New devices helping to alert drivers of hazards, keep responders safe

“We’ve been using this since July,” Sutton said.

A small black transmitter box that can be added to any fleet vehicle initiates a signal zone within a certain radius of an emergency vehicle when emergency siren and lights are turned on.

“It’s all about collision prevention,” Sutton said. “How can we let the motoring public know that we are coming and/or that we are on the scene?”

The alert is received by certain navigation apps such as Waze and Apple Maps, and even transmits to some newer model vehicles directly.

“It broadcasts automatically over a cellular network and the approaching motorist gets plenty of time for notification, usually about half a mile or 30 seconds.”

Sutton said the device knows when an emergency vehicle is moving and when it is sitting on scene parked in place.

“They’re notified when we’re moving to an incident, and when we’re stopped,” Sutton said. “It’s continuously broadcasting.”

Each device takes up a minimal amount of space inside an emergency vehicle, using three wires total to operate.

“The device that is in a truck is about the size of three cell phones stacked up,” Sutton said.

Sutton said several fire truck manufacturers now put these types of devices in trucks straight from the factory, and aftermarket installation is currently easy and affordable as well.

According to Sutton, this type of technology is especially important on vehicles that respond to calls locally on Interstate 75.

“We have put it in Engine 1 which is at headquarters, Engine 5 out of Resaca, and our Battalion car — simply because those are the ones that are responding out on the interstate,” Sutton said.