This paper focuses on identifying possible approaches to harmonising technological solutions, operative procedures, preparedness and cross-sectorial collaboration in the case of cross-border Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI). It presents some of the results obtained in the framework of the VALKYRIES project (Harmonisation and Pre-Standardization of Equipment, Training and Tactical Coordinated Procedures for First Aid Vehicles Deployment on European Multi-Victim Disasters). The first part of the paper presents and analyses the current situation concerning the technological solutions in support of first aid responders, the usual operative procedures and protocols in place, the existing Education and Training (E&T) courses, and the status of cross-border and cross-sectorial cooperation. The second part of the paper summarises identified capability gaps and needs of the first responders (e.g., medical emergency services, firefighters, civil protection authorities, police, military units, and local authorities) in the technologies domain, operative procedures, preparedness and collaboration for effective implementation of their tasks in a cross-border MCI. The third part summarises the prioritised harmonisation opportunities in the above-discussed technological, procedural, E&T and collaboration domains. Finally, some conclusions and next steps are formulated.

A methodology for tracking and analysing the needs for standardization and certification harmonization thorough the project life cycle will be defined and enforced, which will allow the early identification of issues related to the conceptualization, design, implementation, integration and deployment of tools for support the EU disaster resiliency; which will be facilitated by a complete consultation strategy to the different stakeholders that are expected to act at each capability development phase, ranging from providers to end users. On these grounds H2020-VALKYRIES will develop, integrate and demonstrate capabilities for enabling immediate and coordinated emergency response including search and rescue, security and health, in scenarios of natural/provoked catastrophes with multiple victims, with special application in cases in which several regions or countries are affected and hence greater interoperability being required. H2020-VALKYRIES will propose both design and development of a modular, interoperable, scalable and secure-oriented reference integration, called SIGRUN, which will allow the integration between legacy solutions and new technologies in a framework of harmonized solutions. SIGRUN will be able to deploy services and dynamically adapt its behaviour, as the emergency requires it. A series of demonstration scenarios will be developed placing an emphasis on cross-border and cross-sectorial BLOS (Beyond Line of Sight) scenarios, where the usual communications infrastructure could have been damaged, and emergency response teams are deployed without an accurate view of the operation environment.