Extreme.E
The customer and the challenge
Race against time
Extreme E is a racing series that gives drivers a chance to compete in extreme environments. Extreme E’s championships are organised in remote locations that have already been affected by climate change to raise awareness and urge immediate action worldwide. As their mission goes far beyond entertainment, spectators can only follow the races through online channels to minimise the event’s local impact. To pave the way for a low-carbon future, drivers race with electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and leverage hydrogen fuel cell technology for zero-emission fleet charging. Extreme E is also committed to accelerating gender equality in motorsports.
Facing the unknown
As the races take place in the world’s most extreme and remote locations, such as the Amazon, Extreme E has to tackle plenty of challenges to ensure safety. When an accident happens and medics are on the way, they can’t rely on the sophisticated resources they would have at a professional motorsport track. They’re trained to handle injuries but sometimes they need urgent, specialised support from a trauma centre before the patient can be transported to the nearest hospital. As there’s no time to waste, the Chief Medical Officer must be aware of the patient’s condition to prepare the on-site medical centre before the team arrives.
Staying connected, staying safe
Extreme E’s medical team, driving a fleet of specially equipped vehicles, used to communicate with the race control team and the medical centre through a traditional radio system to share important information during emergencies. However, they could only describe crucial patient details and receive immediate instructions verbally which made it difficult for the staff to collaborate efficiently. Extreme E was looking for a solution to visually connect their medical team working on the field with the rest of their staff even in the most isolated locations.
How we helped them
A purpose-driven partnership
As Vodafone Business has become Extreme E’s official technology communications partner, they can leverage our leading innovation capabilities and rely on our solutions to help local communities mitigate the effects of climate change in race locations. Extreme E can also count on our support in the field of medical recovery to keep their drivers safe with technology, even in the most remote parts of the world.
Distance is no longer an obstacle
Through Vodafone in Health, we partnered with Proximie to bring their world-class remote medical collaboration platform to hospitals around the world. Proximie needed reliable connectivity and a close network to deploy the platform in less traditional healthcare settings, such as the locations of Extreme E’s racing series. Thanks to Vodafone Business Mobile Private Networks, we made this digital healthcare platform available for Extreme E’s medical team, giving them access to real-time medical collaboration, enhanced video-based training and data analytics.
Moving teamwork to a whole new level
We provide Extreme E with a video network to ensure that the race control and medical teams can monitor the events. If there’s an accident, this helps them understand the circumstances before arriving at the crash site. Medics are equipped with body-worn cameras and can interact with the medical centre through Proximie’s digital healthcare platform. The video is broadcast back to the race control team and the Chief Medical Officer can also follow the situation in real time while giving instructions. “Vodafone is providing us with the capability to see the incident, so I’m able to prepare the medical centre for what is incoming. I can guide medical management and plan forward,” says Clare Morden, Chief Medical Officer at Extreme E. Medics working at the crash site can ask for remote support from specialised clinicians in case of emergencies.
With digital healthcare, the impossible can be possible
Proximie’s remote medical collaboration platform combined with Vodafone Business MPN enables the team to work as one, which makes life-threatening situations easier to manage. The solution not only creates a safer environment during the races but also benefits medical training as the staff can record the sessions and share videos. Medics get the necessary support they need to focus only on the injuries, which speeds the whole process up and leads to improved patient outcome. The platform can make real-time collaboration and guidance accessible in other fields too, for example, ensuring remote support to handle workplace accidents.
