In Motion Technology, the leader in mobile networking technologies that efficiently connect and manage equipment, information and people in the field, today announced that the St. Louis Area Regional Response System (STARRS), representing 340 agencies, has deployed In Motion Technology solutions to enhance emergency communications and manage and coordinate responses across the St. Louis area.STARRS was formed in 2003 as a result of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant to coordinate funding, planning and disaster response for eight counties in the St. Louis region. The STARRS network includes nearly 200 fire departments, 55 hospitals, 90 police departments and other agencies that serve 2.4 million people in a response region covering 4,600 square miles. Using UASI grants, STARRS purchased Gateways for deployment in ambulances, fire apparatus, police, hazmat and command vehicles throughout the St. Louis Urban Area.
“We selected In Motion Technology because they were the one mobile solution that could provide reliable, secure wireless communications and the management tools that we needed to coordinate large-scale disaster responses across the region,” said Nick Gragnani, Executive Director of STARRS. With Gateway-equipped vehicles, emergency responders in the St. Louis Area will have unparalleled access to real-time information to direct assets, manage personnel and save lives. Firefighters can send live video from inside buildings, and medics will be able to send real-time EKG information to hospitals. Law enforcement officers will have access to a variety of criminal databases, and operations commanders will have a bird’s-eye view of an incident scene and access to powerful new disaster response tools.
STARRS was conceived in the aftermath the 9/11 terroist attacks. A lesson learned from this catastrophic event was emergency agencies had no way to track victims after a disaster. STARRS developed a first-of-its-kind patient tracking system that allows emergency personnel to track the location and status of victims using hundreds of mobile wireless devices, including handheld bar code scanners, laptops and PDAs – all of which will now feature reliable, secure connectivity thanks to mobile technology by In Motion Technology.
STARRS’ devices will connect using In Motion’s onBoard Mobile Gateway, which turns each emergency vehicle into a mobile hotspot that utilizes commercial cellular, 700 MHz, 3G, 4G and a variety of other wireless networks. Should one wireless network become overloaded – or fail altogether – the Gateway can seamlessly change networks to ensure an uninterrupted flow of critical response information. On the scene, Gateway equipped-vehicles will work together to create an incident-area network, enabling emergency personnel to scan bar-coded victim bracelets for triage, check databases to identify the nearest hospitals, track availability of hospital beds, and track patients until they receive care and are reunited with their families.
St. Charles County Ambulance District was the first STARRS agency to deploy the In Motion technology. “We tested other options, but determined that In Motion offered the greatest data security and reliability,” said Ken Koch, CEO of St. Charles County Ambulance District. “In addition, instead of paying for four or more network cards for devices in each vehicle, the Gateway consolidates our wireless traffic over a single network connection and saves us money.”
“Our technology helps first responders connect, collect, prioritize and understand the overwhelming amount of information generated in a large-scale incident,” said Kirk Moir, CEO of In Motion Technology. “STARRS responders will be able to quickly organize and understand data that will help save lives and protect regional communities. Their approach to large-scale incident coordination, response and funding is breaking new ground, and we are pleased to be helping STARRS improve communications, reduce costs, and keep the people of the region safe.”
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