Standard GPS technology can pinpoint a smartphone anywhere on a city street, but the moment a firefighter steps inside a burning high-rise, that life-saving signal often goes dark.
Joe Finn is a former Boston fire commissioner and current public safety advisor to location technology firm NextNav. He is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fast-track the adoption of 3D indoor location tracking for emergency responders.
Unlike traditional GPS — which only provides incident commanders with a two-dimensional point on a flat map — 3D location technology adds vertical altitude data. This allows commanders to determine a firefighter's exact floor and room location, even inside dense, signal-blocking structures.
For commanders on the ground, that distinction can mean the difference between life and death.
"When a sudden catastrophic event in a fire occurs, such as a backdraft, flashover or sudden building collapse, knowing their exact location gives the incident commander the ability to deploy a team to rescue those firefighters," Finn says.
He tells a story about how he lost two firefighters in 2014 in a Boston brownstone because of a wind-driven fire. After a backdraft resulted in 17 injured firefighters, a mayday call rang over the radio for the two firefighters trapped in a basement. The Rapid Intervention Team, although well trained, was not able to find the fighters because of the smoke and heat, resulting in their death.
A petition is currently before the FCC requesting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which would initiate the regulatory process needed to bring the technology to market for public safety use.
Finn stresses that federal action is needed immediately, pointing out a stark contrast between everyday consumer conveniences and public safety infrastructure.
"In this day and age where you can actually track a package from Amazon on your phone, we can't track firefighters in buildings," Finn says. "That is problematic on a number of levels, especially in emergency situations when they're in need of support and rescue."
