Mid and West Wales are the most recent Fire and Rescue Service to take advantage of Excelerate’s market leading critical communications technology. This has been installed onboard their new Incident Command Unit (ICU), built by Emergency One.
The new ICU will be deployed at major incidents enabling the sharing of critical information – data, video and voice – to support incident management and will serve to strengthen the resilience and operational response of the Service and its partnering agencies.
Chief Fire Officer Chris Davies QFSM said,
“We are delighted to work with Excelerate and Emergency One to deliver this state-of-the-art Incident Command Unit to the communities of mid and west Wales.
Despite the continuing financial pressures that are placed upon public services, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is determined to realise its vision; to be a world leader in emergency response and community safety. To achieve this, we always accept that there is scope for continuous improvement, but this brand-new Incident Command Unit will certainly allow us to move closer towards achieving our vision.
Through the purchase of this new ICU, complete with new technological solutions, we are setting out to better our operational response at major incidents; this will enable improved sharing of information with partner agencies and our Joint Fire Control, whilst also improving our communications capability on the incident ground.
This vehicle will also enhance our ability to manage major incidents and, therefore, improve the safety of our fire fighters, improve decision making at incidents and improve our operational learning.
The work carried out with Excelerate and Emergency One will enable us to successfully achieve these objectives and future proof our Incident Command capability. These benefits will become visible throughout our Service area in the years to come.”
The vehicle, based on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis will feature 3G/4G and satellite communications ensuring uninterrupted connectivity wherever and whenever required which is critical where public networks might not exist, are unreliable or need extra resilience.
Utilising Excelerate’s fully managed Enhanced Resilience Satellite Network (ERSN) – an ultra-resilient solution as used by the majority of the UK Emergency Services – operating over two different Satellites, if one should ever fail, users can instantly be moved on to a second network ensuring connectivity is never compromised.
The vehicle has also been equipped with VHF Marine and Airband radios, mast mounted camera, interactive whiteboard, external touch screen and 5 operator positions with PC’s and screens designed to replicate a control room environment with the capability to access back office applications, video feeds and more.
Excelerate’s Digital Dashboard Mangement Interface (DDMI) combines all communications systems and solutions into one seamless operating interface for the vehicle, allowing personnel to control, monitor and analyse multiple aspects of an incident from one place. DDMI simplifies the operation of complex technologies, supporting ease of use with its ‘one touch’ operation.
Operating from their HQ in Cardiff, Excelerate continues to be the communications technology supplier of choice to the emergency services in Wales, providing resilient solutions to Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service,South Wales Fire & Rescue, Central Beacons Mountain Rescue, South Wales Police, Dyfed Powys Police, Welsh Ambulance Service HART and more.
