Gravenhurst’s firefighters are going digital. On June 20, the department launched Community Connect, an online program intended to provide firefighters with additional information when handling emergencies at local properties.
“It works based off of addresses,” says Gravenhurst fire chief Jared Cayley. “When we get a call for assistance from our dispatcher, anything in system attached to that address goes to the fingertips of the firefighters operating at the scene.”
The information appears on firefighters’ phones or iPads, which they can review on their way to the emergency. The type of information tied to an address could include the number of residents, their ages, medical conditions, the layout of the property, and any pets, among other things. The program, however, is voluntary, meaning residents must set up their own profile and provide information about their property.
“Some people have gone so far as putting pictures of their pets on,” says Cayley. “It’s fantastic.”
The information provided through the program helps firefighters better strategize when approaching an emergency. For instance, in the case of a fire, knowing where a child might be in the house or if there’s a suite with elderly residents. It’s the information you’d like to have if you were approaching an unknown situation where you were trying to help someone out, Cayley explains.
All information provided to Community Connect is secured in a cloud-based platform with bank-level encryption. Residents sign into their own profile with a username and password.
Cottagers are encouraged to register their properties as well. Community Connect, which is operated by First Due, an American company that primarily deals with urban fire departments, has adjusted its modules for Gravenhurst, customizing the program to allow seasonal residents to input cottage-specific information, such as whether the property’s winterized.
Cayley says he’s also working with First Due to introduce a way for cottagers, business owners, and full-time residents to book a fire inspection through the site.
The program, which Cayley first started looking at a year and a half ago, is intended to cut down on bloat. “We had several different pieces of software that were doing different jobs, and they were various ages. Some were no longer supported. Some were run with antiquated equipment,” he says. “We started looking at the cost of replacing them and whether it was worth getting a brand new do it all-in-one type of thing.”
A neighbouring department pointed Cayley in the direction of First Due. “When they were demonstrating First Due to us, they said would you be interested in the Community Connect module. And so I said, ‘What’s Community Connect?’ They started explaining it to me, and they were probably an eighth of the way through and I said, ‘We’ll take it.’”
Community Connect already has 35 Gravenhurst properties registered and Cayley expects that number to continue going up. Anyone interested in registering their own property can find out more about the program here.