Reflections from The Emergency Services Show and The Emergency Tech Show 2025

As day two of The Emergency Services Show, co-located with The Emergency Tech Show, draws to a close, it feels like the perfect moment to reflect on some personal highlights from what has been an enjoyable and eye-opening couple of days.

Walking through the main entrance on day one, the first thing that struck me was the buzz. There was a palpable sense of excitement, underlined by a sea of smiles — a feeling that carried right through to the end of the show.

What really stood out, though, was the sheer variety of stands, each offering something different. From the latest innovations in the Drones & Robotics Zone and a full-size racing car in the Microsoft Partner Pavilion, to hyper-realistic live demos from West Midlands Fire Service and even a Dogs of the Emergency Services meetup, there was something for everyone.

Here are my top three takeaways from this year’s shows:

1. CPR is far more strenuous than it looks

One of the most engaging initiatives this year was the continuous CPR-a-thon, which gave visitors (myself included) the chance to try their hand at CPR while raising money for charity. Run by West Midlands Ambulance Service, the challenge was simple in theory: keep CPR going, without pause, for the entire duration of the show. Visitors and staff took turns performing two-minute stints of chest compressions on a dummy, ensuring the effort never stopped.

Having done my two minutes, I was surprised by just how hard you have to push to perform CPR properly — and by how much a chest cavity depresses during the process. It was a sobering reminder that this is both a vital and physically demanding skill.

More about the CPR-a-thon and how to support it can be found here.

2. Drone swarms could be a powerful ally against wildfires

On the Emergency Tech Leaders’ Stage, Mauro Innocente of SwarmMind offered fascinating insights into how swarms of drones could transform the fight against wildfires — an issue that’s becoming increasingly urgent worldwide, including here in the UK.

The concept sounds simple, though the reality is anything but: rather than firefighters and appliances working alone, swarms of autonomous drones would operate alongside them to provide intelligence and extra capability. Working in unison, the drones could identify thermal hotspots, locate people in danger and, in the future, even drop water from above.

A single drone might provide useful data, but the potential of hundreds working together is enormous.

3. Your fridge could become your biggest security risk

Finally, in a session titled Spies, Lies and Tech: Emergencies in the Age of AI, Professor Richard Aldrich from the University of Warwick explored the evolving landscape of security in an era dominated by artificial intelligence.

He highlighted the blurring lines between cyber threats, sabotage and covert operations — and the increasing role of tech companies in global conflicts, as seen in Ukraine. But his most chilling example focused on the devices inside our own homes.

The Grenfell Tower fire was caused by a faulty refrigerator. Now imagine a future where malicious actors exploit vulnerabilities in hundreds of “smart” fridges simultaneously. What begins as a handy feature that reminds you when you’re out of milk could, over time, become a genuine threat to household — and even national — security.

Final thoughts

From hands-on CPR training to future-facing drone technology and the unsettling realities of AI-driven threats, this year’s shows highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges facing emergency services. It was a powerful reminder that innovation, resilience and vigilance must go hand in hand.