(Oakland’s Ghost Ship Fire – one of the county’s deadliest and most costly building fires of the century! Image source – NBC News)
In our new “world” of digital everything and newspaper printing presses now silent, digital information is clearly here! We now rely 100% on digital devices for instant information.
The New York Times significantly reduced the physical size of its print edition in 2007, and in 2020, digital revenue now exceeds print.
Image source – The New York Times)
The modern firefighter must measure and focus on the right things.
So… if you are reading this blog, then you are searching on how firefighters can shift to the digital age. In today’s world, we know that the modern firefighter must measure and focus on the right things. Public trust is a must for everything you do and your community needs to know this in order to support. Chief Despain, a 32-year fire service veteran and IAFC FRI speaker said it best, it’s all about measuring outcomes such as;
- Cardiac survival rates.
- Percentage of time a fire is stopped in the room of origin.
- Operational costs compared to other similar agencies.
- How changes in the level of service impact fire insurance premiums.
These are the things that today’s communities are measuring especially during tax and budget time.
Fire Departments need to fully take advantage of the digital tools that are available to them.
Why should this matter to firefighters? Well, during desperate times when municipal budgets are being slashed — fire department risk and service demands is still growing, doing more with less has become our new norm even during unprecedented times like COVID-19.
What should your department do? Since you can no longer afford not to, you need to fully embrace the digital approach and take full advantage of modern multipliers. Standards such as NFPA, ISO, community risk and much more have been around for decades yet these are only achievable now using modern tools to collect and access real information, “Data” in the palm of your hand. Delaying this transition is only delaying the inevitable and risking massive costs such as Oakland, CA experienced after a $32 million 2020 ghost ship fire settlement.
The time to shift is now when digital tools and software are affordable, easy to use and provide instant firefighting value! Other departments that have already modernized have said, “It’s so easy even a caveman can learn it!” and adopting technology is no longer a barrier… it’s an opportunity. Like our elders have already done, fire departments need to know that the digital age is an enabler and 1,000s of fire department users have already transformed with APX overnight, and that is because it’s that easy offering real operational costs savings and gaining public trust.
