Town of Braintree Receives Grant Award for Advanced Technology for Emergency Vehicles

From the Town of Braintree:

The Town of Braintree has been awarded a $66,352.00 grant through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Community Compact Cabinet Information Technology grant program. This grant will fund the installation of rugged laptops in fire response and command vehicles, an interactive screen on the apparatus floor of each of the Town’s three fire stations, and emergency management software. First responders will use the laptops to access crucial data about their target location, enabling them to be even more prepared to handle emergencies in Braintree.

Advances in fire service data collection and management have vastly improved the way that fire departments operate today. The Braintree Fire Department currently collects information on incident records, HIPAA compliant medical reports, GPS information including hydrant and hazardous materials locations, floor plans of larger buildings, and other location-linked data. The CCC grant will extend the benefits of having this information from the station to the field.

The project will enhance Fire Department capabilities by giving company officers and scene commanders the ability to preplan on the way to emergencies, locate fire hydrants via an onboard GIS system, and identify critical medical information or potential hazards unique to particular residences or locations. Additional information will include mapping, water supply location, and information in the Fire Department preplan database for any given business or dwelling. The preplan database includes potential hazards such as chemicals, fuels, and solar panels. The company officer will also be able to view the recent call history for a particular location.

Mayor Joseph Sullivan commented, “We are very grateful to Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and Administration & Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore for making this funding opportunity available, and for recognizing the merits of our application. The safety of Braintree’s residents and visitors is always foremost on our minds. The value of this grant is immeasurable.”

“Having this critical information readily available to our responding companies during an emergency will greatly enhance our capabilities to manage these incidents. This technology will save our firefighters seconds, when seconds matter. This will contribute to enhanced firefighter safety and a reduction in life and property loss,” according to Braintree Fire Chief James F. O’Brien.

According to Secretary Lepore, the competition for the $2 Million of available funding was intense, with more than 100 eligible municipalities applying for grants totaling more than $16 Million. The Braintree application was chosen because it clearly met the overarching goal of driving innovation and transformation at the local level via investments in technology.

The grant opportunity was made possible via the Commonwealth’s Community Compact Cabinet (CCC). The CCC was created by Governor Charlie Baker in January 2015 in order to elevate the Administration’s partnerships with cities and towns in all communities of the Commonwealth. The Community Compact is a voluntary, mutual agreement entered into between the Baker-Polito Administration and individual cities and towns. Participating communities agree to implement best practices in certain areas of governance. In return, the Administration offers technical assistance, extra points on existing grant applications, and access to the unique CCC Information Technology Grant Program.

The CCC Information Technology grant team includes Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan, Chief of Staff & Operations Michael T. Coughlin, Fire Chief James F. O’Brien, Firefighter Dan F. Cross, and Grant Writer Barbara A. Mello.

Image via Shutterstock.