Managing the Fireground Using Technology

NIEM 2009

Xenophon “Yo” Gikas, Jr.

Captain

Los Angeles Fire Department

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Los Angeles Metrics Los Angels County 88 Incorporated Cities Largest population(over 10

million) in the Nation Coastline of 81 Miles 4,084 Square Miles

Los Angels City Second Largest City in US 4.1 M Population 470 Square Miles 106 Fire Stations

Universal, ABC, CBS, NBC, Disney Studios

Kodak Theatre (Academy Awards)

Convention Center Staples Center

Rose Bowl Downtown Area

LA/Long Beach Ports LAX

Los Angeles Coliseum Hollywood (sign)

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Los Angeles Fire Department

• Voice – 18 Channel, Conventional, Analog, Simulcast

• Data: 4 Channel, Motorola DataTac

• Station Alerting: 2 line, 56kbps

• Administration Network: T1

• MDC - Panasonic Toughbooks in Apparatus

• CAD - Home Grown

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Los Angeles Fire Department

• Computerized Fire and EMS Reports

• Email

• Word Processing

• Electronic Timekeeping (paper redundancy)

• Dispatch Messaging

• Instructional DVDs

• Web Portal

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Our World is Changing

…We Need to Adapt

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We Need Information• Building Inventories

• Resource Availability **

• Sensor Status

• Hospitals **

• Maps

• Imagery

• Pre-Plans

• Weather

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Communications

• Real Time

• Two Way

• Multi Path ??

• Everywhere

• Collaborative

• All Levels

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Tactical Information Project

• Core Platform – ICBRNE, AWARE, HIP

• Standards Based – IP, EDXL, OGC…

• “Best of Breed”

• Mobile Client Software

• Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL)

• GPS

• MESH Capabilities

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Automatic Vehicle Location

• Resource Tracking

• Hot Spots

• Coverage

• Smart Routing

• Learning System

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Resource Accountability

• #1 Priority

• “F-666”

• Have to be at CP

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Resource Accountability

• Drag & Drop

• Annotate

• Collaborate

• Share

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Confined Space/Hazmat Operations

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Confined Space Operation

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Real Time Sensor Monitoring

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ICBRNE – Los Angeles Fielded System

CAPCommon Alerting

Protocol

CAPCommon Alerting

Protocol

EDXL-DEDistribution Element

COTSSituational Awareness

Applications

All Instruments Operate the same

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ICBRNE – Los Angeles Fielded System

Direct – Ex: ADASHI

Federal – OPEN/DMIS

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ICBRNE – CAP Alerts

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Sensor Server

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A Standards StoryFour Feet, Eight and a Half Inches

Standard gauge railway lines are used in Britain, Europe, the USA, & many other countries. It is used on such high speed lines as France's TGV, Germany's ICE, & Japan's Bullet Trains.

Standard gauge, in railway terminology, means a distance between the rails of 4 feet, 8 ½ inches or 1.435 meters. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, & English expatriates built railways all around the world. Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first railway lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railway tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did they use that gauge in England, then?  

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A Standards StoryBecause the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay! Why did their wagons use that odd wheel spacing?

Because, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads.

Because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts. So who built these old rutted roads?

The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The Roman roads have been used ever since. And the ruts?

The original ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by the wheels of Roman war chariots.  

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A Standards StorySince the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.  Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The standard railway gauge of 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

What’s the Point?

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The next time you are handed a specification and wonder what “Horse's Ass” came up with it, you may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war-horses.

A Standards Story

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Thank You!

Xenophon “Yo” Gikas, Jr.

NIEM 2009

Managing the Fireground Using Technology

NIEM 2009