Hotels in Amsterdam

Toughbooks to aid Amsterdam firefighters

Alpine Software, a software development company, has worked closely with the Amsterdam fire department and has managed to develop a new technology to aid the firefighters in ensuring safety of the residents.

This new technology provides the firefighters with Toughbooks — heavy-duty laptops equipped with Red Alert software purchased with a $118,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These toughbooks are special because if they drop, they won’t break and the monitors flip up like a regular laptop notebook but the screen is touchable and it swivels so the book doesn’t have to be opened to use it.

“I’m very pleased, but surprised,” said fire chief Rcihard Liberti on receiving the grant and on being the only department in the Capital region using this software.

There are other additional features in the toughbook such as a pop up address when any type of call comes through dispatch. When this address is touched, more information comes up such as a map of the location and any potential hazards associated with that location. The software also points out the nearby fire hydrants and shows the size of the water line attached to them.

Responders will also have access to a history of calls made to the same location and be able to electronically input patient information. The system also simplifies serving of violators notices as all the information is electronically available and fire codes to cite are searchable in the system. The software automatically puts together a form, which firefighters or code enforcement officers can print, sign and send to the violator. This does away with the pain that the firefighters had to take earlier in going through about an hour of paperwork, search for the specific code to cite, fill out a form by hand and send it off.

However, there are still some bugs in the system despite the fact that the software is already in use. “I think the more we use the system, the more valuable it will be,” Liberti said.