How Firefighters Can Benefit from GPS Fleet Tracking
30 Dec 2015GPS fleet tracking offers many potential benefits to firefighters as they fight fires of all shapes and sizes. Some of the benefits are more obvious than other, but all of them work together to help firefighters save lives and properties from devastating flames.
Create More Accurate Images of Forest and Wildfires
Forest and wildfires are often particularly devastating because of the inability to know exactly where the flames are reaching. The traditional method has been to use flyovers to create a sketched map of the flames. The problem with this method is multi-faceted. First, sketches aren’t exactly pinpoint accurate. Second, smoke obscures things and helicopters above are often unable to get a clear picture of where the fire actually is.
Enter GPS fleet tracking. Trackers on the ground are used by satellites in order to create an accurate image. This allows firefighters to see the exact size and location of the fire so they can create accurate plans to combat the fire. This can save lives of firefighters and help create more accurate evacuation routes for area residents – saving the lives more civilians too.
Reduce Dispatch Response and Travel Time
When it comes to fighting fires and saving lives, seconds matter. GPS assisted dispatch helps to reduce the amount of time it takes to notify the proper station(s) so that help can start rolling out faster. The GPS fleet tracking ability to locate the fastest routes and bypass traffic, can greatly reduce the travel time for responding trucks.
The end result is that more property can be saved and more lives. This is good news for the people who live in the homes, as well as their pets and possessions and the companies who insure the homes as it can help to avoid fewer total losses.
GPS Maps are Updated more Frequently than Standard Maps
With the constant expansion of larger and mid-sized cities throughout the country, what was a corn field yesterday may be a housing subdivision or shopping center today. Having access to the most up-to-date mapping information is critical in order to respond to fires in a timely manner. It is simply impossible to keep up with the changes as they are happening with paper maps used in the past.
GPS Tracking is often Used to Document Lightning Strikes as Likely Points of Origin
Another thing to keep in mind with forest and wildfires is that lightning is often an originating factor. Lightning can cause fires in the middle of the forest and GPS can track the strikes. This helps firefighters respond faster allowing them the opportunity to reach the fires before they’re raging out of control.
GPS fleet tracking may not be the solution for all the problems firefighters commonly face on the job. But, when used wisely, it can reduce response times, provide more accurate images of the fire, aid in addressing the fire, and keep up with the growth of cities, large and small, so that firefighters have a fighting chance.
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