Fighting fires through advanced technology
Firefighting can be a rewarding career, but it is also a highly stressful one. Firefighters put their own lives at risk, often on a daily basis. Moreover, the way they handle emergency situations can have a life-or-death impact on the citizens they serve.
Thanks to modern technology, firefighters now have the tools to perform their jobs far more safely and efficiently than in the past. By embracing technology from mobile apps to wearable devices to aerial drones, emergency response workers can save lives and property by responding to emergencies more quickly, while maintaining their own safety and that of other firefighters in their brigade.
For instance, consider Fireplan, which was developed by the German company CODE3. In the past, fire departments notified volunteer firefighters of emergencies via simple pagers that didn’t tell them the exact location of the fire or how many other volunteers were planning to respond. As a result, volunteers took longer than necessary to get to the scene and often showed up when their help wasn’t necessary.
To address these issues, CODE3 developed mobile software to help volunteers respond to emergency situations in a more organized manner. Built on Microsoft Office, Fireplan offers firefighters a complete management system to help them perform their jobs more effectively. For example, it provides them with GPS maps that help them assess exactly where the fire is located. It also shows them how many volunteers are needed and how many have already committed, so they can respond to emergency situations with greater insight and efficiency.
Technology can also help firefighters calculate the water, equipment, and other resources needed to fight fires of different sizes and types. For example, Microsoft and its partners recently built a first responders’ tablet designed to give firefighters all the information they need to respond effectively to emergencies. From maps of fire hydrants to information about personnel and equipment to data on hazardous materials, the tablet puts a wide range of data into the hands of firefighters to help them respond to fires with greater precision and safety. Initially developed for German fire brigades, the tablet is now being adapted for multiple markets.
In the future, I expect a greater number of fire departments to embrace advanced technology to improve the safety and efficiency of their workers. Firefighters at the scene will have wearable devices that alert their colleagues when their heart rates are high, or when they’re otherwise under duress, and be able to stream live video feeds from deployed aerial drones to gain operational oversight. They’ll also take advantage of predictive modeling to understand wind patterns, topographical features, and the likely direction of wildfires so personnel can better fight fires before they escalate out of control.
Given the essential role firefighters play, we owe it to them to make their jobs safer and more efficient—and technology is poised to help.
