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SCHENECTADY
Devices to keep fi refighters safer in critical times
Tracking units monitor movements
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    When city firefighters are overwhelmed by smoke and heat and collapse in a darkened house, their airpacks simply beep — a noise difficult to hear amid the crackling flames.
    But now the firefighters will use new tracking devices that monitor their movement and notify a commander if they remain motionless for more than a few seconds. The devices — similar to a GPS — also guide commanders to the fi refighter’s precise location.
    The new units come as a relief to Schenectady’s firefighters, who once stumbled over an unconscious colleague in a pitch-black, smokefilled room. The incident happened more than 13 years ago.
    “He was found unconscious at the bottom of the attic stairs during a fire,” Deputy Fire Chief Scott Doherty said. “Other fi refighters going in and out of the attic found him. We don’t know how long he was there.”
    The firefighter survived. His colleagues never forgot how close they came to losing him.
    “There’s a case where this device would have paid off,” Doherty said.
    Chief Robert Farstad said there have been several such incidents — none fatal — in recent decades. It’s very rare.
    “But the point is, it could happen tonight,” Farstad said. “This device is very important if you’re trying to find a fi refighter in a darkened, smoke-filled area.”
    The tracking device will also allow commanders to determine at a glance that every fi refighter is well. There have been many incidents in which commanders thought a firefighter was down and sent in search parties before discovering that the officer was fine, Farstad said.
    The old buzzer-style warning won’t be completely abandoned with the new technology, he added.
    “The tracker shows a graph and ...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01302

good idea....pretty soon all babies will have one implanted in their underarms.......