Northern Lakes Fire District Maintains 100% Accountability, Improves .

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SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTNorthern Lakes FireDistrict Maintains 100%Accountability, ImprovesFirefighter Safety on SceneXSLATE R12 rugged tablets exclusively power NorthAmerica’s first digital incident command, fire rostersolutionSUMMARYCustomerNorthern Lakes Fire DistrictIdaho, United StatesThe Northern Lakes Fire District provides an all-hazards responseto the greater Hayden, Rathdrum, and Twin Lakes areas in KootenaiCounty, located in gorgeous North Idaho. The district is comprisedof approximately 106 square miles of lakes, mountains, prairies andgrowing cities with a population of more than 42,000 residents. Thiscombination fire and rescue department is comprised of thirty-sixcareer firefighters, ten volunteers, three Chief Officers, a Fire Marshaland Deputy Fire Marshal, and three administrative support staff. Inaddition, all of the departments firefighters are certified EMTs, includingtwelve paramedics. Northern Lakes Fire staffs two fire engines and twoadvanced life support (ALS) ambulances with career staff that respondto more than 4,600 emergency calls annually from two strategicallylocated fire stations. These stations are staffed 24/7/365.ChallengePartnerBattalion SoftwareIndustryPublic Safety – Fire and Rescue/EMSChallengeBattalion Commanders Neededa More Reliable Way to TrackFirefighters, Other FirstResponders on SceneSolutionBATT3 Incident Command andFire Roster Software Poweredby Xplore XSLATE R12 RuggedTabletResultsFire chiefs finally find aneffective way to keep allfire ground personnel safe,especially during dangerous andprolonged emergency responseeffortsBattalion commanders needed a more reliable way totrack firefighters, other first responders on sceneFor nearly 200 years, North American firefighters have been using pen,paper, dry erase boards and other similar “manual” methods to tracktheir crews’ movements during calls. Passport tags, created about 20years ago with the goal of improving accountability efforts, often proveunreliable. The Velcro uniform attachments are known to fall off, andsome crew members simply forget to stop at the command center todrop them off before entering onto the scene. Plus, some commandcenter officials admit the tags can get lost in the midst of emergencyresponse efforts.“Even the most organized incident commanders find it time consumingand tedious to cross-reference and manage these Passport tagsalongside their dry erase board rosters,” explained John Morrison, firechief and co-founder of Battalion 3 Technologies (BATT3). “There havebeen many times when Incident Commanders didn’t even know whenpeople were on scene. This old way of handling firefighter accountabilityand tracking is potentially dangerous.”

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTPlus, manual accountability measures make it very difficult to complywith NFPA requirements for firefighter rehab during emergencies andtraining.That is why his agency, the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, along withtwo other fire and rescue agencies in his county – Northern Lakes FireProtection District and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue – were eagerto find a better solution. Morrison, along with CEO Lee Holbrook andCTO Brandon Russell, founded BATT3 in 2011 and began developingthe first all-digital command, control and accountability solution foremergency response.“We wanted to develop a solution that we, as working firefighters,would use. We didn’t just need a better mouse trap. We neededsomething that could be trusted to protect our crews at all times,without draining our resources even further. We wanted to reducethe risk of oversights that were common with our current methods.During our extensive research efforts, we found that a technologybased solution was the best way to finally solve the very seriousaccountability and, thus, safety problems faced by fire grounds aroundthe world.”SolutionBATT3 incident command and fire roster softwarepowered by Xplore XSLATE R12 rugged tabletsBy 2011 the BATT3 Incident Command (ICx) software had been fullyintegrated and field tested on the Xplore R12 rugged tablet PC, theonly large-screen mobile computer that was lightweight enough totake out of the Battalion Chief’s vehicle andonto the scene for long periods of time. Itwas also the only HazLoc-certified (C1D2/ATEX), water resistant and dustproof mobiledevice that had a bright enough touch screendisplay for frequent pen, finger and evengloved-finger data interactions with theBATT3 software.“It was very risky to develop a technologybased system for asset tracking and incidentmanagement,” Morrison explained. “Many firechiefs don’t believe in using technology in thecommand center. They don’t need anythingthat can disrupt or hinder time-sensitiveoperations, especially technology failures.So, we had to ensure the tablet we chose was2zebra technologies“The Windows -basedXplore R12 was the onlyrugged computer in the 12”category that fit all of thatcriteria. Even today, theXplore XSLATE R12 remainsthe only large touchscreentablet that consistentlyexceeds emergencyresponse agencies’ strictperformance standards.”John MorrisonFire Chief & Co-founder,Battalion 3 Technologies

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTfast, reliable and flexible enough to supportour ongoing software refinement. Fire andrescue agencies don’t have the luxury oftrying to methods – or technology systems –every year or two. If they were going to investin our solution, they needed to be confidentthat it would operate to their standards, andinterop with their respective jurisdiction’sother IT systems, for many years.”“Of course, we also had to be confident thatit was truly rugged to the core and safe to usearound explosives, gasses and other commonhazards it would be exposed to in the field,”Morrison continued. “The Windows -basedXplore R12 was the only rugged computerin the 12” category that fit all of that criteria.Even today, the Xplore XSLATE R12 remainsthe only large touchscreen tablet thatconsistently exceeds emergency responseagencies’ strict performance standards.”Northern Lakes Fire District was one ofthe first agencies approached by BATT3to deploy the technology-based system.The mobile computer, which is deployedin the Battalion Chief’s vehicle for IncidentCommand, also powers Fire Roster softwareand the integrated Spillman Technologiescomputer-aided dispatch (CAD) solution.“Our firefighter accountability capabilitieshave improved significantly in the last fewyears. As has our ability to maintain insightinto all activities, assign our resources moreefficiently and effectively coordinate withpartner agencies,” noted Northern Lakes FireDistrict Chief Pat Riley.When the BATT3 ICx software is in “fireattack” mode, there is a green indicator thatlights up on the Xplore’ tablet’s sunlightviewable 12.5” display to show which engineis on scene. The ICx Incident Commandsolution also ties in with the web-basedBATT3 FireRoster staffing program to showwhich people specifically are currentlyassigned to that engine and actually onscene.3zebra technologies“With the tablet, we can easily keep track of20-30 resources. My battalion commandercan see and update each of the assignmentson the one tablet display, no matter where heor she is on scene,” Riley continued.With the BATT3 ICx program, real people’snames go into the unit and scene rostercolumns. Crews are no longer referred to asnumbers, and they no longer have to dropPassport tags at the command post beforeheading into the scene. The tablet-basedsolution also enables commanders to seehow long each asset has been in its currentlocation, which is key to tracking firefighters’rehab and active time history – in real time– to ensure compliance with NFPA 1854standard.In short, the Xplore-BATT3 solution minimizesthe risk of firefighter mayday. Every time afirefighter is dispatched from the commandcenter, the ICx software’s clock is turnedon and the indicator next to their nameturns green – similar to how the unit/enginetracker works. After 10 minutes, each crewmember’s indicator will turn yellow and canautomatically trigger a roll call. The commandcenter can then call back personnel asdeemed necessary using the integratedSpillman CAD program, which eliminates thepreviously time-consuming manual call-backmethod.“You know immediately if someone hasbeen in action too long, or if they’re notresponding,” explained Morrison. “The tabletbased BATT3 software does not leave anyroom for oversight, and it drastically improvessafety. Battalion Chiefs have the tools totake immediate action once they identifya potential safety issue with even a singlemember of their crew.”Chief Riley agrees: “This automaticnotification built into the tablet-basedsolution can literally save lives by preventingburnout, exhaustion and oversight. It finally

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTenables us maintain that frequent role call cadence for accountability.No other current tech or system can do this, not even the Passporttags.”Plus, the rugged tablet solution generates a digital incident log,automatically recording every action taken in the BATT3 ICx andFireRoster programs and making it readily accessible should anincident review or investigation need to occur at a later date. These“save”-triggered screenshots of the crew member’s name, unitnumber, and progress against the timer improve the quality of incidentaudits. They also give fire chiefs the insights needed to improvetraining and adjust best practices for future calls.“Not only do we now have constant visibility into all actions takenbefore and during calls, but we also have a better record of incidentsso that we can evaluate our performance after calls and fine-tuneour strategy for future incidents to increase our success rates,” Rileycontinued.ResultsFire chiefs finally find an effective way to keep all fireground personnel safe, especially during dangerousand prolonged emergency response effortsFire chiefs and battalion commanders around the world citecommunications breakdowns as the number one cause of accidents/incidents during response. They aren’t using the Xplore rugged tabletbased BATT3 solution, though.Chief Riley observed immediate improvements in the flow of his crew’sresponse actions once they started using the ICx tracking systemrunning on the Intel -powered Xplore XSLATE R12 rugged tabletcomputer.“Simply by virtue of listening to calls over the radio, I could tell thatmissions were running much more smoothly than before we deployedthe tablet-based solution,” Riley explained. “Mission requirements arefilled much sooner than before due to the increased communicationstaking place using real-time, and accurate, information derived fromthe tablet. Directions being given by the Battalion Commander areclear and even assignments are easier to plan and manage thanks tothe integrated Fire Roster program.”Chief Riley added that he finds himself much “more informed from aremote position” while his Battalion Chiefs much more in control.Plus, both the Northern Lakes Fire District and the Coeur d’ AleneFire Department have also benefited from the tablet’s fluidity of4zebra technologies

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTinformation transfers when they’re working with a mutual aid companyon incident response – which is common in Kootenai County as well asneighboring jurisdictions. If another unit’s Battalion Chief is on scenefirst, he or she can set up the response using the ICx-equipped tabletand then handover to the leading agency’s Battalion Chief upon arrivalwithout any worry about miscommunication. If it weren’t for the highlymobile computing system, crews would have to rely on the dry eraseboard and Passport tags during coordination with other agencies.The problem is that this traditional incident command and responsemanagement model can increase the risk of lost accountability duringmulti-agency incidents. It can also complicate – and slow – theinitiation of response, all of which leads to unnecessary incidents suchas accidents or the loss of life or property.“I’m sure any fire, rescue or law enforcement agency will attest to thestruggle of personnel tracking during mutual aid responses. If youdon’t have accountability dialed for one agency, then can becomea problem very quickly when outside agencies enter the scene andthe incident commander is unable to confirm who is on scene or thecurrent location of those known to be on scene,” Morrison explained.With a tablet-based solution such as the one BATT3 designed, allagencies have a way to quickly coordinate and track assets. And, sinceall three fire agencies in this Idaho county use the same ICx commandboard and Fire Roster system, they can immediately sync operationsas needed to expedite their response.“The Xplore rugged tablet and BATT3 software system really solves aproblem for our entire county,” added Riley. “I know it could solve thesame problem for many other North American jurisdictions as well,especially if agencies in multiple neighboring geographies also madethis mission-critical investment.”Since the Xplore tablet-based BATT3 solution mimics the old magnet/dry erase board method of asset tracking and accountability, it hasnot required a significant process change by users. In fact, thefamiliarity of the tablet-based incident command experience has madethe on-boarding of the solution very easy for these Kootenai Countyagencies.“The BATT3 ICx and Fire Roster software we developed for the Xploretablet does not really replace traditional asset tracking processes,”Morrison explained. “It simply replicates them in a way that makesthem far more reliable – and far more accessible – in situationswhere complete situational awareness and accuracy are a matter oflife or death. The highly mobile tablet-based “command center” alsomakes mandate roll calls and rehab sessions much easier to manage.That is why this tablet-based solution is so effective – and quickly5zebra technologies

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTgaining traction among fire grounds that have long preferred to leavetechnology out of the command center.”In fact, the rugged tablet-powered BATT3 incident managementsystem is so effective, Chief Riley advocates for it every chance hegets, especially when traveling to conferences and industry gatheringswhere he has the attention of other fire chiefs across the country.“As a chief, crew accountability is my number one priority,” Rileystressed. “That is why, in my opinion, the command, control and safetymanagement solution from Xplore and Batt3 is irreplaceable. I knowthat some fire chiefs are apprehensive in using technology in thecommand post because they’re fearful of device or software failure.However, I’m not one of them.”“In fact, I can’t emphasize enough the confidence I have in the IncidentCommand and Fire Roster system that BATT3 has developed onthe Xplore rugged tablet. I’ve seen its reliability firsthand, and it hasproven time and again to improve the safety and accountability of allpersonnel working on my fire ground. “This could easily become thenew standard for every fire ground in the United States and, really,around the world.”What’s NextNorthern Lakes Fire District Deploying More RuggedTablets to First RespondersThe Northern Lake Fire District will soon equip additional fire enginesand administrative chiefs in the fire district with Xplore XSLATE R12rugged tablets running the Batt3 ICX and Fire Roster solutions tofurther enhance its incident response and accountability capabilities.Chief Morrison also anticipates that many other agencies across thenation will start to make the investment in the solution as soon as theysee the real impact it has made on early users – especially as firstresponder safety practices come into focus after recent accident levelsgarnered the national spotlight.“Not too long ago, my fire and rescue team was called up north –outside Kootenai County – to assist with a massive wildfire. Uponarrival, we learned that many other responding agencies were lackingthe tablet-based command solution, so we had to rely on both thetechnology and traditional accountability tools to coordinate andmanage assets,” he explained.“If the other agencies had been using the tablet-based incidentcommand solution, we would have been much more confident in

SUCCESS STORYNORTHERN LAKES FIRE DISTRICTour ability to keep crews safe during thisdangerous situation. However, given the lackof technology in use, we found ourselvesdiligently allocating resources to managesafety protocols – resources that could haveotherwise been used to fight the blaze andultimately expedite response effectiveness.Now that our partner agencies have seen theXplore tablet-based BATT3 system in action,I’m confident they are going to do whatthey can to secure funds to transition to thistechnology solution.”“Many emergency response agencies alreadyuse mobile computing technology in theirvehicles for dispatch anyways. This Xploretablet-based system simply enables themto actually take their mission-critical tools –whether it be their CAD software, reportingapplications or entire command center – rightinto the heart of the action if needed withoutworrying about compromising safety. In fact,this is the best way to improve first respondercoordination and communications and,therefore, safety.”Chief Morrison noted that the BATT3 solution– though initially developed to address afire ground need – could also be used tocoordinate with law enforcement and otherfirst responder agencies.“In all honesty, our technology systemcould be applied to any type of emergencyresponse where an incident command postis setup,” Morrison continued. “This couldinclude SWAT responses, or even eventresource management scenarios where it ishighly inefficient to use paper-based plans tocoordinate entry, backup or other responseteams. We recently used the system tomanage our coordination of on-site resourcesat the Iron Man race, and we partneragencies were very impressed with howeffective the technology was in facilitating anorganized command.”NA and Corporate Headquarters 1 800 423 0442 inquiry4@zebra.comZEBRA and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of ZIH Corp, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. All other trademarks are theproperty of their respective owners. 2018 ZIH Corp and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.Part number: CS-NLFD-ENG 09/2018

partner agencies," noted Northern Lakes Fire District Chief Pat Riley. When the BATT3 ICx software is in "fire attack" mode, there is a green indicator that lights up on the Xplore' tablet's sunlight-viewable 12.5" display to show which engine is on scene. The ICx Incident Command solution also ties in with the web-based

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