Douglas County and Omaha Fire officials unveiled the new Fire Alert System on Thursday, It has been installed in every fire station around the City.
The system is designed to provide state-of-the-art technology that will aid firefighter first responders. “The City of Omaha joined with Douglas County in a cooperative effort to make our community better and safer. This is a great example of working together, we can do better,” says Douglas County Commissioner Jim Cavanaugh.
The new Fire Alert System will replace obsolete communication equipment and officials say this new digital equipment can save lives by getting first responders to the scene of an emergency faster.
“We’re learning that processing times can be reduced and we’re looking forward to that. Some of the technology also provides for a quicker alert in the dispatch center to the fire station,” says Fire Chief Dan Olsen.
The new system has a digital clock to help firefighters get out the door more quickly. The goal is 60 seconds or less.
Other features include an emotionless, computer-animated dispatch voice and heart-saver tones. "The tones have a ramping up ability so they start as a low ton and ramp up to a higher tone," Olsen says. "Those are all designed to be built to lessen the impact on those firefighters and their stress levels."
All of the new features, the chief said, will also reduce response times. This marks the first completed component of the 2016, voter-approved, $45 million Public Safety Bond Project.
The Fire Alert System costs a total of approximately $2.5 million.