Courtesy - CFD.
BUTLERVILLE, Ind. – Four Columbus Fire Department (CFD) firefighters took part in the live testing phase of a prototype technology competition designed to identify 3-D tracking technology that enables successful tracking of first responders performing duties inside of a building.
Held at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Jennings County in March, about 10 tracking teams competed in the fourth phase of the testing. Successful teams will be awarded funding and entrepreneurial support to bring their solution to market.
Different from Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which provides a 2-D location with accuracy between 3-15 meters, the First Responder Smart Tracking Challenge is a competition to identify a 3-D tracking technology that gives first responders 1-meter accuracy in an indoor setting.
Columbus firefighters helped competing teams by completing a series of scenarios that mimic firefighter fire ground operations within buildings of various sizes. Each firefighter was equipped with a prototype tracking device and instructed to progress through predetermined waypoints within a building while competitors monitored firefighter movements and real-time location.
Columbus Fire Chief Andy Lay spoke with organizers and competitors about the benefit of the technology for first responder safety and said, “Maintaining accountability for our firefighters is a top priority. It is particularly important when search operations are underway or in the event of a missing or downed firefighter that creates what we call a ‘Mayday’ situation. Being able to see precisely where our firefighters are located within a home or business is a great advantage.”
Prize money will be awarded in each phase of the competition with a total of $5.6 million in prize funds awarded across five phases.
Chief Lay said that he is hopeful that the Columbus Fire Department will be invited to participate in the Fifth Phase of advanced live testing that is slated for October of this year. CFD members participating were firefighters Seth Burton, Chris Moon, Justin Sims, and Nikolas Zickler.
