Researchers first paintings to enhance verbal exchange apparatus for respondents

Researchers working with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency are making it their mission to improve the communication devices used by respondents first.

Under the leadership of the Applied Research Team of Nova Scotia Community College, the project aims to upgrade an existing device that increases radio coverage.

It is called a digital vehicle recurrence system (DVRS) and is usually made in emergency vehicles – but it can only reach till now.

The device can cut into areas where there are often cellular brownouts, such as concrete buildings or underground areas.

In some situations, it can not only slow the first respondents, but it can be dangerous for them.

Halifax Fire’s Division Chief of Technology and Innovation’s Halifax Fire Division Head Mark Burges said, “This radio is a line of security for him, so they are able to call an emergency, they are able to reach their peers to get help.”

“If they cannot communicate, they cannot do it.”

To soften the issue, the communication technician of Halifax Fire created a prototype of a portable DVR. This allows the first respondents to take it with them and expand the radio connections, rather than that it is being made in an emergency vehicle.

Burges stated that prototypes are not yet being used in emergency situations, but Halifax Fire has been testing it for the past few months.

The organization has since given a prototype to researchers along with the Applied Research Team of Nova Scotia Community College, which is expected to improve it further.

Jacob Woods, a research colleague with the team, said how heavy an issue is identified with the current prototype.

“So they are in a crowd to get out – 30 seconds, one minute – doesn’t make too much sound,” Wood said. “For a fire fighter who is trying to respond to an emergency, it adds some important time.”

They said that they are expecting to make the device lighter so that it is easy to carry.

“In an ideal world, we are really hoping to dilute the size of this,” Woods said. “But we are still in the early early stages, just what is in the box, getting better understanding about what the equipment is and what we can do with it.”

The fire departments have been seeing an increase in calls over the years, Burges said, which will require better equipment.

“At any time when we are able to go in and do our work safely, it is an advantage to the public,” he said.