Motorola Solutions and RapidSOS announced they will work together to increase the data available to public safety agencies and first responders, providing critical information to accelerate response times and improve emergency outcomes.
Imagine if first responders arrived at an incident armed with precise location information, real-time medical information for those involved and live video of the scene. Yet today, the estimated 500,000 mobile 911 calls coming into U.S. public safety answering points (PSAPs) daily provide only the basics about the caller’s location and nature of the emergency.
With RapidSOS, third-party data collected by smartphones, connected cars, wearables, and other connected devices will flow through Motorola Solutions’ emergency response systems, from 911 call-takers and dispatchers to police officers and emergency medical personnel in the field, creating end-to-end emergency data connectivity.
"We believe in technology that gets the right information to the right person, at the right time and in the right way," said Eduardo Conrado, executive vice president, Strategy & Innovation Office, Motorola Solutions. "Our work with RapidSOS adds a new dimension to our software solutions for the command center, enabling critical information to be shared with the people who need it most."
RapidSOS’ technology takes in information from any properly credentialed connected device and transmits it in a way that is compatible with existing 911 and emergency response systems. It can transmit data related to voice, location, multimedia including photos and videos from scene, type of emergency, medical and demographic data, real-time health information from wearables (heart rate, blood oxygen level, glucose) and vehicle telematics (airbag deployment, occupancy, speed before impact).
Data delivered by RapidSOS will be available as modules across Motorola Solutions’ command center software solutions, allowing PSAP personnel and first responders to choose the data they want, including wireless location, multimedia or health information.
“RapidSOS has advanced information about users in an emergency, and working with Motorola Solutions makes all of this rich data actionable,” said Michael Martin, chief executive officer, RapidSOS. “Our combined efforts provide the public safety community with the option for what, when, and how data is conveyed to them in an emergency to save lives.”
This relationship enhances Motorola Solutions’ portfolio of Smart Public Safety Solutions, which enables public safety agencies to turn data into intelligence.
About Motorola Solutions
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Posted: Jan 18, 2017
The Woodstock Fire Department is raising money for a ladder truck to replace their current one. The bulk of the cost for the new truck, which carries a total cost of around $900,000, will be paid for by a FEMA grant from last summer.
However, the department is still in need of $120,000 — which includes the price of training for members.
A recent $2,000 from Walmart kicked off the fundraising effort.
The truck, which will be shipped from Nebraska, will be specifically designed for the Woodstock department.
"The commercial [trucks] don't always match well with the needs of a fire department like ours, where we get a lot of calls and go big distances," said member Zach Hottel. "In order for us to call it efficient and for the truck to last a long time, we do have the units custom built."
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Posted: Jan 18, 2017
Oak Creek - The city is looking to replace one of their 20-year old fire engines with a new one set to cost around $575,000. The city's common council approved entering into a contract up to that amount for a new Pierce fire engine to replace their current '96 reserve fire engine.
The department has four total fire engines – one frontline engine for each of the three stations and one reserve. One of the current frontline engines will be moved to the reserve position and be replaced with the new engine.
While details haven't been finalized as of yet, the city chose to move forward with the contract because they were under a time crunch according to Fire Chief Tom Rosandich.
Rosandich said he wanted to stay within the budget and Pierce is planning a three-percent price increase. He said if the contract was signed by Feb. 1 they don't get a price increase. Rosandich said there is a chance it could come in cheaper than the approved $575,000 cost which was included in the 2017 budget.
The '96 engine will be taken to auction where Rosandich estimates the city could get around $20,000 for it.
The city is still finalizing all the engine components as all engines are custom created, according to Rosandich.
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Posted: Jan 18, 2017
The Wichita Falls Fire Department has several older trucks in it's fleet, something that got the attention of the city council.
On Tuesday, members approved spending over $2.5 million dollars on new trucks.
WFFD has four trucks over 20-years-old and one over 30.
That is why council members agreed to spending the money on a ladder truck, squad vehicle and three pumpers.
Jon Reese, Wichita Falls Fire Chief, said it had to be done.
"The biggest thing is that some of the equipment is non-compliant with the new N.F.P.A. standards, which requires firefighters to be in a fully enclosed cab," Chief Reese said. "There's a lot of safety upgrades that we see in new technology with the new equipment. When you see the trucks running down the road, they look like they are new, but they are really running 20 to 30-year-old equipment."
Darron Leiker, City Manager of Wichita Falls, said the city has money allocated for these type of purchases.
"We plan for that in advance," Leiker said. "We have a capitol improvement plan for all of our equipment, including our fire equipment."
Leiker said the city actually avoided a three percent price hike by buying the trucks now, rather than in the spring.
Chief Reese believes the top of the line equipment will save lives.
"When we get an alarm, we want to go out there and start the starter, the truck or engine to transport the firefighters safely to the scene," Chief Reese said. "That's a huge part of our job when we look at minutes and seconds of response time."
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