From the minute the tones drop, the FireQ app helps firefighters manage the emergency to which they are responding.
The primary job of fire departments is to respond to emergencies. As a result, it follows that the primary job of an app for firefighters is to be a fire dispatch app. At the same time, however, fire departments do much more than respond to emergencies. They often take part in safety planning measures, promoting fire safety, and community education. They engage in vehicle and equipment maintenance and checks to ensure readiness; and, with the increase in weather-related disasters, they operate comfort centers. Finally, they are also expected to become more data-driven, collecting critical information on fire department operations and incident management.
It is for these reasons that the FireQ app is more than just a fire dispatch app. Firefighters need more than just a fire dispatch app. They need an app that provides emergency and non-emergency communication options; a way to collect and manage data from the scene of an emergency; provides access to safety pre-plans; a way to map assets and hazards within their protection area.
FireQ for Dispatching Firefighters
Dispatching firefighters to an emergency is the first step of any emergency response. As a fire dispatch app, the FireQ app provides critical redundancy to how firefighters are dispatched to an emergency incident. No matter how firefighters are dispatched, FireQ provides redundant dispatch alerts across multiple communication channels that include:
- Push notification.
- SMS text. (FireQ sends a real text message to which firefighters can respond.)
- Phone call. (Firefighters can also respond to the phone call without having to call in to a special number.)
- In-app alerts.
- Email.
Moreover, firefighters can also respond to the emergency alert in multiple ways, letting incident commanders and fellow firefighters that they are responding.
Firefighters can respond directly to the text message; they can respond directly to the phone call with no need to dial a toll-free number; or, they can respond from the FireQ app.
A Fire Dispatch App That Knows Who is Coming & When They Will Arrive
While many fire dispatch apps can alert firefighters to an ongoing emergency, FireQ also lets incident commanders and other firefighters know who is coming, when they will arrive, and what their qualifications are.
The FireQ app colour-coded Responders List in the FireQ app tells firefighters:
- Firefighters who have responded.
- Approximately when they will arrive at the fire station.
- The qualifications and number of responders.
This information allows incident commanders to start planning an incident response based on the qualifications and quantity of responders.
The responders list also serves as a safety and accountability tool. Firefighters are often invisible when they are responding to an emergency. The responders list ensures that firefighters know who should be arriving at the fire station and can take action if a firefighter fails to arrive.
Updating Fire Scene Information
Once on scene of an emergency, incident commanders can use the FireQ fire dispatch app to update incident details. During a live incident, firefighters can use the FireQ app to:
- Re-page an incident.
- Self-dispatch with the Station Dispatch button.
- Stand the department down.
- Access safety pre-plans of buildings in the vicinity of the emergency.
- They can update incident details and incident location, including an option to capture location coordinate and relay them to responding firefighters.
Mapping Features in the FireQ App
During an active incident, the FireQ app maps the location of the emergency.
Firefighters can map hazards, assets and safety plans within their communities so that they are visible to firefighters from the FireQ app. These could include such things as water sources, gated roads and burn permits.
Benchmarks & Incident Timelines
A fire department app should also help firefighters collect and manage critical information from the emergency scene. During an active incident, incident commanders can capture time, date and location information for critical events that occur on the fire ground. Benchmarks are customizable by the fire department and could include such things as:
- Apparatus respond from station.
- Apparatus arrived on scene.
- Size-up completed.
- Entry made (who, specifically, made entry with timer).
- Primary search.
- Ventilation.
- Wetting agent applied.
- Ambulance arrived on scene.
- Police arrived on scene.
- Power company arrived on scene.
- Fire extinguished.
- Apparatus returned to station.
Incident commanders can also tag specific firefighters and apparatus to a benchmark, with a timer.
Completed benchmarks automatically appear in the incident report.
An incident report that provides a chronological list of events that took place during an emergency incident is a critical tool for evaluating what actions were taken to mitigate an emergency, as well as what things led to those steps being taken. An incident timeline helps to establish a clear understanding of what happened and when during an emergency.
Pre-planning and Safety Plans
The FireQ app gives firefighters easy and ready access to safety pre-plans. NFPA Standard 1620 defines a pre-incident plan as “a document developed by gathering general and detailed data that is used by responding personnel in effectively managing emergencies for the protection of occupants, participants, responding personnel, property, and the environment.”
An incident pre-plan can give the incident commander critical information that can minimize risk and expedite response, but only if they are accessible to the firefighter when they are needed.
Pre-incident plans can be created in, or added to, the FireQ system. These pre-plans are displayed in the mapping section of the FireQ app, allowing firefighters to see and access any relevant safety pre-plans that may exist close to the site of the emergency.
FireQ App Communication
Firefighter Messaging from the FireQ app
Firefighter messaging within the FireQ app makes it easy for firefighters to communicate within one another when they are not at the fire station. Firefighters can message individual firefighters, customized groups, or all members.
FireQ Polls
Polls can be created within the FireQ app to make engaging with firefighters and collecting information (and opinions) quickly. Simply ask the question, provide the answer options, and send them to firefighters via the FireQ app. There are three types of polls available within the FireQ app: straw, secret and anonymous.
FireQ is More than Just a Fire Dispatch App
Firefighters do a lot so the fire dispatch app they use must also do a lot. The FireQ fire department app ensures firefighters have access to safety pre-plans before and during an emergency…alerts firefighters to an ongoing emergency…gives them a way to respond…helps to collect and manage critical incident data…and gives them a way to communicate. Not every fire dispatch app does that.
