Deadwood -- Deadwood Fire Chief Trent Mohr says the online server www.IamResponding.com is “just one of those things,”
“It’s just so important and has become an invaluable piece of equipment,” Mohr said. “It’s kind of like a cell phone. Before, you got along fine without one, but now you can’t imagine not having one around.”
The “IamResponding,” online server was introduced to the Deadwood Volunteer Fire Department in October of last year. The online tool connects volunteer first responders directly to the county dispatch office in Deadwood and to a computer in the truck bay of the fire department, where other first responders are able to see who will and will not be responding.
When a page is issued to first responders for emergencies, volunteers initially acknowledged pages through a two way radio or by way of phone, in an effort to reach a dispatcher who could relay the information to the fire department. Now, all volunteers have to do is hit two buttons on their cell or home phone to let dispatchers, fire official and other volunteers know if they will or will not be responding to call.
“When there is an emergency situation going on we are trying to connect a lot of people with a lot of different information,” Lawrence County dispatcher Sue Black said. “Having this response system takes a lot of the guess work out of trying to figure out who heard the page, who is coming and keeping track of who has called in to the page. With this program we automatically know who is responding, who is on their way and who won’t be able to make it. It is so important and useful, it’s the first thing I pull up every morning so we are ready to go if anything should happen throughout the day.”
Mohr agrees that the system has proven to be a valuable asset to the department and has improved response times.
“A lot of times, after a page goes out, people get here and don’t know if they should wait or just get going on to the scene,” Mohr said. “If we didn’t have this system, I think our worst case would be having our least experienced member respond first and not know what to do next, or who is going to be there to help them. This lets everyone’s status be known so that decisions can be made more quickly resulting in quicker response times.”
Mohr noted that only officers in the department are issued with two way radios and that having a system that can be programmed to up to nine cell or land line numbers per member, further ensures a volunteer will receive a page and be able to respond in a timely manner.
“We had a very specific challenge with getting organized with our response times,” Mohr said. “This program took care of those problems right away. It was like it was tailor made for us.”