ROGERS — Firefighters have upgraded their communication capabilities by outfitting their front-line vehicles, from command and fire trucks to ambulances, with a state-of-the-art computer system.
“It’s become common for police and fire to have computers in their vehicles,” said Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins. “They get a laptop computer they like and strap it to the car. What we have is fixed and made for vehicles.”
There are a few exceptions, Jenkins added, to outfitting the entire fleet.
“The brush truck, we only use a few times a year,” Jenkins said. “The airport truck doesn’t go anyplace except for the airport. And we really couldn’t justify putting them in our backup equipment. Now, as we buy new vehicles and rotate these out, we’ll eventually have the computers in our backups, too.”
The units, made by Motorola, are running full time and require no startup time, Jenkins said.
Fast Facts
Fire Department Equipment
• The Rogers Fire Department responds with 18 front-line emergency response vehicles, including five engine companies, two truck companies, one heavy rescue unit, four ambulances, one airport fire response unit, two brush pumpers, and one command unit.
• In addition to the front-line companies, the department has two reserve ambulances, one reserve engine company and 11 staff vehicles.
• Several new apparatus are on order and expected in 2012.
Source: Rogers Fire Department
“Police cars are different,” Jenkins explained. “Police officers get ready to come on their shift, have time to boot up the computer and log in. When we get a call at 3 a.m., we’ve got to be ready to go. These computers take care of that.”
Jenkins said he and others of his command staff visited fire departments in Plano and Fort Worth, Texas, to see how the systems worked on the streets.
“Like almost any good idea, we stole this one,” Jenkins said.
Capt. Ralph Diamond of the Fort Worth Fire Department said his department likes the computers.
“These are tough and very functional for the guys on the truck,” Diamond said. “I’ve only been in the office for six months. Before that I was in the field, so I have a very good idea of what they need on the scene.”
Diamond said the computers make the department able to instantaneously send information to the field from the alarm office.
“And it’s easy for them to respond,” Diamond said. “Changing their status is a one-touch job. That really makes it easy and important when you have a lot of operations going on.”
Likewise, Plano is satisfied with the system.
“They’re a great machine,” said Duey Poempipatana with Plano’s Information Technology Department. “The touch screen seems to be very reliable. Firefighters mainly use the touch screen. Most of the time, they wouldn’t use a keyboard unless they had to log in.”
One drawback, Poempipatana said, is Motorola computers require Motorola parts.
“You can’t just go down to a Radio Shack and pick up a replacement part,” Poempipatana said. “And Motorola is pretty proud of their equipment.”
Poempipatana said there is cheaper equipment, but it takes vehicles back to being outfitted with laptops.
“It all depends on how you want your set up,” Poempipatana said.
Jenkins said the cost of the outfitting in Rogers was $120,000, appropriated by the City Council last year.
“In my opinion, for what we got, that was the best $120,000 we’ve ever spent,” Jenkins said.