Florian exPress periodical – October 2007
Apart from being a useful tool for assisting those in
trouble, the EDR can save the life of firemen as
well
Vehicle tracking, alarm signaling and fire plug
database in one system
In addition to bringing up-to-date the applied radio
communications facilities, the EDR will significantly
improve the daily work of fireguards due to its
numerous advantages and the services offered. New
solutions – such as the vehicle tracking system
which makes faster the mobilization of fire brigades
and gives a more up-to-date tool for the control of
cars involved in the action – will be available
for assisting the disaster management staff. Due to the
special data storage and data display facilities
– for example the presentation of the extremely
important fire plug database on maps – the
firefighters can become acquainted with new solutions
that have previously been known only by a restricted
range of users. The mobile operation control service
offered by EDR also brings progress as regards the
commanding and efficiency of actions.
The police, including Budapest Police Headquarters,
have been using the network with success since August
2006, while the Disaster Management area and the
National Ambulance Service began to test the system,
the services provided and the sets (terminals) applied
not long ago.
The Pro-Mobile Vehicle and Radio Terminal Tracking
system (formerly called AVL /Automatic Vehicle
Location/) is one of the most important EDR services
which may facilitate the everyday work of fire
brigades. The system will bring about qualitative
improvement as regards the dispatching of those in
charge to cases of fire, the central control, the
planning of actions and the cooperation with other
public safety (emergency) organizations. For the time
being 51 radio terminals are used by the National
Disaster Management for testing purposes, from which 3
dispatcher users have been included in the vehicle
tracking system.
The essential feature of the vehicle tracking system is
that the location of cars into which the devices
equipped with GPS function have been built can be
identified at the central workstations of fire
brigades, based on the received position information.
The system is capable of tracking simultaneously
several fire engines on the map interface. When
accidents or fires are reported the dispatcher is able
to localize the site in question on the basis of the
address and/or co-ordinates. The moving radio terminals
and the stationary ones send reports to the center at a
frequency of 20 seconds and 10 minutes respectively for
making possible the tracking of their position.
It is well-known that the success of the work performed
by the fire brigades and the outcome of fire cases
depend to a great extent on the fastness of the alarm.
The vehicle tracking service assists the firefighters
first of all in giving alarm and in organizing the
dispatching to the given site. By monitoring the status
signals the dispatcher station always knows where and
which vehicles can be deployed the most rapidly for the
current action. In case of actions the radio terminals
send location and status information every 5 seconds;
moreover, the system is able to display and register
the status of the siren as well.
Considering that the fire-fighter staff often gets into
life-threatening situation, the emergency call function
of the radio is an essential capability for them. By
pressing continuously the alarm signal button the user
in trouble may request help from the dispatcher or from
a person designated in advance. Apart from the fact
that the incoming message can be heard at the
dispatcher station and on the radio unit of the
designated person, the exact whereabouts of the
colleague who got into trouble can also be identified
on the map of the vehicle tracking system.
There may be cases where the subsequent evaluation of a
particular action, including the arrival and current
location of vehicles, the application of specific
signals, etc. is required. The Pro-Mobile Vehicle
Tracking system will record in the database and archive
all incoming information. The persons authorized to do
so can query these data during 45 days which helps to a
great extent the subsequent evaluation of cases.
The vehicle tracking system makes possible the unified
localization of the monitored vehicles all over the
country therefore dispatching from rural organizations
will cause no problems either in the future. As a
result of the uniform map interface the dispatcher
station of all emergency bodies can see the same map,
consequently the cooperation with the ambulance service
and the police will also become much more effective.
We are ready to give further information, if
requested; questions are to be sent to the address
info@pro-m.hu.
