GPS AVL for NSW firies

New South Wales Minister for Police and Emergency Services Michael Gallacher recently announced an $850,000 rollout of new GPS for all Fire & Rescue NSW fire engines, which will deliver even faster emergency response times.

“FRNSW has become the first Australian fire service to harness this advanced automatic vehicle location - or AVL - technology in a widespread manner,” Minister Gallacher said.

The system uses real-time satellite tracking and the Telstra 3G network to identify the location of every FRNSW emergency response vehicle. The data is displayed in real time on FRNSW’s computer-aided dispatch system at its two communication centres in Sydney and Newcastle, ensuring that once an emergency call is received the closest fire engine is automatically selected and dispatched to the scene.

In the past, the system assigned fire engines and crews based on the street address of fire stations, and this did not always guarantee the fastest response.

The new technology has been installed in 70% of FRNSW’s response vehicles in the Greater Sydney Area. The remainder of FRNSW’s metropolitan and regional fleet will be equipped over the next 12 months.