San Diego, California – Vigil Solutions announced the recent purchase of the company’s VigilVanguard Driver Training System by the Houston Fire Department. From one station established in 1838, Houston has become the fourth largest fire department in the United States.
Highly-portable, VigilVanguard transforms a fire department vehicle into a mobile training platform that is more effective and less expensive than a simulator. It provides departments with a turnkey system that generates real-time video, graphs and other relevant data from the vehicle driven regularly by the firefighter. Having this visual record of the session, trainers can deliver detailed, unbiased feedback that promotes positive changes in driving behavior.
This differs dramatically from a typical driver simulator since training occurs in real-world situations on their community roads – and the system can collect data even during fire calls. As a result, the training is 100% applicable to their jobs. Since drivers are trained in their vehicles while on shift, vehicles are left in service, eliminating the need for attending off-site training in an overtime situation, thus providing a substantial savings in personnel and overall training costs.
“We are excited and honored to be working with the Houston Fire Department to implement this project,” said Vigil Solutions President Mark Anderson. “Their commitment to continually improving and providing quality training across such a large organization is impressive.”
About Vigil Solutions
Vigil Solutions is the U.S.-based affiliate of Vigil Systems, headquartered in Australia. Based in San Diego, California, Vigil Solutions is known across industries as the leader in on-road driver training and risk management solutions. Vigil Solutions’ clients around the world have successfully implemented Vigil technology and expertise to reduce accident rates and liability while helping to establish a safety culture across the organization.
About the Houston Fire Department
The Houston Fire Department provides emergency service to a population of more than 2 million people across an area of 617 square miles. The department’s emergency operations consist of 90 stations employing over 4,000 people. With a fleet of 87 engines, 37 ladder/tower trucks and a variety of smaller rescue vehicles, HFD provides superior rescue service to the citizen’s of the area.
As of 2001, Houston became the largest fire department accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI), an accreditation that provides a well respected benchmark system to measure the quality of fire and emergency services.