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(Who
says you can't build a better mousetrap?)
Personnel accountability is one of the most important
tasks an Incident Commander will face at the scene of
an emergency. The most widely used practice is either
writing a firefighter's name on a dry-erase board or
collecting a name tag and placing it on a ring. In either
case, reliability is questionable. The dry-erase board
is easily altered, either by accidentally touching it,
bumping it, or perhaps by water smearing the print into
illegible marks. The name tags do not track a firefighter's
location or time stamp how long he or she has been working
on an assignment.
A 23 year veteran firefighter from the City of Fraser
is putting an end to that. John Ellis has partnered
with an information technology company to design accountability
software that is compatible with a handheld personal
computer.
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Using
the pocket PC eliminates the task of listing names
by hand using markers, grease or pencils. |
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A
point-and-click system provides a detailed, chronological
report for the entire incident, eliminating the
dependency of paper. |
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There
is a built-in safety feature that time stamps the
length of time each firefighter is on assignment. |
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Post-incident
use of the data can aid the department in identifying
training issues and needs. |
The
software and its accompanying handheld PC is designed
for use by firefighters in small, medium, and large
departments.
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