LOCATE ITRACK IEXTRACT
`
`WIRELESS MESH NETWORKING ALLOWS COMMANDERS
`TO KEEP TRACK OF FIREFIGHTERS AT AN INCIDENT SCENE .
`
`BY RICK ROTONDO
`
`two-alarm fire in a large multistory building
`begins to escalate out of control. As the
`blaze involves the lower floors of the build(cid:173)
`ing, an evacuation order is given . A team of
`three firefighters in the southwest sector of
`the second story is unresponsive to the order; possibly
`heavy radio traffic , interference from the building struc(cid:173)
`ture, or injury to the team itself caused the order or
`response to be missed . The battalion chief directs a rapid
`intervention crew (RIC) to the last-known location of the
`missing team . The search party proceeds to the second
`floor, but heavy smoke and fanning flames prevent them
`from finding the missing team in time.
`This is the nightmare scenario for any fire department:
`having down or lost firefighters who cannot be quickly locat(cid:173)
`ed and rescued. According to a recent report by the National
`Fire Protection Association (NFPA), deaths resulting from
`
`Built-In Mesh Networking Infrastructure
`
`Pre-installed wireless routers in the stairwells, working in
`concert with personnel-deployed "breadcrumbs" (in purple),
`track and locate firefighters. Information is relayed toano er
`firefighter on a lower floor and to the incident commander,
`located outside.
`
`® 72 March 2004 Public Safety Report
`
`individuals being trapped or caught in a fire accounted for
`more than 25 percent of all firefighter fatalities in 2002 .
`In an effort to prevent this type of scenario, the Orange
`County Fire and Rescue Department (OCFRD) of Orange
`County, Fla. , is testing location and tracking technology
`from MeshNetworks. The department's overall goal is to
`incorporate this wireless networking and location techno],
`gy in an incident command standard to track, monitor, an
`rapidly locate firefighters. As Bill Godfrey, OCFRD deputy
`chief, explains, "Sometimes things go wrong. When they
`do, knowing the exact location of firefighters in a building
`is the difference between going home to family, or not. "
`
`The Current Situation
`Incident management -
`the ability to account for the
`whereabouts and well-being of first responders at an inci·
`dent scene -
`is a major concern for fire departments in
`the United States and abroad. Most fire departments use
`dry-erase or magnetic status boards as their primary inci(cid:173)
`dent management tool. As units enter and are engaged at
`the incident, a commander logs them on the board to bot
`acknowledge their presence, and as best as possible, tracl
`their movements. Unfortunately, tracking boards are base
`largely on partial and/or out-of-date pieces of informatior
`In rapidly changing situations, commanders are often
`faced with incomplete or poor situational awareness. For
`example, a commander may order a team to move from
`one area to another. The unit acknowledges the order an1
`the commander rewrites their position on the board, ne'
`knowing if the unit actually makes it there.
`Today, when a firefighter is unaccounted for, an RIC i
`sent in to conduct a search using the appropriate standan
`operating procedure (SOP). Traditional building SOP sea1
`tactics, such as "reach and sweep" and "the right-hand
`search" (an RIC team feels for personnel while keeping th
`right hands on the wall for bearing), are time-consuming
`multiroom and multistory structures. And while thermal·
`imal!ing cameras can certainly help shorten the tim e neec
`to locate nearby personnel through smoke and light debr
`these devices are typically useful only once the RIC is in 1
`same room a the downed firefighter.
`
`Improving Accountability and Response
`.1.esh. ·erworks' Positioning System (MPS) offers inciden
`mana ers and RlCs an alternative set of tools and tech(cid:173)
`nolo ·es w loo , track, and locate firefighters at an incide
`The 5) tern consists of several components that wor~
`
`www. mccma g .
`
`Google 1023
`U.S. Patent No. 9,445,251
`
`

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`Personnel Tracking Application
`
`/
`
`Fire truck-mounted wireless routers and a tripod-mounted
`"position" router penetrate the building to track/locate a firelighter
`on the second floor. Data is sent to the incident commander.
`
`together, so it can be scaled to meet the needs of any size
`response. The first component is a small battery-powered
`wireless device carried by, or incorporated into, a firefight(cid:173)
`er's personal accountability system (PAS). The second, the
`MPS tracking and mapping application, runs on the inci(cid:173)
`dent commander's laptop. The final components consist of
`wireless routers that are deployed around the perimeter of
`the building, anc!Jor small battery-powered units called
`"breadcrumb routers" that can be dropped by firefighters
`as they move throughout an incident. These wireless
`routers create an ad hoc, yet robust wireless communica(cid:173)
`tions and tracking network.
`The system's technology determines the location of a
`first responder by combining time-of-flight measurements,
`three-dimensional triangulation, and mathematical filter(cid:173)
`ing and prediction techniques. The various wireless
`routers determine the relative position of each firefighter
`and transmit the information back to the command com(cid:173)
`puter in real time. Measurements from multiple wireless
`routers are fed into the MPS algorithm to determine a
`three-dimensional location of the target(s). Depending on
`the deployment, the position may be displayed relative to·
`the local wireless routers' coordinate system (x, y, floor) or
`in absolute terms (longitude, latitude, and height in meters
`or feet). Either of these display methods can be overlaid on
`a satellite image or building diagram.
`As personnel arrive on the scene , they are immedi(cid:173)
`ately identified and logged into the incident command
`computer's MPS system using automatic device discov(cid:173)
`ery and self-forming network mechanisms. Wireless
`routers or breadcrumbs can be deployed immediately or
`during any part of the incident response, up to and
`including the RIC deployment. Once the MPS system is
`deployed, incident commanders can determine and
`track the location of each firefighter in real time.
`l abeled icons are mapped to a coordinate grid dis(cid:173)
`played on the commander's (and backup) computer.
`The commander can also track the movements of the
`RIC team and guide them via voice radio, or the RIC
`team can carry a small handheld computer and guide
`themselves toward their target. Simply put, MPS enables
`
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`downed personnel to be quickly identified , located, and
`extracted from dangerous situations.
`
`Location Accuracy
`Before deploying MPS for live incident responses, Orange
`County Fire and Rescue wanted to conduct an extensive
`evaluation at their training grounds. The OCFRD estab(cid:173)
`lished that the minimum level of location accuracy
`required is 10 meters, which would pinpoint the target to
`within about a room of an individual's actual position. The
`OCFRD surmised that if an RIC could be rapidly directed
`to within 10 meters of their target, the PAS alarm or ther(cid:173)
`mal-imaging camera would get them the rest of the way.
`The tests were conducted in three types of environ(cid:173)
`ments: an open-air park with no obstructions, the Fire
`Academy's collapsed building simulator, and the Fire
`Academy's burn building.
`In each scenario, wireless routers were positioned
`around the perimeter of the test area, and MPS location
`data was recorded and later compared to the actual loca(cid:173)
`tion of the firefighters' positions. When the results were in,
`the OCFRD found that the positioning system could locate
`a firefighter in most environmental conditions within
`seven meters, well under the 10-meter accuracy goal.
`
`Incident Communications and Management
`In addition to location determination, wireless routers also
`act as radio relay/repeaters, so position and other data can be
`communicated over a wide area and fi·om deep within a
`structure. While OCFRD is primarily planning to use Mesh(cid:173)
`Networks technology for location determination to assist in
`search and rescue, the same system also creates a robust
`high-speed wireless network that can be used to carry high(cid:173)
`speed voice, video, and data. Patented mobile ad hoc net(cid:173)
`working technology creates instant and self-healing broad(cid:173)
`band radio links between firefighters, breadcrumbs, wireless
`routers, and other mesh-enabled devices. First responders
`can quickly deploy a tactical mesh network throughout the
`incident or structure. No existing radio infrastructure is nec(cid:173)
`essary, since they create the network as they go. Newly devel(cid:173)
`oped products, however, such as exit signs with built-in
`wireless routers, will allow MPS and its integrated broadband
`communications system to be predeployed in any building.
`Exciting new technologies are being introduced that
`will radically improve incident management and first
`responder safety. Today, ad hoc networking and location
`solutions appear to offer tangible and deployable benefits.
`By working closely vvith local and state agencies, the devel(cid:173)
`opment time for SOPs and product features have been sig(cid:173)
`nificantly shortened. This is good news for first responders
`as it will help improve their safety, and ultimately ensure
`everyone gets to "go home to family. " •
`
`Rick Rotondo is vice president of technical marketing at
`MeshNetworks. Contact him at rrotondo@meshnetworks.com.
`
`l8
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