THE FIRE SERVICE HAS BECOME interested in location tracking and accountability solutions. Today, several technologies now provide outdoor and indoor location tracking. Knowing where personnel are throughout an incident enhances the ability to rapidly intervene in a catastrophic event such as a building collapse.
For many years, firefighter accountability was performed by sight, through accountability boards, and by radio traffic. Technology advances have led to the use of vehicle tracking solutions using global positioning system (GPS) technology, but these systems are limited to vehicle location tracking and often are applied in law enforcement situations. Today, many handheld devices now have integrated GPS capabilities that enable users to track responders’ locations. As such, as long as an individual is carrying the GPS-enabled device, that person can be tracked.
But tracking solutions also encompass software application integration and server technology. A solution’s value depends largely on the depth and breadth of application integrations and the ability to access that information. It is not enough that incident commanders know firefighters’ locations from a portable laptop computer; dispatchers, emergency command centers, senior officers, and even fellow firefighters may also need to know.
 Photo courtesy of ESRI. |
Thus, tracking applications must be integrated with other applications [e.g., computer-aided dispatch (CAD), fireground accountability] to ensure information is appropriately accessible and usable. Geographic information systems (GIS) server technology enables the distribution of essential location tracking information to those that need it most, whether it is handling data access requests from CAD or serving up location information to a Web application to be used on a mobile device or desktop client.
To understand how all this comes together, let’s examine the individual components involved in indoor location tracking.
WIRELESS NETWORKS
Outdoor personnel tracking solutions are less complicated than indoor tracking solutions. Outdoor solutions typically require a GPS device and a map display to visualize the location position; indoor location tracking solutions depend on a wireless network’s capability to pinpoint the device’s location within a building. A typical wireless network uses access nodes that are statically or dynamically placed within a structure. The wireless network access nodes can detect a device’s presence within proximity range of the node. As such, if the location of the access node is known, then so is the approximate location of the device and the person carrying it.
HANDHELD DEVICES
The handheld device is the only component that is directly associated with an individual; therefore, system accuracy depends on whether the device is within the individual’s possession. Each device typically has a unique identification number that is passed through the wireless network information trail. By associating the device ID with a personnel ID, an individual can be tracked indoors or outdoors. A database is needed to create the association. Because a building also has an outdoor location attribute (meaning it occupies a geographic point on earth), a GIS database enables a smoother transition from indoor tracking to outdoor tracking as an individual enters or leaves a structure when wireless access node data are stored as a spatial layer.
SERVERS
Within the tracking system, servers process and analyze data and information for use in applications. Servers provide data such as speed, route of travel, distance, position reporting, and other data regarding the device or user. When combined, workflow and business logic engines (the data delivered by a GIS server) provide a comprehensive situational awareness solution. The geodata can be used as event triggers in workflow solutions (sequential or parallel process steps) or as variables in business logic (if … then …) to provide automatic or enhanced decision-making capabilities.
APPLICATIONS
The final component is the software application, a program with which a user directly interacts on a device. Many handheld devices are now multipurpose, providing communication and data-management capabilities. The application layer of a location tracking system presents the information to the user, providing a systematic method for editing or acquiring data. As a result, the application delivers to the user the knowledge needed to make important decisions. Therefore, when a firefighter carrying a location tracking device is trapped in a building, rapid intervention teams equipped with similar devices will be able to quickly locate their colleague in need of help.
GIS technology offers the fire service more than simply driving directions to the incident. Systems designed with spatial awareness in mind can provide essential information to help create a safer environment in the station, on the apparatus, or on the fireground and create a more accurate, intelligence-based environment.
PAUL CHRISTIN is a homeland security specialist for ESRI and served nearly 15 years in the fire service. He has delivered software, mobile, and wireless network solutions to federal, state, and local public safety and emergency response agencies.
