Technology community
Organizations doing good work in this space
The people, programs and organizations moving fire service technology forward. Everything here links out to them.
Worth knowing about
Smart Firefighting - Kevin Sofen
Join the Smart Public Safety community connecting firefighters, law enforcement, EMS, operators, and industry partners to accelerate technology adoption and innovation in public safety.
smartfirefighting.com(opens in a new tab)
IAFC Technology Council
iafc.org(opens in a new tab)
CPSE Center for Innovation
The CPSE Center for Innovation’s five program areas will highlight innovative solutions developed by CPSE accredited agencies and credentialed professionals and address an industry-wide gap in evidence-based decision making. As a trusted resource for innovative practices, the Center for Public Safety Excellence looks forward to giving back to the fire and emergency service through the launch of the CPSE Center for Innovation.
Tech Talk Tuesday
youtube.com(opens in a new tab)
NIST Public Safety Communications Research
The federal research program behind most of what is known about how responders actually use technology, including why good systems get abandoned.
nist.gov(opens in a new tab)
NIST Fire Research Division
Fire behaviour, suppression and structural research. The measurement work the standards are eventually built on.
nist.gov(opens in a new tab)
NIST Standard Test Methods for Response Robots
Repeatable tests for ground and aerial robots, written so a department can compare two platforms on something other than the sales demonstration.
nist.gov(opens in a new tab)
NIST Wildland Urban Interface Fire
Research on how fire moves through the interface, including the post-incident studies behind current WUI guidance.
nist.gov(opens in a new tab)
DHS S&T SAVER Program
Independent equipment assessments written for responders. Someone else has already tested a good deal of what you are being sold.
dhs.gov(opens in a new tab)
U.S. Fire Administration
The federal fire agency: data, research, and the national programs a department reports into.
usfa.fema.gov(opens in a new tab)
USFA — NERIS
The federal view of the move off NFIRS, and the timeline your records vendor has to meet whatever their roadmap says.
usfa.fema.gov(opens in a new tab)
FirstNet Authority
The public authority for the responder broadband network, as distinct from the carrier that operates it.
firstnet.gov(opens in a new tab)
National Public Safety Drone Donation Program
Helping Departments receive donated UAS vehicles.
nps-ddp.org(opens in a new tab)
NWCG glossary of wildland fire
The agreed wildland vocabulary, which is what makes a resource order mean the same thing to everyone reading it.
nwcg.gov(opens in a new tab)
Fire Safety Research Institute
Fireground research aimed squarely at operations, and the organization building NERIS itself.
fsri.org(opens in a new tab)
NFPA — free access to codes and standards
Every NFPA standard is readable at no cost here. Worth knowing before anyone tells you what a standard requires.
nfpa.org(opens in a new tab)
National 911 Program
Federal 911 coordination, including the functional requirements a CAD system is expected to meet.
911.gov(opens in a new tab)
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue
The national US&R system: how task forces are equipped, typed and deployed.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework
The framework nearly every vendor security questionnaire is derived from. Worth reading before you answer one.
nist.gov(opens in a new tab)
NEMSIS
The national EMS data standard. What NERIS is to fire records, this is to patient care records.
nemsis.org(opens in a new tab)
CISA SAFECOM
Interoperable communications guidance written by responders. The reference point for any interoperability argument.
cisa.gov(opens in a new tab)
NENA — 911 standards
The standards behind 911 and Next Generation 911, including how incident data is meant to move between agencies.
APCO International
The public safety communications profession: standards, training and the dispatch side of every technology decision.
EMS.gov
The federal EMS office: national strategy, data and the agenda your ePCR vendor is working against.
National Association of State EMS Officials
Where state EMS rules come from, which is usually what decides whether a technology is permitted where you are.
National Wildfire Coordinating Group
Interagency wildland standards, qualifications and terminology. The common language on a large incident.
National Interagency Fire Center
National coordination, resource status and situation reporting for wildland incidents.
NASA FIRMS — active fire data
Satellite fire detections, free and public. A working example of the difference between remote sensing and tactical intelligence.
Wildfire Risk to Communities
Forest Service risk data down to the community level, useful for the case you have to make before a budget cycle.
NOAA CAMEO software suite
Chemical identification, plume modelling and mapping — capable hazmat software, published free by the federal government.
CHEMM — chemical hazards emergency medical management
Identification and treatment guidance for chemical exposure, built for use during an incident rather than after it.
FAA — public safety UAS
The rules a fire department flies under, including the choice between Part 107 and public aircraft operations.
CISA — Emergency Services Sector
Federal cybersecurity guidance written for this sector specifically, rather than generic advice aimed at business.
cisa.gov(opens in a new tab)
Multi-State ISAC
Threat information sharing for state and local government, free to join, and the fastest route to a warning that concerns you.
cisecurity.org(opens in a new tab)
These are organizations we think are worth a chief's attention. Nobody pays to appear here, and a listing is not an endorsement of any product they sell.