Implementing Communications and Information Dissemination Technologies for First Responders

Despite technological advances in voice communications for disaster response, firefighter fatalities continue. This highlights the inadequacies of current communication between incident commanders and those in the fireground. Through its Major Fires Investigation Project, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) repeatedly cites inadequate communication systems as a contributing factor in first responder, rescue worker, and civilian casualties. Hence, emergency Response Communication and Information Technology must be improved. Santa Clara University's Frugal Innovation Hub (FIH) has undertaken the development of a minimum viable product (MVP) that includes a novel set of mobile applications and mobile hardware devices suitable for firefighters during emergency responses. This work is an evolution of earlier research conducted by principals of IncidentAid, P.B.C. While the long-term vision for IncidentAid has been to provide software and services that cover the entire lifecyle of disaster management, one of it's immediate efforts have been to improve communications and information solutions that reach the individual first responder. FIH's prototype is an effort towards the actualization of this IncidentAid's immediate effort.