New tech helping Denver-area firefighters


New tech helping Denver-area firefighters

22 May 2013

published by www.9news.com


USA — Every year, more than 80 firefighters die in the line of duty. So far this year, 31 firefighters have lost their lives. However, new technology is helping to reduce those numbers.

Coming off last year’s fire season, one of the worst in Colorado history, we wanted to look into some of the new technology that’s helping to save firefighters’ lives.

Last year both the Fern Lake Fire and the High Park Fire were caused by lightning. The fires destroyed thousands of acres and claimed the life of a woman.

A fire ignited by lightning can smolder for days before anyone sees it. What if firefighters could get there faster?

“Probably the biggest threat we deal with in wildland fires is lightning. We can get 10,000 lightning hits in one day, just in Jefferson County. Our whole issue is trying to get it early and get it quick,” said Mark Gutke, Director of Critical Incident Response for Jefferson County.

New equipment that tracks lightning strikes and then sends the coordinates to a smart phone or tablet will be used for the first time starting this fire season.

“Once we are given GPS coordinates, we will launch a helicopter and go investigate the lightning strikes that have occurred on the ground,” said Brian Veatch, firefighter and Executive Director of Air 3 Foundation.

If they find something brewing they can guide fire crews to the exact location, minimizing the amount of personnel, trucks and time searching than ever before.

“This program enhances firefighter safety in that we are able to identify potential fires well in advance,” Veatch said.

Whether it’s wildland or urban firefighters, one of the top causes of fatalities and injuries is miscommunication.

“In the fire service we are constantly looking for trends. Why we should train and what we should train for,” West Metro Fire Captain Kenneth Walker said.

The Blue Card Simulator will be released in about a month. It will help commanders communicate better with firefighters who are inside a home or building or on the fire line.

“We want to get them some really aggressive training so that we can avoid a major injury or death,” Walker said.

The simulator allows fire chiefs to upload pictures of actual buildings, homes, and apartment complexes in their own district and can make a simulated fire as small or large as needed.

“In the training division we want to take what could potentially happen in the field and we want to simulate it as close as we can to reality,” Walker said. “This increases the lives of our citizens, which is our number one goal. While achieving that mission, we want to keep our firefighters safe too.”

Imagine going through a home in pitch dark, with smoke everywhere and temperatures soaring, sometimes as high as 1,500 degrees. Add to that, 60 pounds of gear, crawling on your hands and knees and looking for any sign of life. Now, new technology will help firefighters in that scenario.

“People don’t understand the stress factor is extremely high which pumps your adrenal system your heart rate and blood pressure,” West Metro Fire Capt. Steve Hildebrandt said.

The PHASER, which is already being tested in several fire departments across the country, will monitor each individual firefighters pulse, body temperature and blood pressure and send that information back to the commander outside.

The GLANSER will allow incident commanders to locate and track as many as 500 firefighters in a 50 story building, all at one time.

“It’s a great idea to have it,” Hildebrandt said. “It will take some training to get all the bugs worked out but it’s a great idea. If the public can’t count on us than we are no good to them.”

The GLANSER is still in the testing phase and won’t be available to fire departments for at least a year.

While these are the latest tools, more are being developed all the time to keep our firefighters safe.

It’s important to note that not every fire department will have these devices.
 


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