At FDIC International 2018, Honeywell unveiled a new connected technology that can feed fire commanders real-time data about a firefighter’s condition so they can more quickly respond to a life-threatening emergency. The system also tracks fire department equipment and streamlines compliance reporting.
When released in 2019, Honeywell’s new SafetySuite First Responder™ software can be integrated with the Honeywell Titan™ self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Using a laptop or mobile device the on-scene fire commander can monitor each firefighter’s safety status, including whether they are using their SCBA, how much air they have left, and if they go into alarm mode and need assistance. If oxygen in a firefighter’s SCBA drops below a safe level, the system sends a wireless signal to the fire commander, indicating which firefighter is affected so that response or rescue can be initiated quickly and decisively.
“We are on the cusp of an exciting new era in which incident commanders can better understand what’s going on behind the wall of a burning building and what their firefighters are truly experiencing,” said Lynn Feiner, product manager, Honeywell First Responder Safety, who demonstrated the technology at the annual Firefighter Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) April 26-28. “This connected technology tracks critical data in real time to improve the safety of firefghters, while helping fire departments better manage their inventory and lower their operational and maintenance costs.”
Here, Feiner demonstrates how the new telemetry system integrates with Honeywell’s Titan™ SCBA:
The demonstration showed how fire departments can use this technology to improve emergency response outcomes, for example, rescuing a fallen firefighter in a remote part of a building or coordinating a team evacuation before an imminent building collapse.
The system logs data that can help streamline and improve inventory management, risk assessment, and compliance issues for a fire department. A record of each SCBA’s history can be produced in minutes, showing how much oxygen in the tank was consumed at what fire site, what firefighter and unit was assigned the equipment, alarm history, time spent in fire zone, maintenance performed and more.
The recordkeeping can be customized for small to large fire departments to reduce administrative burden and costs.
The SafetySuite First Responder platform benefits from Honeywell’s RAELink wireless portable router with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) that operates on a mesh wireless network that is more secure and reliable than WiFi systems, can be set up in minutes and has a transmission range up to 100 meters, the longest available for a mesh wireless system. The system
Here, Honeywell Senior Product Marketing Manager Saurabh Shah explains their real-time monitoring system that delivers real-time data from firefighters on scene to incident commanders on firefighter safety status, including air tank capacity, man-down alarms. It also automates inventory management, compliance reports, maintenance, and diagnostics:
Future enhancements to the system will make it a cloud-based offering, which will enable fire departments to combine sensor inputs from SCBA and personal protective equipment, biometric monitors, gas detectors and other field instrumentation, giving incident commanders a window into more critical data that can be used to improve emergency response. The system will aggregate personal readings on heart rate, pulse and body temperature; environmental measurements such as air temperature, wind direction, and humidity; and a wide range of equipment data from the sensor life, battery charge and calibration requirements of field devices to the number of firefighters per truck, length of time on fire calls, maintenance schedules and more.
“This collection of data will be invaluable to those fire departments that are being asked to do more with less—and I mean less money and less personnel, “ Feiner said. “For example, the fire chief will be better able to compare how their department is performing with fire departments of similar sizes, and potentially use that data to justify money being spent on machinery or manpower.”
The big data findings ultimately will lead to improved safety processes, said Feiner. “Firefighters relate to each other as a tightly knit brotherhood and sisterhood so sharing information across social media and other venues is second nature to them,” said Feiner. “Anything they can do to make firefighting safer for all firefighters will come to the light, and this data will yield those kinds of insights.”
Honeywell First Responder serves more than 80 percent of the largest 20 municipal fire departments in North America with turnout gear and offers a comprehensive range of first responder and industrial safety solutions, including eye and hearing protection, face protection, gas detectors and personal protective equipment. The company is a leading manufacturer of connected safety equipment, which integrates hardware, software and services to deliver insights that improve safety and productivity.
ABOUT HONEYWELL
Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS) provides products, software and connected solutions that improve productivity, workplace safety and asset performance for our customers across the globe. We deliver on this promise through industry-leading mobile devices, software, cloud technology and automation solutions, the broadest range of personal protective equipment and gas detection technology, and custom-engineered sensors, switches and controls. We also manufacture and sell a broad portfolio of footwear for work, play and outdoor activities, including XtraTufTM and Muck BootTM brand footwear.
Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.
