Chinese technology improves Ecuador’s emergency-reaction capability

Thanks to an emergency warning and monitoring system developed by Chinese companies, Ecuador has significantly improved its capability in dealing with public security risks as well as its reaction speed towards disasters.

The ECU911, designed and built by China National Electronics Import and Export Corp(CEIEC), integrates Ecuador's various security and disaster relief agencies, such as police forces, fire departments, transportation, paramedic units and the Red Cross, into one platform to speed up reactions to emergencies via a single telephone number -- 911.

The ECU911 is the latest effort made by Chinese enterprises like CEIEC to bring sense of security and add luster to Ecuador, which has been faced with public security challenges, by introducing a series of high-tech products and services.

Taxi drivers, who have been suffering from robberies for a long time, are big beneficiary of the system. Thanks to the newly-equipped public security kit, taxi drivers can report emergencies by pressing a red button in the vehicle, and the locations as well as surveillance videos will be sent to the police simultaneously, said a taxi driver named Willian.

"The security kit connects with the ECU911 system command centers," explained Wang Fei, manager of CEIEC’s Ecuadorian branch.

The system, as a key cooperation project between China and Ecuador contracted by CEIEC and China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd, is also the first foreign-funded security system established in Latin America. Since the first command center was established in 2011, the system now has 16 centers, realizing a 100-percent coverage of the 23 provinces in Ecuador.

With the application of the ECU911, 87 percent of local police can make response in less than 3 minutes, and more than half of the policemen would arrive at the site within 10 minutes. But such process used to cost more than 2.5 hours.

According to data from Ecuador's Ministry of Security and National Institute of Statistics and Census, crime rate in the country dropped by 24 percent after the ECU911 came into service. In addition, the country set an example for other Latin American nations after its rankings of security index raised to 4th place in 2015 from the 11th in 2011.

As a result, Venezuela and Bolivia have inked deals with CEIEC on security system of national defense, while Peru and Argentina also expressed their interest to cooperate with China to improve their national governance.

The ECU 911 emergency warning and monitoring system also helped save a number of lives after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Pacific coast of Ecuador on April 16. Just 10 minutes after the deadly quake, the employees of CEIEC arrived at the command center in Quito, and recovered communications half an hour later for earthquake relief.

With the assistance of the ECU911, first-hand information about surveillance videos, resource distribution and real-time updates were all sent to the authorities of Ecuador. The system finally stood the test with its outstanding coordination performance.

Because of its great performance, ECU911 was rated by the European Emergency Number Association as top level. It is the first one on American continent and the fifth one in the world that gained such credit.
Cesar Navas, Minister of Security Coordination of Ecuador, told People's Daily that the ECU911 not only reduced crimes, but also greatly aided the reaction speed to emergencies.
Chinese technology has helped protect the safety of Ecuador’s citizens, said Navas, hailing an irreplaceable role played by the system in dealing with the earthquake disasters.
A symbol of China’s high-tech brands, the system is believed to bolster the influence of “made-in-China” products. Ecuadorian analysts noted that the system not only represents the success of a Chinese firm, but also indicates China’s national strength.