How to achieve faster, smarter emergency response with a unified technology ecosystem

Sponsored by Motorola Solutions

By FireRescue1 BrandFocus Staff

Firefighters and other emergency responders know that time is not on their side. When seconds count, being able to communicate and gain situational awareness rapidly can be a matter of life and death.

New and emerging technologies can help your rescue team initiate a faster and smarter emergency response. In particular, the Unified Fire Technology Suite from Motorola Solutions can help you:

• Decrease response times.
• Increase situational awareness.
• Improve resource coordination.
• Enhance fireground communications and firefighter safety.
• Reduce stress on dispatch and first responders.

Here are four key components of this unified solution:

1. BE IN THE KNOW BEFORE YOU GO WITH COMBINED DISPATCH & AUTOMATED ALERTS

Emergency calls today can take many forms, so departments need call-taking solutions to collect critical incident data through more than just audio/voice. They also need software that can seamlessly share that information with dispatch to notify the appropriate responders.

In concert with an advanced automated fire station alerting system, these tools can help your department decrease response times and deploy resources faster, while reducing stress on both dispatchers and first responders. Here’s how the MACH Alert Fire Station Automation and Alerting system from Motorola Solutions minimizes complexities to increase the speed of communication:

No terminal required: The system delivers automated incident-specific station alerts received directly from dispatch to responding stations without a separate terminal.

Text-to-speech: This technology reads CAD text information, reducing the dispatchers’ time to alert stations so they can deliver the information quickly and move on to the next call.

Automated updates: MACH Alert can deliver faster response because it updates the station’s incident board and automates basic tasks, such as turning off stoves and opening bay doors. It also provides dispatch with confirmation that the station was alerted and enables remote monitoring and control of fire station security while the station is empty.

2. KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN WITH CAD & RADIO INTEGRATION

The radio is one of the most important tools on the fireground, and the Unified Fire Technology Suite integrates dispatch with radio systems to extend seamless communications from the call to the firehouse then to the fireground.

Designed specifically for the fireground, Motorola Solutions’ P25-certified APX mission-critical two-way radios integrate CAD, radio consoles and networks to reduce dispatching steps and reduce response time, but also to support increased interoperability for multi-agency operations. Using APX two-way radios, incident commanders can coordinate action and share information seamlessly across their teams, as well as with other responding agencies.

Motorola Solutions

3. BUILD BETTER SITUATIONAL INTELLIGENCE WITH MORE INFORMATION

Added dispatch and communications capabilities make it easy to gather more information than ever before – but how are you putting that information to use? Integrating voice, data and video into a single source of information can help dispatchers, incident commanders, and fire crews make sense of the data.

CommandCentral Aware aggregates and integrates streaming video, real-time alerts, advanced data analytics, resource tracking, social media analytics, voice, CAD, records information and more into a single, intuitive interface with layered geospatial mapping.

This helps dispatch communicate actionable intelligence to frontline responders via voice and data, giving them a clearer picture of the scene before they arrive, as well as providing ongoing support during the call.

Incident commanders can receive the full incident report generated by the original 911 call in their vehicles on the scene, helping them achieve the most effective response. The collected information can also be used to support after-action reporting, investigations and strategic planning.

4. EXPAND PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH INTEGRATION WITH OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

Personnel accountability is a critical component of fireground safety. On the fireground, incident commanders are flooded with information from multiple sources, distractions and tasks – all of which can impact decision-making. Integrating personnel accountability with existing communications tools can make this critical function easier as well as more accurate, allowing command staff to focus on coordinating response without losing sight of their crew members.

From a single screen in the APX Personnel Accountability application, which links directly to Motorola Solutions’ APX P25 radios, incident commanders can:

• Easily identify who is on the fireground.
• Conduct roll calls.
• Issue notifications directly to each firefighter’s device without adding additional radio traffic.

The customizable Tactical Alert messaging feature allows the IC to instantly send an alert to every responder on the fireground channel simultaneously. When the IC initiates a personnel accountability report, or PAR check, each responder can acknowledge the request by simply pressing the PTT button on their APX radio. The system provides confirmation of who has acknowledged the PAR check and a count of those yet to respond.

The optional automatic Man Down alert on the APX radios adds another critical safety tool by transmitting an emergency alert when a firefighter has been motionless and horizontal for a specified amount of time.

IMPROVE RESPONSE, ENHANCE SAFETY

Innovative technology can improve emergency response by keeping agencies and first responders safe, better connected and able to adapt quickly to evolving challenges. With the Motorola Solutions Unified Fire Technology Suite, departments can rely on a single, end-to-end voice and data communications platform for all three phases of an emergency:

• Incident Creation.
• Alerting and Dispatch.
• Response.

When software and devices work seamlessly together, firefighters can stay focused, respond faster and collaborate more efficiently for added safety and better outcomes.

Visit Motorola Solutions for more information on the unified fire technology suite.

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