Logica develops vehicle tracking and communication system for Helsinki City Fire & Rescue Department
About Helsinki City Fire & Rescue Department
The Helsinki City Fire & Rescue Department is one of Finland’s 22 regional rescue departments. It is responsible for carrying out tasks such as monitoring and inspections of fire prevention measures, fire and rescue operations, and medical rescue operations in the Helsinki area.
The department’s fire and rescue operations include Building fires; Vehicle fires; Traffic accidents; Natural disasters; and Human and animal rescue operations.
What they needed
The department required a robust vehicle tracking and communication system with dispatching facility for all field operations.
They needed the system to give them up-to-date information of the field and enable them to obtain efficient resource management, more personnel safety and a faster reaction time.
The Challenge
The client did not have good visibility into field operations. The department was facing operational nightmare in the form of ‘resource vacuum’ that is when no resources are available in certain geographical areas.
The field commander had no means to receive up-to-date information about the units in the field. This translated to poor resource management, slower response time and inefficient rescue operations.
Our Answer
We developed an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system with dispatching facility for the Department. This system could be used by a minimum of 500 users, and was designed to handle growing amounts of work even in the future. It was based on Merlot Server technology and Merlot Mobile (MDT) terminals.
The system combined positioning techniques, geographic information systems (GIS), and wireless communications, among other technologies. It was integrated with a real estate information system, hazardous materials databases, operative manuals and work flow management systems. It comprised three command centres, 20 office displays and 80 mobile data terminals.
A Success story
The Helsinki City Fire & Rescue Department is now equipped with all necessary functionalities for AVL, unit dispatching, remote monitoring and alarming, with two-way online data messaging. Situations like ‘resource vacuum’ are now monitored by managers, allowing for proactive actions to limit damages.
Detailed map views that include status checks on individual units have enabled dispatchers to coordinate responses to and at the target destination. Crews are now guided, informed and assisted at the scene of the accident. They can now also access details such as hydrants available and other utilities to aid emergency units on site.
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