Over the last several months we've been inundated by news of major emergencies around our country and beyond. Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey have been the most prominent progeny of the Atlantic hurricane assembly line and they left total disaster in their wake. Regrettably, many large-scale emergency situations are not the results of natural events but are created by the actions of people. Over and over again, we see tragedies unfold in small towns and large cities alike with the continuing epidemic of active shooter incidents.

Topics: Fire Command, incident management software, Rapid Accountability, Electronic Command Board

Since Sunday, the Tablet Command team has been watching for updates and had a difficult time locating maps that displayed the hotspots of the fire and active fire perimeters. We found that the information on other maps was not complete or useful. We decided to make our own with one of the great tools that we use frequently.


Esri provides some excellent tools and one of those tools, ArcGIS Online is used by Tablet Command to support our customers access to agency GIS information. ArcGIS Online is a great way for any agency to create custom web maps with dynamic data within a matter of minutes. We created this web map with Esri ArcGIS Online in about 20 minutes. We have been using it so much that we decided that we should share it with everyone.

Topics: Esri, Fire, Fire Command, incident command, incident management software, maps, Tablet Command

One of the most frequent comments we hear about Tablet Command is how simple and easy it is to use. We often hear this as a first reaction from prospective customers after an initial demo of Tablet Command, which is great. But when we hear it from veteran BCs using it 

Topics: fireground accountability, simplicity, tablet command demo

I love the variety of experiences I have every day as a firefighter. The constant stimulus suits my ADHD personality. On any given day, I could be involved ina house fire, a rope rescue, a wildfire, a terrorist attack (God forbid), or a major earthquake. We train for all of it—in fact, training is the one constant—and there’s instant gratification and constant motion all the time. Hurray dopamine!

Starting a business provides some of the same types of stimulus. It’s an adventure into

Topics: mobile incident software, startup, Tablet Command

If you’ve been thinking of deploying incident management software in your department, here are six key questions you need to consider before making the leap:

1. Is it mobile? 

Having the ability to track an incident from the very first seconds of dispatch from ALL of your devices is key to faster response times and higher situational awareness not just for the IC but for everyone in the department.

2. Does it automate my existing processes?

Topics: Blog, Esri Fire, fireground accountability, ICS, incident command, incident management software, iPad, iPad Pro, Tablet Command

Some incidents are just worse than others.

When a high-speed train leaves the rails or a tornado rips the roof off the school gym, first responders face the confusion of a complicated incident scene. How many dead? Who is alive? Which of the living needs our help first?

Incidents like these require a different sort of response.

Topics: Blog, ICS, mass casualty, MCI, simplicity

 

Topics: beetle kill, mega fire, Blog, climate change, forest fire, ICS, standing dead, wildland

Topics: Accountability, AVL, Blog, ICS, map, maps, situational awareness

It continues to be VERY busy at work these days. I responded to 7 legitimate working fires for the month of May. And three of those have been two alarm fires. It’s been a really crazy run!

Topics: Accountability, analytics, Apple, Fire ground accountability, Firefighter Assist and Search Team, best practices, Blog, Blue Card, consistency, Fire Command, firefighter, IC, ICS, incident command, iPad, Rapid Accountability, Rapid Intervention Crew, RIC, Tablet Command, training, vision

Topics: Accountability, analytics, Apple, best practices, consistency, Esri, Fire, Fire Command, firefighter, IC, ICS, incident command, iPad, iPad Pro, Tablet Command, tradition, Uncategorized