocean and on the Coastal Bays to familiarize themselves with the technology.
“We are hoping this device will help reduce the time our team spends in the water by searching larger areas more quickly. This should help make efficient use of our resources, ultimately improving our ability to save lives,” says Dive Team Commander David Peterson
Fire Chief Richie Bowers says the AquaEye is an example of the department’s “commitment to leveraging advanced technology to enhance public safety.”
As Maryland’s biggest vacation spot, Ocean City is responsible for the safety of 320,000-345,000 people during summer weekends—a staggering 50-fold increase from its roughly 6,900 year-round residents.
