How data plays a role in connected firefighting

The utilisation of data in the fire service is an emerging technology that can impact firefighting operations in three primary areas: people, products and processes.

When looking at emerging technologies in the fire service, data plays an important role. It provides understanding into how firefighters operate on scene and how their safety equipment performs. The data can be used in a variety of ways, such as enhancing the products firefighters are using and to collect information about the environment firefighters are being exposed to.

As a leader in the development and manufacturing of fire service products and technology for MSA Safety, it’s our intent to use data and technology to make fire departments more capable and efficient in three primary areas:

• People: Helping make firefighters safer with new technological tools while they are responding on-scene;
• Products: Leveraging technology and data to inform maintenance procedures to make the product last longer, perform optimally, and to be less burdensome to maintain;
• Processes: Inform departments of additional training opportunities and to make them safer by bringing awareness to their behaviours.

A primary challenge is integrating sensing and connectivity technology while avoiding to add weight or ergonomic burden to the firefighter.

As a manufacturer, we research the optimal integration opportunities across the full suite of firefighter personal protective equipment. This includes fire helmets, fire protective clothing, breathing apparatus, as well as technological tools such as thermal imaging cameras.

It is also important to build robustness in the connectivity networks that transmit data from the firefighter to the cloud.

Throughout this process, prioritising the development of minimally burdensome technology tools is crucial for their widespread adoption across the global fire service. Instant deployment of sensing and connectivity technology is essential, allowing firefighters to focus their efforts on responding to emergencies on site.

Additionally, the software utilised by an incident commander for managing fireground operations needs to be built with a focus on intuitive user interface design.

To do this, we have a growing user experience team that strives to make the use of product as second-nature as possible. The team accomplishes this by designing our products side-by-side with firefighters as part of our Voice of Customer efforts which are paramount to new product development at MSA Safety.

When we think about firefighters deploying on scene, there’s a key job that needs to be done and worrying about technology and connectivity shouldn’t be a part of that.

We envision data being used to enhance the fire service in the future, and we’re particularly excited about how historical data can become increasingly valuable over time.

When first putting a product into service, the available data is limited, but over time, the data set grows, and we develop a deeper understanding of trends and insights into how customers are using each product.

Understanding historical trends allows us to approach our goal of offering predictive maintenance to help ensure our customer’s products are always ready for use. We expect this to help predict when parts are wearing and offer a replacement before it fails, extending the useful life of the equipment and increasing up-time.

For us, the aspect of increasing value over time as customers continue to use their equipment is extremely important and exciting.

As we look at the future of data impacting the fire service, we’re looking at how collecting data and giving useful insights to firefighters will help make the fire service a safer profession.

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