First responders gain boosted speed and efficiency at Western Lakes Fire District with Microsoft Teams

Providing a modern workplace for first responders

Western Lakes Fire District comprises some 215 square miles of Wisconsin, six stations, and 207 responders, including firefighters, medics, and search and rescue specialists. A collection of specialized committees helps coordinate and advise on the diverse requirements that arise from the district’s operations. About five years ago, Lieutenant Tim Reuter explains, the district realized it needed an upgrade to its communications infrastructure. “We used Google for a platform, which basically was just initially email. Let’s face it, email’s not the most efficient way to communicate,” he says.

To modernize the workplace, the district migrated to Microsoft 365 with its comprehensive set of communications tools. Its goals were to help coordinate collaboration and to provide a boost to internal and external communications within and among departments across the district. Soon, Microsoft Teams replaced email as a more dynamic, real-time tool for the district’s committees. With Teams, they could better work together and with other fire districts, sharing training and operations information, and coming together in real time to make the best decisions for Western Lakes. Compared to email, Teams provides a more immediate environment, helping keep everyone current and on the same page; all six stations can contribute, and participants can share and update information that helps keep everyone informed and up to date.

An idea takes flight

The Western Lakes Aviation committee is responsible for drone support, among other tasks. The community had come together and financed two drones that soon became a crucial tool for firefighting and search and rescue. The Aviation committee asked whether there were further opportunities to capitalize on the value the drones were providing. Specifically, they wanted to know whether the district could take greater advantage of the valuable information they provided during fire, emergency medical, and search and rescue missions, along with post-mission review and training.

The question resonated with Deputy Chief Brad Ingersoll and Lieutenant Reuter. Ingersoll was already wondering how they might overcome the limitation of a single person managing a drone, interpreting what they saw on a five-inch screen, and relaying information over phones and radios. Ingersoll recalls, “I came to Tim, and I said, ‘What can we do to share this information?’ We had looked at programs that were several hundred dollars a month for subscriptions, and we had talked to other agencies that were doing things.” Then, he says, he had a “eureka” moment: “I said, ‘Why can’t we just use Teams to share it?’”

The Teams advantage

Reuter realized that he already had the infrastructure he needed, including the drone controller, an Android device capable of running the mobile app for Teams. “It was easily set up, it was easily put together, easily shared. And at no additional cost,” he says.

Teams was installed as an app on the DJI smart controller. That interoperation with the DJI Matrice 300 drones enabled everyone involved—on site, in vehicles, at the station—to receive the video stream, see what the drone is seeing, and participate in real time as events unfold. Having more eyes on the mission is always helpful. According to Chief Bowen, it’s invaluable for the people on the ground to be able to involve such an extended team and have everyone contribute their skills and expertise to bring about a successful outcome. Bowen says, “Being able to utilize Teams with the Drone Program and livestream—not only from the drone to the operator, but to our mobile devices, phones, and Incident Command Posts—has provided more efficient operations for our mission.” Teams is now installed on the drone controller, in emergency vehicles, and on tablets, phones, and mobile data terminals.

Beyond the ability to readily share information, security is a primary concern for public services such as the fire district. Reuter adds, “We have HIPAA; we’re dealing with patient data. So, security and compliance are mandatory. The security features in Teams cover that. For example, we broadcast live videos more securely to all authenticated parties, along with outside agencies that need it.”

Success stories

Kami Warren is Deputy Chief of Western Lakes Fire District and in charge of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). She apologizes if it sounds cliché when she says she loves her job and getting to help the people she interacts with on a day-to-day basis. Warren says technology has changed many aspects of that job, particularly in helping bring together six dispersed stations and keeping everyone informed and cooperating—especially during the pandemic. But Teams, she says, has been a game-changer for her and her EMS response colleagues. “When I was able to sit in my command vehicle and I could see the drone footage streaming live on Microsoft Teams, my very first reaction was, ‘Wow!’” She offers the example of a Teams live stream helping with search and rescue: “You could see the full patient, what kind of injuries they had, and what kind of items we were going to need as a fire service to be able to extricate that patient safely out.” With Teams more embedded within her EMS operations, she wants to discover more ways that it can make positive contributions in the future. “I know that Teams is something we can use in so many different ways to better serve our community and our patients,” she says.

Chief Bowen and Deputy Chief Ingersoll have success stories to share, too. The Western Lakes area is a mixture of rural and urban geographies, characterized by towns, villages, valleys, lakes, and forest. Ingersoll says, “Lifesaving is a matter of minutes–seconds sometimes—and so that increased situational awareness we get from Teams and the drone just makes us faster and better at our job.”

A four-year-old boy was reported missing in the state park. “The use of the drone with Teams allowed that four-year-old to be found much faster than personnel walking through the park, shoulder to shoulder—three times faster than achieved in training missions without the drone,” says Bowen. Ingersoll adds, “Instead of having a missing hiker gone for five or six hours, I can go right to him using cell phone GPS coordinates in my drone, and in 20 minutes we’re taking him out of the woods and getting him to help.”

Bowen agrees that his Teams deployment helps rescue efforts by speeding up coordination and collaboration. He says, “That’s police, fire, emergency management, and law enforcement working together. It enables them to execute their missions faster.”

Responder safety, too

Firefighter Paramedic Christy Reuter adds a further benefit to sharing more information, with more people, in real time. She says one of the biggest benefits of adding Teams to the drone capabilities is “to not only find people faster, but also to have our firefighters get to certain areas more safely.” She adds, “So, importantly, all of us get to go home at the end of the day.” She notes that broadcasting video in Teams and providing that immediate, live meeting for participants to provide feedback can enable instant collaboration, which can lead to better outcomes. “We used Teams and the drone for a ground fire, and we were able to have the firefighters go in there safely and get hot spots that we couldn’t see with our own eyes,” she says. “Multiple people can look at different parts of the screen, and it just makes it a lot faster and more efficient.”

Enhanced training

Lieutenant Tim Reuter is also in charge of training and notes that Teams helps provide equal opportunities for trainers and attendees to benefit and contribute, no matter where staff are located. He can include all six stations, and he says screen sharing, chat, and the ability for participants to see each other live make for much more effective training. Reuter also uses the Tasks app in Teams to manage projects, anticipate issues, remove blockers, and track results. He says it simply helps get more done, on time and within budget.

Training used to involve driving from outlying stations to a central training location up to four times a week. Now, the department saves thousands of dollars a year on fuel and maintenance costs, along with staff time saved in travel. Reuter also says that, when required, outside experts can be engaged for specialist sessions much more easily and efficiently. There’s a further advantage, too: “Now we’ve got specialists from all over the world; the pricing comes down a lot less because there’s no travel expenses for those folks, there’s no hotel expenses. So, we’re cutting down on costs for the district, which cuts down costs for the taxpayers,” he says.

Mission continues to be accomplished at Western Lakes

Key features of the Teams platform make it well suited to the district’s operations as it averages about 500 calls per month or 6,000 annually, but drone support has been particularly noteworthy. It has helped find lost persons, prevent drownings, fight structure and forest fires, and coordinate multiple emergency services. Operators can broadcast multiple live feeds on different Teams channels, bringing in local and remote contributors as their specialty is required. Notifications are sent, then participants join from the office, from their vehicles, or from home. Participants can share images, diagrams, documents, and even GPS coordinates. Ingersoll says, “I can sum up the value of having Microsoft Teams in two words: situational awareness. There’s nothing more important to an Incident Commander, or even the people on the ground, than to know what’s going on in all aspects.”

Chief Bowen sums it up: “Teams is huge in the fire service. We have increased our communication, which has allowed us to more effectively execute our mission.” But Deputy Chief Warren has the final word, as she anticipates the district taking further advantage of opportunities offered by its Teams deployment. “It’s so very cool!”