ROAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – Every second counts when it comes to emergency responders finding someone in need of help.
But it's not always easy for emergency personnel to find homes that need help.
“Most of the time we'll look for someone outside to wave,” said Thomas Dillon, unit director for Roan County Rescue Squad, “which is very helpful, especially if there's only one or a few people there and they're not around. We'll be outside waving and letting them know.”
Emergency responders often have to deal with heavy rain, darkness, and homes where the addresses aren't easily visible. Arrive AI's new emergency lighting system aims to make such homes easier to find when an emergency occurs.
“Emergency lighting systems allow us to locate the person who called 911 much faster, by allowing them to visualize where an address is instead of relying solely on GPS,” said David Schroeder, a longtime paramedic and brand ambassador for Arrive AI.
Emergency responders believe these units will help improve response times and find accurate locations quicker.
“It's important to us to respond as quickly as possible, so having a GPS tracking system or having a lighting system like this installed improves our response time, which is the most important part because we're responding to someone's worst day of their life,” said Firefighter Travis Wilmot. “Anything we can save, whether it's a second, five seconds, a minute, that's really important to us.”
Planning for the Arrive AI emergency lighting system began in 2014, and they began funding the creation of the project in 2018. Now, 10 years after the initial idea, they plan to deploy the unit from a healthcare application later this year.
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