Next-Generation Public Safety

The next-generation fire suit could have a multitude of technological features.

Manuel Navarro has a relatively simple request. He would just like to know: Where is everybody?

“For years we’ve talked about knowing precisely where our firefighters are within an incident, and no one has come up with the best way to do that,” said Navarro, a division chief in the Menlo Park, Calif., fire department. He also serves on the technology council of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. “We go on the radio and say, ‘Do you have all your people?’ But we don’t know where those people are. They may not know it themselves. For us, that is a massive safety issue.”

For years technology has been promising to fix the issue but, like many in the first responder community, Navarro has been less than impressed. “Just about every firefighter has an iPad,” he said. “But if I get to an active incident and you have your nose down in the computer not watching what is going on, I’m going to be talking to you later. You aren’t there to take pictures and take notes.”

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