Fire chiefs extend up-to-the-second hi-tech information pilot project
A pilot project by West Midlands Fire Service to use up-to-the-second information to tackle incidents is to be extended.
The service is rolling out digital incident command Unblur software including electronic tablets at Birmingham fire stations after completing a six-month in Coventry and Solihull.
The new system integrates the brigade's existing IRIS systems involving materials such as body-worn and drone images, mapping, hydrant data, decision logs, risk assessments and message logs.
There will be a further six-month run to include new approaches to incident management, command and control building on and complementing the ongoing trial.
Paul Dunnell, a brigade station manager, said: “Throughout the trial period we have been impressed with the functionality and ease of use of the IRIS Core system.
“The process of trial and test has been extensive and incredibly robust, with the team at Unblur working closely with us throughout to ensure that any challenges along the way were quickly overcome.
“We look forward now to working with Unblur to implement the solution across a wider service area in a managed roll out programme.”
Unblur chief executive Alfonso Zamarro said: “We understand the need for a communication bridge between all the resources deployed on the incident ground and command centres. The firefighters will now benefit from technology that provides real-time situational awareness that can be shared across all responding agencies.
"The system’s GPS tracking delivers up-to-the-second information on personnel and asset location across the incident ground. It also provides a dashboard to support quick and effective information sharing and decision making while capturing everything as a decision log.”
