• Since this year, all Renault vehicles leaving the factory are equipped with a Rescue Code.
  • This QR Code aims to facilitate the intervention of firefighters in the event of an accident, by allowing them to access the vehicle's emergency cards in a digitized way.
  • Claire Petit Boulanger, tertiary safety expert for the Renault group, and Christophe Lenglos, lieutenant-colonel of the Yvelines fire brigade, explains to 20 Minutes this device.

In a car accident, every minute counts. Especially for firefighters, who must access vehicles to help passengers. To lend them a hand, Renault has integrated since this year, on all its models, a QR code, called the Rescue Code. For what purpose? How does it work? 20 Minutes takes stock.

How does the Rescue Code work?

This is a QR code allowing firefighters to access the rescue sheets of a vehicle from a simple smartphone. By scanning the Rescue Code, firefighters have direct access to its characteristics (motorization, location of batteries), which facilitates the extraction of the victim and reduces the risk of fire from the battery.



"There are two vignettes. One at the front right of the vehicle, another at the rear left, on the rear window. They are located diagonally, so as to be sure that whatever the type of shock, there is always one that is preserved," explains Claire Petit Boulanger, tertiary safety expert at Groupe Renault.

How does it facilitate the intervention of firefighters?

During an accident, one of the challenges for first aid is to find as quickly as possible the technical information of a vehicle to proceed with the extrication. These characteristics differ from one model to another and are represented on a detailed intervention sheet, placed in the car. Originally in paper format, its use was not systematic for firefighters. "The document was four pages long... It wasted time, which was not beneficial to the victim, "says Christophe Lenglos, lieutenant-colonel of the Yvelines fire brigade, seconded to the engineering of the Renault group.

This system would save them up to ten minutes on an intervention. "It allows us to carry out our missions with more serenity and to be more efficient."

Is this service free?

"It was a paid option, but since this year, all Renault models leaving the factory aredirectly equipped with it, without the customer having to pay additional charges. To date, there are just over 2,000 vehicles referenced," says Christophe Lenglot.

As for Dacia, another manufacturer of the Renault group, this device will be offered as a paid option. A marketing choice motivated by the profile of its customers, "less fond of the embedded system".

Will the Rescue Code be rolled out to other brands?

"We sincerely hope that this system will be democratized," says Claire Petit Boulanger. We would like Euro Ncap [the European body that certifies car safety] to require all manufacturers to put a QR on their windscreens."

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  • Renault
  • Dacia
  • Security
  • Fire
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  • Fire brigade