Kildare County Fire Service adopts mobile technology to support decision making and incident control

Download

BACKGROUND

  • Kildare County Fire Service covers a population of 210,000 citizens
  • They have just over 100 employees
  • Spread over 6 fire stations located in Newbridge, Naas, Athy, Maynooth, Monastervin and Leixlip
  • They operate a retained brigade providing a 24hr response service
  • Kildare is a busy county with a large motorway infrastructure and industrial presence
  • In 2015 Kildare responded to 1760 incidents

CHALLENGES

  • The traditional approaches they were using for incident command such as Incident Command Boards and Vehicle Mounted Data Systems were restrictive, non-intuitive and inaccessible
  • Traditional methods of whiteboards, paper-based systems and VMDSs took incident commanders and teams away from the fire ground and into vehicles
  • Fire fighters were sometimes reluctant to access the information and only occasionally used the resources available as the system was ‘clunky’ and not user friendly

SOLUTION

  • Kildare County Fire Service has successfully implemented ICR: Fire & Rescue™, a mobile Application to improve access to information, mobility and reporting of incidents.
  • “Kildare County Fire Service would recommend ICR™ as an effective tool to manage and report on incidents. It supports the Incident Command System which we see as the backbone of our on scene safety system. It has become a very useful tool, pushing incident information to the relevant person so we can deal with incidents in the most effective way. By migrating our legacy VMDS to an app-based solution, we have been able to increase access to information at the scene of incidents, as well as improving our reporting procedures, in real-time and post-incident.” Celina Barrett, Chief Fire Officer, Kildare County Fire Service

Realising the Benefits

  • Mobility and accessibility

    Information has been moved from the vehicle, closer to the incident ground and into the hands of the incident commander. Handheld devices are more accessible and user friendly. As a result, interaction with them is more frequent, intuitive and consistent.

  • Making jobs easier and safer

    Officers can easily refer to standard operating guidelines (SOGs) through the app. The instant access to a library of information supports the decision making process when handling more unusual incidents, as well as helping to achieve compliance with procedures.

  • Response consistency

    ICR helps to deliver consistency around the application of the National Incident Command System. You are prompted to record sectorisation, operational priorities, personnel on the fire ground and whether you need to request other services. The app supports that formalised structure.

  • Improved communication

    The incident commander and command support officer are now better informed, with the ability to access information at the click of a button. Remote access means that officers at the station can access up to date incident progress, as well as photographs directly from the scene.

  • More frequent progress updates

    App prompts alert the support officer to select a tactical mode. Throughout the incident, these prompts ensure more accurate information and updates are fed back to the control room at frequent intervals.

  • Rich record of events

    Automatic time stamping helps map out the workflow of the incident, giving more accurate and complete information, should a review be necessary. Supporting images in context enable a much richer record of events.

  • Informative resource

    ICR acts as a rich resource and information hub that can be accessed on the fire ground. Having access to user manuals, databases and plans at the scene of an incident is invaluable.

  • Continuous improvement and training

    The information captured provides valuable training material, especially when unusual incidents occur and lessons are learned.

  • Cost savings

    Android tablets are relatively inexpensive compared to the rugged laptops that the fire service needed to maintain. Instead, the incident commanders have Samsung mobile devices with protective cases on their person at the fire ground.

Latest Blogs: