California firefighters better informed
Mobile Radio Technology Magazine features an article on how the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD) is extending the functions of a new Web-based mapping system, which merges data from its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system and records management system (RMS), to mobile computers in emergency vehicles.
Recently, the SRVFPD has worked with San Francisco-based Farallon Geographics to tie together Intergraph’s CAD system and GIS tools and the SunPro RMS. The result is a Web-based interface that lets users in the dispatch center and local fire stations view hydrants, buildings and other facilities on a map and find and change information about them. The system uses data drawn from both the Oracle database that supports the CAD and GIS and the SQL Server database that supports the RMS.
Using a single interface, a user can enter data about maintenance performed on a hydrant without worrying about which database will receive the information.
Emergency vehicles are equipped with Panasonic Toughbook computers running Intergraph’s I/Mobile application, the mobile counterpart of its I/CAD dispatching system. Firefighters and paramedics could view incident locations on a map stored locally in the Toughbook.
The goal of the mobile version of the Web-based applications is primarily that first responders could access the same kind of information about incidents and infrastructure from the field that dispatchers can from their consoles. The other primary goal is to provide more maintenance applications to the vehicles.