DE29612377U1 - Control device for an aerial rescue vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Patent attorney Dipl.-Ing. Mario Wagner, Technology Center at Europaplatz, 52068 Aachen Attorney file number: K07-001
Applicants: Ralf Kaulen, Mario Wagner

CONTROL DEVICE FOR A RESCUE VEHICLE

1 Introduction

Fire departments have aerial rescue vehicles available to rescue people from great heights and to fight fires. Aerial rescue vehicles are divided into three subgroups, which are named after the type of their superstructure:

- turntable ladder (with and without rescue basket),
- Articulated mast and

- Telescopic mast.

For the sake of clarity, in the following description and the protection claims, the term "turntable ladder" is used to refer to all types of aerial rescue vehicles.

The requirements for aerial rescue vehicles vary internationally and are presented here based on the requirements in Germany, which are specified in more detail in DIN 14502 and 14701.

The most common vehicle in Germany is the turntable ladder 23-12 with rescue cage, where the nominal rescue height is 23 m with a nominal reach of 12 m. This fire engine meets the requirements of the respective state building regulations for the 2nd escape route for common rooms in low and medium height buildings, which is usually ensured via a ladder-mounted window using portable ladders or aerial rescue vehicles.

Special structural requirements are imposed on high-rise buildings (buildings in which the floor of at least one living room is more than 22 m above the ground level), as the rescue of these people can no longer be carried out using conventional aerial rescue vehicles. However, the supplier market also offers longer aerial rescue vehicles for these cases.

rescue vehicles with ladder lengths of up to 50 m.

This means that the turntable ladder is of central importance for rescuing people, as other fire engines in Germany usually only carry portable ladders with a total length of a maximum of 14 m (rescue height 12.20 m). This factor is also taken into account in the approval practice for buildings, as the building permit for medium-height buildings without additional requirements for escape and rescue routes is made dependent on the availability of an aerial rescue vehicle.

2. Integration of the aerial rescue vehicle into the operational sequence of the fire brigades

The majority of fire and rescue operations by fire departments take place in/on buildings, whereby the rescue teams generally use two routes in parallel to rescue people in danger: the so-called "internal attack" via the stairwell and the so-called "external attack" via ladders.

Since stairwells are often filled with smoke, the fire brigade has no local knowledge and the helpers have to carry rescue and extinguishing equipment, the external attack is often the quicker and safer way to rescue those seeking help.

The aerial rescue vehicle is of central importance for these tasks and is therefore taken along on all fire service operations in/on buildings or at great heights and distances.

The advantages of the aerial rescue vehicle compared to conventional portable ladders include the length of the ladder (30 m compared to 14 m), the reduced commitment of rescue workers (aerial rescue vehicle: two people - portable ladders: four people), the safe rescue of people with walking disabilities, injured people and sick people using rescue baskets or stretchers, the safer climbing by inexperienced people, the significantly larger rescue area and the greater load capacity when rescuing groups of people.

This means that one of the first measures taken during fire service operations is to position the aerial rescue vehicle. However, the possible uses of aerial rescue vehicles are also limited. The area of use of aerial rescue vehicles is influenced by the following parameters, among others:

- the support width of the hydraulic support rams,

- the load on the ladder due to the weight of the rescuers or those to be rescued and the weight of any additional equipment such as rescue basket or stretcher and their distance from the pivot point,

- the selected ladder length, i.e. the load on the ladder due to its own weight, and

- the selected angle.

These individual parameters are determined in the vehicles of most manufacturers by various sensors and are related to the design-related load limits by an electronic microprocessor system. The field of application or the area of operation of the aerial rescue vehicle is derived from this. If this area of operation is exceeded, the vehicle switches off automatically because the load limit has been reached and there is a risk of the entire vehicle tipping over. A control device of this type is disclosed, for example, in EP - 0 059 901.

To clarify the relationships between the parameters, these are shown schematically in the operating instructions for aerial rescue vehicles in so-called field of application diagrams.

In order to ensure that the aerial rescue vehicle has the largest possible rescue area, the fire service’s operational tactics recommend positioning the aerial rescue vehicle directly in front of the scene of the incident. All other vehicles in the fire brigade are positioned in front of and behind the aerial rescue vehicle.

3. Work process for using an aerial rescue vehicle, problem definition

Once the aerial rescue vehicle has arrived at the scene, the two emergency personnel (machine operator and crew leader) usually have to carry out the following steps to rescue people using the aerial rescue vehicle:

1) The vehicle is parked in front of the site and is usually secured against rolling away by means of a spring brake.

2) The driver leaves the cab and goes to the control room for the vehicle

support at the rear of the vehicle.

3) Here he extends the support for the left vehicle support, then he goes to the right side of the rear of the vehicle and extends the right vehicle support there. Due to safety locking devices, the ladder can only be extended after this support process.

4) The operator leaves the rear of the vehicle and goes to the control station at the base of the ladder park, where the control panel for the ladder park or similar is installed.

5) If necessary, the operator activates the release for the rescue cage and moves it into the vertical position.

6) The crew leader climbs into the rescue basket, where there is another control station for operating the ladder park or similar.

7) The operator or crew leader now moves the ladder tip to the desired target, the distance of which can be up to 30 m depending on the design.

This time for the work to position the aerial rescue vehicle from the parking process to reaching the target is approximately 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the training and experience of the emergency services and the respective framework conditions.

However, reaching the desired goal depends on the vehicle-related parameters (ladder length, support width, etc.), which must be evaluated by the emergency personnel in relation to the mission goal. This requires good estimation skills on the part of the operations manager or vehicle personnel and the machine operator, as well as extensive practical experience on the part of the emergency personnel.

These two conditions are not always met, so that in practice misjudgments regarding the area of operation of the aerial rescue vehicle occur. This means that, under certain circumstances, shortly before reaching the person seeking help, the end switch on the aerial rescue vehicle stops the ladder from being extended any further as it acts as a tipping protection device. On the one hand, the success of the operation is no longer guaranteed at this point, and on the other hand this can also lead to panic-like reactions from the person seeking help, who believes that they can no longer be rescued.

Even by manually bypassing all the safety devices, which is also associated with high risks (the entire vehicle tipping over!), the goal cannot be achieved in some cases, so that the vehicle must be moved.

To do this, all of the above steps must first be carried out in reverse order up to 1, as otherwise the vehicle cannot be moved or the ladder park or similar cannot be extended due to the safety devices. Once the vehicle has been repositioned, all steps 1 to 7 must be carried out again.

Due to an "estimation error", the time between the arrival of the aerial rescue vehicle at the scene and reaching the destination or the person seeking help can be 10 to 15 minutes. If the alarm time, the travel time and the reconnaissance time of the helpers are added to this time, the time between the emergency and the provision of help is extended by another minute.

In addition to the obvious disadvantages of such delays, they also violate existing law. The rescue law for the rescue service stipulates that the emergency services must generally reach the scene of the incident within a maximum of 8 minutes, as after this time, consequential damage can be expected in the case of acute illnesses. This time is used by the fire service to evaluate the response times and to plan the stations, as the consequences for the health of those seeking help are equally important and the spread of fire is also exponential in relation to the time factor.

Therefore, estimation errors in the positioning of the aerial rescue vehicle have immense consequences for the health and life of those seeking help and for limiting the damage.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a device which, while avoiding the disadvantages described above, enables a positioning of an aerial rescue vehicle to be optimized for the application in a safe and rapid manner.

4. Solution

This object is achieved by a device according to the invention as defined in claim 1.

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Because a rescue aerial vehicle according to the state of the art is provided with a direction-finding or sighting device for aiming or targeting the target to be reached with the rescue aerial vehicle (rescue target), for measuring the direction angle and for outputting a control signal to the microprocessor, furthermore a distance measuring device for directly measuring the distance between a reference point of the rescue aerial vehicle and the rescue target and for outputting a control signal to the microprocessor, whereby the microprocessor has stored a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue target on the basis of the measured direction angle and the measured distance, and finally a display device that shows the vehicle personnel whether the rescue target is accessible, it is possible to simulate the rescue process and to recognize early on whether the correct location has been chosen before the turntable ladder or the like is extended.

In conventional microprocessor systems, the basis for calculating the stability of the aerial rescue vehicle is measurement signals provided by sensors, including the length of the extended ladder and its angle of attack. In the device according to the invention, these actual values are replaced by a distance measurement signal provided by the distance measuring device and a signal regarding the angle provided by the direction finding device. The other values included in the calculation (e.g. support width or contact pressure resulting from the quality of the ground) can either be preselected in the program (e.g. poor! conceivable values, optimal values, average values) or preselected by the operating personnel. The calculation itself is carried out in the usual way.

The device therefore provides the following answers in relation to the operational situation:

- The location of the vehicle is correct, i.e. the entire intended rescue area is covered by the field of operation.

- Not all desired destinations can be reached from this location of the vehicle. The emergency services must establish rescue focal points, and then the vehicle must be moved to ensure that all destinations can be reached. If necessary, other deployment routes and/or means, such as an additional aerial rescue vehicle, must be selected in parallel.

- The mission objective cannot be reached with the aerial rescue vehicle; other routes and/or means of deployment must be chosen.

This information enables better operational planning and avoids unnecessary and potentially life-threatening loss of time when deploying the aerial rescue vehicle.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

A preferred embodiment provides that an input device is provided for entering the expected load of the aerial rescue vehicle, which outputs a control signal to the microprocessor, which has stored a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue target on the basis of the entered load.

This measure makes it possible to enter the load required for the respective application within the framework of the design-related maximum load. This means that a pre-selection is made as to whether the maximum load is required or whether a lower load is sufficient to fulfil the intended purpose.

A further preferred embodiment provides that an input device for entering the possible support width and/or the expected contact pressure of the aerial rescue vehicle is provided, which outputs a control signal to the microprocessor, which stores a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue target on the basis of the entered support width and/or the entered contact pressure.

This measure makes it possible to enter the support width possible under the spatial conditions and the contact pressure to be expected based on the subsoil for the respective application within the framework of the design-related maximum support. A pre-selection is therefore made as to which support widths, such as "internal support" or "wide support" are possible under the respective local conditions and whether, for example, an "optimal", "moderate" or "poor" subsoil with corresponding contact pressure is present.

It is further preferred if the display device additionally shows the driver which changes to the parameters can alternatively be made so that the destination can be reached.

This information gives the driver the freedom to choose between alternative measures to optimize the field of operation. This gives the driver the opportunity to decide on changing the parameters that are most effective or that will lead to the goal being achieved the fastest.

A preferred embodiment provides for the direct measurement of the distance using a laser. In measuring systems that use lasers, the measurement tolerances due to adverse influencing factors (optical obstruction due to smoke, temperature differences due to fire, etc.) can be reduced to a minimum compared to other measuring systems such as ultrasound, radar or infrared.

It is also preferred if the aiming or sighting device includes a laser. This means that the target can be clearly aimed at without optical aids, even in poor visibility conditions (smoke, darkness, etc.) using the visible laser beam.

It is also preferable to measure the distance using the laser of the direction-finding or sighting device. This measure helps to reduce costs on the one hand (only one laser instead of two lasers) and on the other hand avoids the need to compare the two devices or the distance and angle measurement signals they provide.

Another preferred embodiment provides that the results of several individual measurements can be shown in a common display.

During rescue operations, it is not only important to be able to reach specific individual points (= rescue targets), but it may also be necessary to be able to reach several points or a specific area. This is the case, for example, if several people have to be rescued at different windows of a building, if there are obviously several sources of fire in a building or if a person is moving around on a roof with suicidal intent. In these cases, the aerial rescue vehicle must be positioned so that all targets can be reached without moving the vehicle. For this purpose, the driver carries out several measuring processes with the various

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rescue targets one after the other, with the measurement results being shown in a common display so that they do not have to be noted or retained elsewhere.

In order for the driver to be able to quickly obtain an overview of the rescue targets that can be reached with the turntable ladder without having to aim at the various targets manually, a further preferred embodiment is one in which the individual measurements are obtained with the help of an automatic movement device that moves the direction-finding or sighting device and the distance measuring device across the entire field of operation and thus scans it.

As a result of this line-by-line scanning process, the driver receives information on his display device about which area or room can be reached, which area can only be reached under certain conditions and which destinations cannot be reached.

In order to make the display as realistic as possible, it can be superimposed on a video image of the field of operation according to another embodiment.

5. Description based on preferred embodiments

The present invention is described below using currently preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing figures, which show the following:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a turntable ladder with an embodiment of the device according to the invention in front of the site of use;

Fig. 2a shows a schematic rear view of the turntable ladder from Figure 1;

Fig. 2b shows a schematic plan view of the turntable ladder from Figure 1;

Fig. 3 shows schematically the calculation process in operating and simulation mode;

Fig. 4 shows the decision processes of the driver resulting from the use of the device according to the invention;

Fig. 5a shows details of the device according to the invention in side view; Fig. 5b shows details of the device according to the invention in plan view;

Fig. 6 shows schematically the guidance of the measuring laser during the automatic scanning of the application field in another embodiment; and

Fig. 7 shows schematically the display of the measurement results provided by the embodiment of Fig. 6.

Figure 1 shows a schematic of a turntable ladder 1. This is positioned parallel to the site of the operation, a house front 2 with windows 3a to 3d arranged at different heights and different lateral positions, at each of which people 4a to 4d to be rescued are standing. In figure it can be seen that the turntable ladder 1 is positioned with a projection 5 from the house front 2.

The ladder 6 is neither raised, nor rotated, nor extended. The supports 7 are also still in the retracted position.

The reference number 8 designates a combined direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device. This is attached to a point on the turntable ladder 1 that allows an unobstructed view of the site of operation, regardless of whether the turntable ladder 1 is located to the right or left or slightly to the front or back of the site of operation. This point should be as high as possible, e.g. above the ladder 6 and preferably in the longitudinal axis of the turntable ladder 1. In the present embodiment, a point in the middle at the front end of the roof of the driver's cabin 9 is selected. However, it is also possible to arrange the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device at the control station of the ladder, at the front of the driver's cabin or inside it.

The combined direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device 8 can be assembled by the expert from the following commercially available components (see Fig. 5a and b):

A laser distance measuring device 9, a servomotor-operated movement device 10, which enables rotation about a vertical axis V, a servomotor-operated movement device 11, which enables rotation about a horizontal axis H, and also angle sensors for determining the current rotational position of the two servomotor-operated movement devices 10 and 11.

The measured values provided by the laser distance measuring device 9 and the angle sensors are fed into a microprocessor as described below.

For manual operation of the servo motors, a control device (not shown here) is located in the driver's cab. This control device can be connected to the servo motors via electrical cables, data cables, radio, infrared or similar and is located near the user panel display or other monitoring devices for the turntable ladder operation.

In contrast to the rescue procedure described above, the rescue procedure with the device according to the invention is as follows:

When arriving at the site, the driver first switches the on-board electronics instead of "normal" real operation, in which all the values relevant to safety (support width, angle and extension length of the ladder, etc.) are measured during operation, to "simulation", in which certain values are entered or simulated, and thus the direction finding or sighting and distance measuring device is switched on. The values provided by the other sensors are blocked or not queried.

After a corresponding request on a display, the driver enters whether and to what extent it is possible to extend the supports 7 (not, half, completely) and how well he assesses the quality of the ground (optimal, moderate, poor). These entries are available to the microprocessor for the calculations and replace the values measured in real operation for the support width and the contact pressure, as can be seen in Figure 3.

After a further request, he enters the load he wants (e.g. two people, one person with rescue basket and stretcher, bridge load or similar) according to his intended operational tactics. This input is also available to the microprocessor for the calculations and replaces the values for the load measured in real operation, as can also be seen in Figure 3.

The inputs described should be made using elements that are easy to operate even in stressful situations. For example, a toggle switch can be used to select the load, which controls the load pictograms that are usually already present. If the toggle switch is pressed down at one end, the pictograms appear one after the other.

in the order of increasing load, if the toggle switch is pressed at the other end, the pictograms appear one after the other in the order of decreasing load.

After these two inputs, the driver uses the control device (not shown) for the servo motors to move the visible measuring laser beam 12 to the desired target, e.g. the window 3a. The distance 13 is measured continuously or at a high repetition rate, so that immediately after the target has been sighted, the corresponding value is available for further processing by the microprocessor (see Figure 3).

The same applies to the signals provided by the angle sensors. These provide, firstly, information about the angle at which the conductors 6 are positioned in real operation and, secondly, the angle by which the conductor park would have to be rotated in real operation. It must be emphasized at this point that the angles α and β shown in Figures 2a and 2b represent the position of the measuring device 8. If the position of the measuring device 8 and the pivot points of the conductors 6 do not coincide, as in the case shown (height distance h and distance a), these distances must be taken into account and the corresponding angles calculated using the trigonometric theorems.

The microprocessor now uses these values, using the programmed calculation rule, the specific vehicle data and the load limits, to calculate in a known manner whether the operation of the turntable ladder 1 is safe. As can be seen from Figure 3, however, it does not make the (usual) decision whether a movement of the ladder 6 is aborted or not, but indicates whether the destination could be reached or not.

If the target can be reached, the process can be repeated for other targets, such as window 3b. The driver can thus get an overview of which targets he can still reach from the position he has taken and can adjust his operational tactics and/or the vehicle location accordingly. He therefore knows whether he can reach the target before the first support ram is extended!

After the simulation process has been completed, the driver switches the on-board electronics from "simulation" to "real operation", after which normal operation with extension of the supports and ladders etc. is possible as in the state of the art. The calculation is then based on the real measured values again, and the

Safety shutdowns in the event of overload as usual. Even if the driver is mistaken about the quality of the ground, for example, there are no risks as the safety shutdown continues to function as in the state of the art.

If the goal cannot be reached, there are various options, as shown in Figure 4.

First, it must be decided whether the preselected or preset load can be reduced, i.e. whether at least the load for individual people is possible instead of the simultaneous load for two people. The load preselection can be changed by pressing the corresponding buttons.

The same applies to the preselected or preset support width. In an emergency, the situation often arises that a parked vehicle prevents the supports from being extended further. If, for example, the target cannot be reached with half the support, but can be reached with the full support width according to the simulation, the driver can decide that the parked vehicle must be removed in order to enable the supports to be fully extended.

The same applies to the preselected or preset expected contact pressure. If the simulation is promising, this can be improved by placing planks underneath, e.g. on soft ground.

The decision sequence shown in Figure 4 is only an example and not mandatory. It is also possible to vary the support width first, then the contact pressure and finally the load. In this case, in contrast to the previous sequence, it could turn out that the desired load could be achieved by simultaneously improving the contact pressure and increasing the support width. This possibility would not have been discovered in the first sequence. It is generally sensible to vary the other parameters before the parameters that should not be changed if possible.

However, if the target cannot be reached even under the best conditions, i.e. with the lowest possible load, the widest possible support and optimal ground, a corresponding display is shown so that unnecessary time is not spent on new inputs.

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In this case, the display shows (e.g. 7 m forward, 3 m to the left) how the vehicle would have to be moved in order to reach the destination. The driver must then judge whether this is possible or choose a different operational tactic.

These statements clearly define the current operational value of the aerial rescue vehicle. They give the driver clear information about the operational concept, i.e. to what extent the aerial rescue vehicle can fulfill all the desired tasks, whether it is necessary to move the vehicle or even change the entire operational tactics.

A further preferred embodiment is described below, wherein identical or equivalent parts are designated in the same way.

This embodiment has a combined direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device as described above.

However, it differs from this in that the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device is not exclusively manually set up for one target at a time via the remote control or the servo motors, but is moved over a large target area by an automatic scan control, and in the way the simulation results obtained in this way are presented.

The functionality can best be explained by a typical usage sequence:

After the turntable ladder has been brought into position, the driver switches the on-board electronics to "simulation" and thus the direction finder or sighting and distance measuring device on.

There is no need to enter parameters (possible support width, desired load, quality of the subsurface or contact pressure) as in the embodiment described above.

Using the servo motor control device, he moves the visible measuring laser beam to a reference point, preferably in the center of the application area. However, it is also possible to start near the top and left end of the desired application area (point "Start" in Figure 6). This setting is the only manual setting required.

The automatic scan control now causes the servo motors to move the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device downwards line by line with sufficient resolution, e.g. at a distance of 10 cm. For reasons of speed, the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device is preferably moved from left to right in the odd lines and from right to left in the even lines (see Figure 6).

During this process, a measurement takes place with sufficient resolution, e.g. every 10 cm, and the microprocessor uses the distance and angle measurements as described above to calculate the accessibility of the target. However, the calculation is not only carried out for certain (preset or preselected) parameters, but for all possible combinations of parameters, e.g. "poor surface, maximum support, one person load", "good surface, half support, one person with stretcher" etc. The results are temporarily stored.

As soon as the calculation shows that even with the most favorable combination of parameters (best surface, maximum support, lowest load) several neighboring and currently targeted targets cannot be reached, the end of the line is reached on the right or left, so that the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device can be returned. If no more targets can be reached at all, the bottom line is reached, so that the scan control is switched off (point "Stop" in Figure 6).

The information now available regarding the targets that can be reached under certain conditions in the scanned area (grid 10cm x 10cm) must now be suitably prepared and visually displayed. In the present embodiment, this is preferably done in the following way:

A video image (Figure 7) of the scanned area is recorded using a video camera integrated into the direction-finding or sighting and distance measuring device and displayed on a screen 14. A black and white video image is sufficient. The results, displayed in different colors, are then superimposed on this image, e.g. a blue cross for each target point that can be reached with the parameter combination "poor ground, maximum support, one person load". Other parameter combinations are assigned other symbols or colors. A corresponding legend is displayed for better understanding.

Since, for example, all targets that can be achieved with the parameter combination "poor ground, maximum support, one person load" can also be achieved with the parameter combination "average ground, maximum support, one person load" or the parameter combination "good ground, maximum support, one person load", the individual areas overlap. This can affect the clarity of the representation. It is therefore particularly advantageous if the representation is limited to the boundary lines of the individual areas, as shown schematically in Figure 7. For example, the area lying within line 18 could be reached with the parameter combination "good ground, maximum support, one person load". The area within line 17, however, could still be accessible even when loaded by another person (parameter combination “good surface, maximum support, two-person load”). The area within line 15 could, for example, also be accessible with half the support (parameter combination “good surface, half the support, one-person load”).

The area outside line 18, however, cannot be reached even with the most favorable parameter combination. For this area, the display shown at 19 shows how the vehicle would have to be moved in order to reach this area.

6. Concluding remarks

Even if the use of the devices described is unnecessary for a driver in simple cases due to his experience, it supports him in complex cases, cases of doubt or in areas where the capabilities are at the limit. Due to the quickly available and ascertainable information, the driver receives an important basis for decision-making that helps him to choose the right operational tactics based on his experience, to make the most of the potential of the aerial rescue vehicle and thus to provide help as quickly as possible. In addition, the use of the device is useful for training purposes.

Claims (10)

Patent attorney Dipl.-Ing. Mario Wagner, Technologiezentrum am Europaplatz, 52068 Aachen Attorney file number: K07-001 Applicant: Ralf Kaulen, Mario Wagner PROTECTION CLAIMS: 1. Control device for an aerial rescue vehicle such as a turntable ladder, telescopic mast, articulated mast or similar lifting arm, marked by - a direction-finding or sighting device for aiming or targeting the target to be reached with the aerial rescue vehicle (rescue target), for measuring the direction angle and for outputting a control signal to a microprocessor; - a distance measuring device for directly measuring the distance between a reference point of the aerial rescue vehicle and the rescue target and for outputting a control signal to the microprocessor; - the microprocessor has stored a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue target on the basis of the measured bearing angle and the measured distance, - a display device that shows the vehicle manager whether the rescue destination can be reached. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that an input device for entering the expected load of the aerial rescue vehicle is provided, which outputs a control signal to the microprocessor, which has stored a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue destination on the basis of the entered load. 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an input device for entering the possible support width and/or the expected contact pressure of the aerial rescue vehicle is provided, which outputs a control signal to the microprocessor which has stored a calculation rule for calculating the accessibility of the rescue target on the basis of the entered support width and/or the entered contact pressure. 4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the display device if necessary additionally shows the vehicle manager which parameters can be changed so that the destination can be reached. 5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the direct measurement of the distance is carried out by means of a laser. 6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the direction-finding or sighting device comprises a laser. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the distance is measured by means of the laser of the direction-finding or sighting device. 8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the results of several individual measurements can be shown in a common display. 9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the individual measurements are obtained with the help of an automatic movement device which moves the direction-finding or sighting device and the distance measuring device over the entire field of operation. 10. Device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the display can be superimposed on a video image of the field of operation.