Kent Fire Follows Kent Police And Chooses Steria

Kent Fire and Rescue Service has chosen a supplier for its command and control system that is also used by Kent Police.

IT business services provider Steria will be supplying the Fire service with its SteriaSTORM product which has been used by the Police service in the area for ten years.

It is hoped that the decision of both public sector organisations to choose this command and control programme will extend collaboration between the two, enabling a more resilient and efficient 999 service for citizens in Kent and Medway.

The six-year £900,000 project is set to go live in February 2015 and Steria claims it will allow Kent Fire and Police to share information relating to the mobilisation of resources in response to incidents when they arise.

The IT firm also believes the system will maximise the benefits of having two emergency services co-located within the same control room and utilising a collaborative command and control system.

“We were looking for a mission-critical solution that delivers real improvements and benefits on the sharing of information on a day-to-day basis and during major emergences and SteriaSTORM will give us that,” claimed Steve Demetriou, director of major projects and resilience at Kent Fire.

“It will enable us to share information with Kent Police, while still preserving the integrity each service may need during security incidents.

“Our aim is to ensure Kent is a safer county for our residents and businesses,” he added.

Both Police And Fire Will See “Benefits”

 Steria claims it will providing the two emergency services with a shared system to ensure the right resources are rapidly mobilised, enhanced sharing of information to arm each with the facts they need and improved resilience and interoperability.

SteriaSTORM is underpinned by Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and overlays real-time information about the location of emergency services resources onto detailed electronic area maps.

It is hoped that these two emergency services using the same software will reduce duplication and error when attending the same address.

The firm also claims it service will be much more cost-effective for both Kent Fire and Kent Police in comparison with the solutions that were in place before.

© 24N.biz