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In the latest round of the Scottish Government’s CivTech programme, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will see projects focused on firefighter situational awareness and contaminants receive part of a £9m funding pot.
The development of two products aimed at the fire and rescue service include technology developed by Bristol based tech firm, Rowden to help firefighters improve their situational awareness in emergency situations.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service defined the challenges for suppliers to solve as part of the launch of CivTech 10 back in July 2024 and the work has now moved to the Accelerator stage of development.
“Within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, responders are faced with a limited ability to access accurate real-time data and information on the scale of the incident to determine resources required both before, during and after incidents.
“This challenge needs to be solved in order to equip firefighters with accurate and reliable information, continuing to improve SFRS’s ability to save and preserve life and protect the public through prevention and response.
“A potential solution will also improve the safety of fire fighters and improve predictive and general incident analysis to support incident commander decision making.”
CivTech 10.1 project challenge.
A second project is focused on firefighter contaminants where the product is a system to detect and monitor firefighters’ exposure to toxins created by FireHazResearch, a new company set up by Professor Anna Stec and Professor Richard Hull, both well known academics working in this area.
Here, SFRS set out the challenge that is faced not only in Scotland but in other fire and rescue services
“Within Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and for firefighting as a sector, firefighters are exposed to a range of contaminants during and after incidents. The issue of contaminant exposure, while known about, is not fully understood and is both an emerging area of concern and study.
“Public and firefighter safety is of paramount concern to the service, and we are determined to understand more about the risks presented by contaminant exposure.
“To support this work, led by the SFRS Contaminant Working Group, we wish to identify more effectively and try to reduce firefighter exposure to contaminants when responding to incidents.”
CivTech 10.2 project challenge.
CivTech is a Scottish Government programme that brings the public, private and third sectors together to build things that make people’s lives better. CivTech 10 covers 14 projects all looking at developing artificial intelligence (AI) products to tackle challenges faced by charities and public sector organisations. It is the first time that CivTech has focused on AI.
Both projects have a maximum contract value of £650k and are at Accelerator Stage which runs to 2 May 2025. For more information on the challenges visit CivTech Round 10 Challenges.
Find out more about work going on to reduce firefighter exposure to contaminants in a recent episode of the For Every Response podcast.
