Hexagon, RapidSOS Introduce Solution to Speed Fire Response in El Paso, TX

(HUNTSVILLE, Ala. and NEW YORK, 14 March 2024) – Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division and RapidSOS announced a Digital Alerts solution for enabling firefighters to respond to commercial building fires and emergencies faster and with more accurate data. El Paso County 911 District in Texas is the first to deploy the new solution, bringing more efficient and informed emergency response to their community. 

With Digital Alerts, emergency communication centers (ECCs) receive fire dispatch information from commercial building monitoring centers in real-time, eliminating the need for a phone call. When a building’s fire panel communicator issues alarm signal data, it is assessed by a central station automation system for accuracy and a Digital Alert is routed by the RapidSOS Intelligent Safety Platform and received at the ECC by Hexagon’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. The Hexagon CAD system automatically creates an incident, bypassing the initial call to a 911 telecommunicator, thus eliminating manual handoffs and reducing response time. 

The new solution delivers critical data to field responders and 911 telecommunicators, including triaging the type and severity of the hazard and the location within the building. 

“In a commercial fire, seconds can cost lives,” said Bill Campbell, senior vice president for Global Public Safety/North America for Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division. “Integrating RapidSOS’ groundbreaking Digital Alerts with Hexagon’s market-leading CAD system provides a critical head-start that first responders need. El Paso County 911 is the first to deploy this time- and life-saving integrated solution, and we anticipate many more deployments at ECCs across the country.”

“RapidSOS created Digital Alerts to reduce response times and the errors that can occur in manual handoffs,” said Karin Marquez, Chief Public Safety Brand Officer at RapidSOS. “Through this integration we’re able to deliver the information from the sensor to the monitoring center and then to 911 digitally from end-to-end for an efficient and effective response.”      

“The district is proud to be the first to deploy RapidSOS’ Digital Alerts technology integrated with Hexagon’s CAD system,” said Scott Calderwood, director of El Paso County 911 District. “Any time we can give first responders more time and information heading to an emergency, it’s a win for public safety,”

Hexagon and RapidSOS will be discussing the new technology in an upcoming webinar on March 19. Register here.