International Association of Fire Chiefs and Microsoft Collaborate To Enable the "21st Century Fire Department"

Published December 7, 2005

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and Microsoft Corp. today announced a joint effort to define and implement the vision for the 21st century fire department - a community where emergency responders have the tools they need to facilitate information sharing, collaboration and interoperability for greater response and coordination. In many ways, collaborative technologies can increase situational awareness and improve the safety and survivability of the fire service community and the citizens they serve.

"IAFC is proud to be working with Microsoft to demonstrate to the fire and emergency services community the technologies available today that can help firefighters rise to the challenges of the 21st century," said Chief William "Bill" Killen, IAFC President. "Our mission to develop prepared communities is more important than ever - we're confronted with new and more significant challenges as we face terrorism and natural disasters."

"Microsoft recognizes that firefighters and emergency medical personnel are on the frontline of our safety and security," said Michael Byrne, executive director of Justice and Public Safety at Microsoft and a veteran New York City firefighter and Homeland Security executive. "We, along with our industry partners, are committed to making sure the fire and emergency services community has the information they need, when and where they need it."

IAFC and Microsoft will jointly present the 1st Annual Fire Service Technology Symposium to promote the vision of the 21st century fire department on December 6 and 7 in Redmond, Wash. The event focused on the key issues the fire service community faces today and in the future and allow firefighters and emergency medical personnel to interact with Microsoft and industry partners and learn first-hand, how technology is enabling communities around the country to become more prepared.

The symposium agenda concentrated on three parallel tracks - 21st Century Fire and EMS Departments, Technology for Fire Safety, and Fire Service Role in Homeland Security.

On Tuesday, December 6, 2005 from 1:30 – 2:15 PM, Don Jones (NetTalon) and Christopher L. Spurlock (LSU-FETI, Coordinator of Municipal Fire Training) were the first presenters at the Technology for Fire Safety track. The title of the session was "Sensing Devices: Integrating Sensing Data Into Operations".

Don began the presentation by stating that the vision of NetTalon was to provide firefighters real-time alarm data within seconds of occurrence to locate, track a fire and smoke spread and know the location of victims from remote stationary or mobile computers.

Don and Chris then presented NetTalon's highrise fire demonstration to the audience. NetTalon's RMS monitoring software was connected over the Internet to a panel located in Fredericksburg, VA. The high-rise demonstration simulated in real-time the events occuring in a highrise building equipped with the System 3000.

Once the demonstration was complete, Chris Spurlock presented the results of the LSU-FETI System 3000 Performance Tests.

Don Jones summarized the impact of the System 3000 as follows:

• Instant notification
• Ability to dispatch faster
• Instant viewing of the fire remotely
• Sizeup to begin remotely
• Enroute viewing of the emergency
• Formulation of rescue and attack plans on the move
• Ability to arrive on the fire ground earlier
• Faster staging of fire apparatus
• Swift execution of attack and rescue plans

• “It’s very good, well thought out, with all the components we need in commercial firefighting today. I’ve tested it and personally seen it happen; it’s an excellent system. We need it right away.” - Kenny Hunts, Deputy Chief, Brusly, LA Fire Department
  
  
• “As an incident commander, it gives me information I need to know. With the computer I could tell where the fire was, which way it was traveling and where heat was being transferred.” - Louis Simoneaux, Fire Officer, Napoleonville LA Volunteer Fire Department