When the fire department in Little Rock, Arkansas began adding StreetWise CADlink tablet software to their apparatus, they began to wonder if they could use it to enhance firefighter accountability. Darryl Caillouet, the city’s IT liaison with the fire department, came up with a creative solution. He created a dynamic API that linked the department’s daily roster software to the data being sent to StreetWise when a call is dispatched.
“Our daily rostering system shows the expected roster for each apparatus for each shift,” said Caillouet. “In the morning, the BC verifies each apparatus roster, making adjustments wherever needed for call-offs and fill-ins. If something changes mid-shift, the BC makes the change in the roster software. We created a custom link so that the live roster data for each unit is polled every time there is a call. That gets sent over to StreetWise for display on the tablets.”
Each unit responding on a call is listed on Little Rock’s tablet display, along with their full roster of responding personnel. Caillouet says it’s an enhancement that can improve firefighter safety. “Accountability is a critical issue and Incident Commanders can instantly know who is on their fireground by referring to the StreetWise display.
Phil Kouwe, CEO at StreetWise, was impressed. “This is a wonderful and creative customization of our product and demonstrates its flexibility for larger agencies.” He added that the company is looking at plans now to expand on the concept and add pop-up unit rosters to the tactical map display in the future.
