Revolutionising the way emergency services across the world tackle life threatening incidents

Research led by Loughborough University seeks to set the new global ‘Gold Standard’ for how emergency services should tackle a chemical, biological, radioactive, or nuclear (CBRN) incident.

In an age where a CBRN emergency, both accidental and deliberate, poses a real threat to society, new integrated systems and technologies are needed to aid first responders and enhance the protection of citizens.

The multi-million pound TOXI-Triage project, which brings together experts from across Europe, is creating novel ways to give effective and diagnostically sound medical and toxic assessments to the casualties of a CBRN event amid the confusion, disorder, and dangers it would bring.

These new technologies and systems will revolutionise the way emergency services across the world tackle a CBRN incident.

Funded by the European Commission, the project brings together 19 teams spanning the emergency and health services, defence, industry, and university academics.

Together the research team have developed advanced methods to:

Later this month the entire project team will travel to Athens for a full-scale field trial of the new technologies and systems, in partnership with Greece’s Ministry of National Defence. This will be the first time ever so many new advanced methods and technologies will have been combined to tackle a simulated CBRN crisis.

At the end of the project it is anticipated that these new technologies and systems will become the Gold Standard for an emergency response, as well as becoming standard features in hospitals across the globe to support everyday healthcare emergencies.

Paul Thomas, Professor of Analytical Science from Loughborough’s Department of Chemistry, is leading TOXI-Triage.  He said: “Over the last four years some of the strongest teams across Europe have been working together to help ensure society can respond to and tackle a CBRN incident in the best possible way.

“We live in a time where CBRN terrorism is a real threat, and incidents such as the Birling Gap gas cloud and Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis illustrate how CBRN incidents can and do occur as a result of human error or a natural disaster.

“The emergency services need to have the best possible information when a CBRN incident occurs, in the quickest time possible without having to put further lives at risk. TOXI-Triage has created new hot zone assessment, diagnostic, communications and track and tag triage technologies, along with an integrated system that pulls all the information together in real time.

“TOXI-Triage is truly revolutionary and sets to rewrite the way a CBRN incident is managed.”

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 18/129

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Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2018 QS World University Rankings, top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey and named University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019 and the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2019, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018 and 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2019. It was also named Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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