Tokyo Fire Department Visits Seoul and Singapore: Sharing Knowledge on Cutting-Edge AI Technologies

As part of a joint project involving working-level staff from G-NETS member cities, the Tokyo Fire Department conducted a site visit in February 2025 to the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), with the aim of identifying systems with the potential for future implementation in the administration of fire-fighting services.

Key Site Visits

[February 17, 2025] 

Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters
Representatives from Tokyo visited Mapo Fire Station, the Seoul Emergency Operations Center, and the Seoul Metropolitan Fire Academy.

Mapo Fire Station
Seoul has developed a robust disaster response system, making strong use of resources such as footage from city-installed surveillance cameras placed around the city during emergencies, and large 3D-compatible map monitors that can visualize building layouts and structures.

[February 18, 2025] 

Seoul Emergency Operations Center
The command center that receives emergency calls in Seoul and controls disaster management. Upon receiving an emergency call, it dispatches units to the 25 fire stations within its jurisdiction. They are actively exploring the use of AI and are currently testing an AI-based “119 emergency call bot” designed to analyze incoming 119 calls, assess urgency, and prevent call congestion during high call volume for incidents, with plans to fully implement the system in the future.

Seoul Metropolitan Fire Academy
The academy offers a hands-on learning environment, including VR-based training systems for operating fire safety equipment and a driving simulator for large emergency vehicles, enabling trainees to gain realistic operational experience.

[February 20, 2025] 

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)
The visit to Singapore focused on sharing expertise with the SCDF. Apart from a co-sharing of the Digital Factory of SCDF and the Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX), there was also a meeting with the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department, and site tours of the Operations Center, a fire station, and the Civil Defence Academy.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Singapore’s national ID card system, combined with fingerprint registration, enables efficient emergency care. Through the efficient OMNII system (a nationwide emergency medical information platform), paramedics use tablets to instantly share patient data—such as medical history—with hospitals in real-time. Given the high call volume for EMS, the system is designed to allow responders to complete administrative tasks on-site using the tablets.

Operations Center (Command Room)
Functions as the "nerve center" for SCDF’s disaster response across Singapore. It monitors incidents in real-time and manages all operational deployments. Like Tokyo, the center ensures coordinated emergency response. To address rising EMS demands, SCDF employs telephonic medical triage to prioritize response based on severity. AI is currently being considered as a future tool to assist operators and reduce the likelihood of human error.

[February 21, 2025]

Civil Defence Academy
Focuses on enhancing personnel performance through data-driven analysis. New firefighter recruits undergo fitness assessments upon entry, with scientific evaluations of physical capacity. In addition, the academy conducts detailed analyses of firefighters’ physical and cognitive responses during operations, including eye movement, brainwave patterns, and response times. There are plans to gather comprehensive data on all firefighters to establish a standardized fitness benchmark required for the profession. 

The Tokyo Fire Department plans to apply the insights into advanced technologies, systems that utilize AI, and the challenges that arise after implementation that were gained from this visit by incorporating them into the specifications of future systems. In addition, the visit was made particularly valuable by the opportunity it provided to share knowledge on emergency medical response with both organizations.

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