PagesOn May 26th, ten San Diego North County fire agencies held a demonstration of their training and regional disaster communications system. The project was started more than two years ago, and gained momentum with the Encinitas Fire Department submitting a grant application for funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in February of 2003.
The Video Conferencing system, put together using hardware and software systems from Tandberg, with network hosting, communication backbones and implementation from SBC, covers about 340 sq miles, connecting 51 North County emergency response stations.
The main goal of the project was to address the issue of training expenditures and availability. Prior to the project’s completion, departments often had whole shifts of fire fighters and paramedics in training, miles away from their own stations. To do this, other stations near by might have to cover the area, increasing emergency response time, or the station would have to bring in other shifts to cover, increasing overtime salary expenses.
Another issue with training each station separately was the lag time before new information and techniques could be disseminated across the North County area. Vital information and new lifeline procedures might take months to circulate fully.
With the completion of the video conferencing system, fire fighters and paramedics in several stations, can be trained at the same time, while not having to leave their home station. This allows trainers to disseminate information quickly. It also allows stations to be able to respond to emergency calls in their own areas.
The video conferencing system allows each station to share information with other stations regarding their areas. “When it comes to providing service, we need to foster good relationships with our neighboring departments, since we are going to be going into each other’s territory,” said Carlsbad fire Chief Kevin Crawford. “No fire department is big enough or has enough staff to accommodate every situation that comes their way.”
With the recent tsunami alert on June 14th, the system really shows its potential. Though the warning itself was taken down in roughly an hour of being put out, such a disaster hitting the area is a real threat, as are wild fires like the ones we experienced in the Southern California only a few years ago.
Talking with Chief Donald Heiser of the Encinitas Fire Department, he described to us that the ability to put maps and real time photo images on the virtual white board for each of the 51 stations to view and comment on in real time during such emergency situations really has no equal in value. Orders, descriptions of areas and the estimated damage impacts of a 20 foot wave hitting our coast, take much longer to get across to 51 response teams by phone or radio, when in a fraction of the time, a map and white board can bring the full message across to each member of those teams. The potential for effective response for our emergency teams is quite phenomenal.
The project cost approximately $1.2 million dollars. The fire agencies received a grant, in the amount of $701,629.00 from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) in 2003. The remaining costs of the project were shared by the 10 fire agencies, which are linked up by the system.
Currently connected by the Videoconferencing Project are the stations in Carlsbad, Del Mar, Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove, Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside, Solana Beach and Vista Fire Departments, and North County (i.e. Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rainbow) and Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection Districts.
It is estimated that annually there will be a savings of 2000 man-hours by not having to send firefighters to and from training classes away from their own stations. The Encinitas Fire Department estimates that it will save 80 hours a year just in travel time to the training facility. Carlsbad and Oceanside say that instead of having an instructor teach 9 separate classes to their teams, they can reach the same amount of firefighters in three classes.
Currently the North San Diego County Regional Fire Videoconferencing Project is the largest of its kind. The Concord Fire Department in North Carolina and the Madison Fire Department in Wisconsin both have Videoconferencing systems, but on a much smaller scale. With the obvious advantages such a system yields it is a fair bet that many more will be in place in the near future.
Posted by Glenn Hefley in Example-News Story
