Because of the obscuring smoke, the scene of a fire is often chaotic.  The APSU GIS Center researched ways to increase safety into this chaos by equipping each firefighter with a Bluetooth beacon in order to track firefighters. This makes coordination between trucks and firefighters easier.

Estimote Beacon Tracking

Estimote Beacon Tracking is a survivability platform designed for firefighters.  Each firefighter is equipped with a beacon.  An Estimote Beacon Detector in the truck determines which firefighters have arrived on the scene and if they are safely near the truck.  Deploy multiple detectors for each needed reference point. Beacons help these brave civil servants return to the station safe from harm.

Check out this piece that Clarksville Online did on our work with beacons here.

About Beacons

Bluetooth Beacons are one of the more interesting IoT [link to our IoT project] technologies to emerge. Beacons act like a lighthouse beacon; they send out a pulse of bluetooth information at a specified interval, just like a lighthouse sends out light. Bluetooth is a common networking specification designed for building networks on the fly; it’s used by millions daily to connect with their car radio, activate their garage door, and sync with their FitBit. By allowing you to connect with other “smart” devices like lightbulbs, speakers, thermostats, refrigerators, and more, Bluetooth is now one of the cornerstones in the connected web of the Internet of Things.

Beacons are an invaluable tool for determining proximity to a point of interest. Because it sends out a consistent signal, it is used to broadcast information based upon its location. While the most common use currently is to provide proximity marketing, we believe beacons can help our local community.