Mobile Data Terminals could reduce fire department response times

 

Windsor Fire and Rescue Services are experimenting with technology to fight a different type of battle – response times.

“Our current state of technology allows us to keep the lights on and that’s about it,” said WFRS Chief Bruce Montone.

WFRS averages seven minutes and 15 seconds to get to a call according to the recent Ontario Municipal CAO’s Benchmark Initiative. Among the 10 other departments that were surveyed across the country this was the highest, worse than Hamilton and Winnipeg by 20 seconds.

Montone suggests the numbers can be improved by adding a few pieces of technology to the trucks and the community. They have proposed a multi-step plan to implement approximately 10 different initiatives to enhance performance. He said one part of that plan is to install Mobile Data Terminals on all of their fire vehicles.

“We want to use GPS and automatic vehicle location technology so that we can see where our vehicles are every moment of the day,” said Montone.

Using this satellite tracking technology would allow them to move away from a fixed location dispatching system to something more flexible. It would allow them to dispatch the closest fire truck to the fire as opposed to dispatching one from the closest station. This research shows it could possibly shave more than 30 seconds off of their response time.

Response times are certainly a concern to city administration according to Helga Reidel, the chief administration officer for the City of Windsor. She notes it is part of the reason why the new fire stations are going to be set up in the planned configuration.

The city hopes the new locations and strategies will help reduce the response time. When it comes to money in the budget for technology, Heidel said the department has to go through the same process as everyone else.

“They submit their case and why that expenditure is important to council, they make those requests and go through the budget process,” said Reidel. “All department recommendations make their way to council, I certainly wouldn’t stop them from getting to council but I may add my own comments.

Montone said outfitting the department wouldn’t be cheap, with an estimated cost of around $90,000. The number would allow them to equip the approximately 18 vehicles that would be required to have this technology. He notes this is the reason they are doing a pilot-program with just a few units. They want to build their business case to pitch towards council as to why they should add this technology to the service.

The pilot program will be continuing for a few months with results and recommendations to go towards council sometime next year.

 

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