As we wrap up 2016, it's important to take a look at things that are going to have a significant impact on 2017. By exploring these trends now, it's more likely that you'll be able to capitalize on them and create a more productive year for your department and all of the people involved within your jurisdiction. The Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data are accelerating the pace of progress in Public Safety just like every other aspect of our lives. And the must-discuss item that will underpin all of the trends we discuss in Public Safety Technology for 2017 is FirstNet. The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) network will begin to emerge this year. The bidding is over, the paperwork and the lawyers are finishing up. Time to get down to business: providing emergency responders with the first nationwide, high-speed, broadband network dedicated to public safety.
5 Trends to Focus On in 2017
Dec 29, 2016 10:28:47 AM / by David Blankinship posted in Planning
Treat Your Information Like You're in a Firefight.
Sep 30, 2016 2:52:04 PM / by David Blankinship posted in SituationAnalyst, Planning, Fire Service Data, success, Analysis
Hate to break it to you, but fixing the IT problem is up to you, not to the young successors that you will promote next.
People talk about data, information, and analysis all the time. As a fire chief you have to listen, but you may not always feel comfortable with what you’re hearing. You tend to think about how hard it is to analyze data or how little control you have over the vast majority of it. Not to mention that the systems that hold this data (think CAD, Records Management, EPCR) live in other organizations like police departments and communication centers. Let’s face it, the information you need is not only hard to comprehend, but also hard to obtain.
I can teach you fire pre-planning in less than 5 minutes.
Mar 9, 2016 5:18:49 PM / by David Blankinship posted in Pre-incident plans, Planning, Preplans
Pre-fire Planning is Easy Now
You've been talking about what a pain fire pre-planning is for forever. Time's up. Thanks to mobile and all that "cloud computing stuff", it's a snap.
In fact, I think it's so easy that if you are capable of checking the weather on your smart phone, you can master pre-planning.
Here's all you need to know:
- Step 1: Pull your phone out of your pocket.
- Step 2: Walk around the building and map it with your crew.
- Step 3: Go have lunch.
We're up and running at Super Bowl 50
Feb 5, 2016 3:39:15 PM / by David Blankinship posted in Pre-incident plans, Planning, Preplans, Mapping, Super Bowl, SB50
Life in the Super Bowl Command Post
It's been a fun week at work! All the hard work of the past few months building up a Special Events app for Super Bowl 50 first responders has paid off. This week, we're helping them manage all the events and incidents that come with an event like SB50.
Using whatever device they have (phone, tablet, laptop), a responder can not only see where all the 'routine' incidents and responders are in real time, they can see managed response decisions, see data about incidents, access geoanalytics to help allocate resources, and communicate via maps about the special events that are ongoing this week.
Colorado Sends Intterra and Peyton to the Super Bowl
Jan 26, 2016 1:06:52 PM / by David Blankinship posted in Planning, Mapping
It's official:
This year's Super Bowl will be heavily influenced by Colorado - the Broncos featuring legendary QB Peyton Manning and SITUATIONANALYST by Intterra. Will the Bronco's win? Well, that's a completely different blog post.... Will the regional First Responders have hi-def situational awareness with all thier systems tied together - that we do know about.
Intterra and Santa Clara County Fire created the regional situational awareness platform for SB50. It ties together all departments, event and venue planning, and tracking systems to create a complete picture of all of the events related to SB50 + every 911 call and unit in the region.
Here are some highlights:
- Situational Awareness for all special events, parties, practice fields and venues.
- Integrated tracking of all Public Safety cooperators and regional 911 incidents (live).
- A Special Events planning framework that integrates information for ALL phases of the events.