An integrated mHealth and vehicular sensor based alarm system: emergency alarm notification system for long distance drivers using smart devices and cloud networks

Long distance driving is highly prone to road accidents and incidents due to various factors, in particular the health conditions of the driver. Professional long-distance drivers such as truck drivers having high health risks could benefit from the recent developments of mobile health (mHealth) technologies that can monitor various health parameters through wearable devices used in the vehicle. This paper proposes a novel method of combining mHealth data of the driver along with vehicular data for improving the vehicle safety system. The key objective is to minimise road accidents by integrating the emerging mHealth technologies with vehicular applications through the use of wireless body area network sensors and devices. The prime contribution of this paper is that the integrated system provides advance and real-time alarming notification for current and predicted emergency situations to drivers as well as their related parties such as health service providers and the company headquarter and forcing the ability to even safely immobilise a vehicle, if needed. In addition, the information gathered by the integrated system could also be used by other parties such as health service providers to address the driver’s root causes of potential health deteriorations or other circumstances that are contributing factors to road accidents.