Wellington, New Zealand (March 11, 2022):  OpsCentral is proud to welcome two new customers to its operational intelligence and incident command platform.

The City of St. Albert Fire Department of Alberta, Canada is now utilizing OpsCentral to help the department manage its incident command operations across all three of its fire stations servicing the city.  The decision to partner with OpsCentral was based on the flexibility of the software to meet the specific current needs of the city’s response team, but also the company’s ability to adapt the software to their future needs and the availability to new and evolving data.

“OpsCentral has obviously researched situational awareness for emergency services and used it to develop their product,” said Vern Elliott, Deputy Fire Chief, “The true value proposition of OpsCentral is that they are also continually listening to us, the responders, and our requirements to fine tune the product over time. In my experience, this is refreshingly unique to have analysis of what we need and the flexibility to deliver a tool based on our capabilities.”

Riley County Fire Department of Riley County, Kansas has also adopted OpsCentral to help the department simplify their operations, specifically incident command, across their 15 fire stations that are served by 130 volunteer firefighters.

Key to their decision to adopt the OpsCentral platform was the ability to integrate data from numerous water sensors that are positioned upstream of the Tuttle Creek Dam.  When flooding occurs, several roads used by public safety are often under water, which extends response time to emergencies.  OpsCentral connected to these U.S. Geological Survey water sensors and created an alert within the platform that notifies the fire department which roads are flodded. With this alert, they will now be able to better plan a route to the incident before they even leave the station saving response time.  

“We’re always looking for ways to innovate and use new technologies to help us deliver the best fire and emergency response possible to Riley County,” said Deputy Chief John Martens. “We’re hoping OpsCentral will allow us to bring together time-sensitive information to support quick, informed decision making.”

OpsCentral welcomes both the City of St. Albert Fire Department and Riley County to the OpsCentral platform.

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About OpsCentral

OpsCentral’s operational intelligence software enhances real-time situational awareness for incident commanders so they can make critical decisions before, during and after an emergency by accessing vital data from a range of sources about traffic, weather, assets, and personnel, all on a mobile, cloud-based platform accessible anywhere, anytime. OpsCentral — Operational Intelligence. Simplified.

 For more information about OpsCentral, please visit www.OpsCentral.global or contact Dan McKinney at 980-231-4029.

Santa Barbara, CA, March 11, 2022 – CMC™ is excited to host its second GRIMP™ North America March 24-26, 2022.  GRIMP North America is an international rescue skills challenge that will bring together 12 professional teams from around the world to compete in complex rope rescue and confined space rescue scenarios. The competition is designed to foster learning and collaboration within the global rescue community, as teams work together to sharpen their skills and response capabilities.

GRIMP North America will take place aboard the Battleship IOWA, an award-winning Los Angeles museum exhibit and interactive tour located on the LA Waterfront in San Pedro, California. Spectators are welcome to attend the action-packed event to enjoy views of the above-deck challenges, product demonstrations and tours of the battleship itself.

The 12 teams invited to participate hail from the United States, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Netherlands, Malaysia, and Germany, and possess an extensive and diverse range of experience in rope rescue, rope access and confined space rescue. For many of the participants, this will be a first competition, while others are seasoned competitors in similar events like Belgium’s annual Grimp Day. Event sponsors include CAMP Safety, Courant, KONG USA, Never Let Go (NLG),  Rock Exotica, Society of Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT), Sterling, STREP, Teufelberger, TEXORA, and Traverse Rescue.

The Battleship IOWA is located at 250 South Harbor Boulevard, San Pedro, CA, 90731, at the Los Angeles Waterfront. For complete details on GRIMP North America visit the CMC website at https://cmcpro.com/grimp-na/.

About CMC

Since 1978, CMC has been dedicated to making reliable equipment and providing the best training for professionals working in the most demanding, high-risk environments in the rescue and work-at-height industries.  As co-founders of the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT), the International Technical Rescue Symposium (ITRS), and the International Technical Rescue Association (ITRA), CMC remains committed to innovating across all work-at-height industries. An employee-owned company, CMC is an ISO-9001 certified manufacturing facility. For more information, visit www.cmcpro.com.

CMC™ GRIMP North America FAQ

What is it?

The second GRIMP North America is an international skills challenge that brings together rescue professionals from around the world. Modeled after the popular Grimpday in Namur, Belgium, GRIMP North America creates an educational environment where teams can learn from each other as they solve a series of technical rescue scenarios in friendly competition. Their performance is evaluated within an established set of rules, circumstances, and time. All scenarios involve rescuing a live victim who must be properly packaged and transported.

Who is involved?

This is a gathering of 12 professional rescue teams from around the world who are ready to put their skills to the test. GRIMP North America is overseen by CMC School Instructors and supported by CMC and the event sponsors. Spectators are encouraged to come see the action.

Why put it on?

GRIMP North America facilitates the open exchange of ideas and techniques with the ultimate goal of making rescues safer worldwide. This is as close to performing an actual rescue as the teams will get in a training environment. The realism of the scenarios, along with the pressure of executing complex maneuvers in limited time, creates a learning experience like no other.<

Dension Fire Rescue recently held a push-in ceremony for its Engine 61. See photos of the event below:

“What a beautiful day it was for Denison Fire Rescue and the City of Denison! We have officially welcomed our brand new Engine 61 into the community.

“The traditional ‘Push-In’ Ceremony dates back to the 1800s when horses were used to pull the apparatuses. As you could imagine, it was challenging to get those horses to back the apparatus into the station, so they would disconnect the fire equipment and push the apparatus back into the bay. Today, we ‘push’ the new fire trucks into the bay to bless them and welcome them into the community.

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“DFR is extremely grateful to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of Denison with this new apparatus. Feel free to say hi and take a look if you see us out! #Denison150”

Spartan ER—Hartsdale (NY) Fire Department pumper. Gladiator cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Waterous CSU 2,000-gpm pump; 650-gallon polypropylene water tank; 10-gallon foam cell; FoamPro 2001 single-agent foam system. Dealer: Brian Kuhn, Hendrickson Fire Rescue Equipment, Islandia, NY.

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