Tech Update: Tracking Firefighter Movements Inside Buildings?

Date:  February 2, 2010
Time: 11:00-11:45 am EST

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Overview: GPS alone was never enough inside buildings to track a firefighter. However, when GPS is combined with certain radio frequencies and advanced software firefighter movements can be tracked, even inside multiple story buildings.

Once a firefighter is down, there is often no more than 3 minutes to get him/her out before it becomes a body extraction/recovery operation. Obtaining rescuer location data in GPS-denied zones can save lives when the PASS device isn’t enough. If a firefighter goes down, he/she hits a button on their PASS which sets off an audible alarm and a flashing strobe; however, there is nothing to indicate their exact location or even what floor they might be on. Seventeen lives were lost in 2007 that have been potentially attributed to PASS device failures, or the inability of the extraction teams to find the firefighter in time.

With the latest technological advances, firefighters could be tracked to their closest approximate position on a specific floor as long as their radio equipment could still communicate with the Command and Control Vehicle Controllers can visually track the movement and pinpoint the location of firefighters at all times if a three dimensional visualization console is implemented on a standard laptop in the Command Vehicle.

The latest technology provides stunning console views of movement and location of each properly equipped personnel. This visualization software can combine with or overlay available Geographical Information System (GIS) application information on the Command monitors and receive the current position messages from every firefighter carrying a radio equipped with a small attachment. If their radios fail, the extraction team would at a minimum have a last known good position or last transmitted position from which to start their search.

Biometric sensors can be interfaced/integrated with the units. This system, along with the biometric sensors can help with search and rescue in limited visibility areas. Command would be able to guide rescuers through buildings to areas that might have otherwise been missed. The sensors also give the ability of telling command which direction a firefighter is facing as well as what position they are in.