GSFR offers residential preplanning

"We have always wanted to preplan houses," said Garden Spot Fire Rescue (GSFR) Chief Darryl Keiser. "Every house has different and unique things about it." The people who live in a house are different and unique as well. When firefighters arrive at a home where there is suspicion of danger, knowing details about those people and the home can improve the chances of residents and firefighters coming out of the event safely.

The fire company has long used a computer program to record details of fire calls for use by the department and the Pennsylvania state fire commissioner. GSFR firefighters felt the system could be more user-friendly, so Nick Good, chief of staff and public information officer for GSFR worked along with volunteer Stefan Kuenzli to find First Due, a system he believes will work better and even give residents an opportunity to participate in reducing their own risk.

Garden Spot Community Connect is a program of First Due that ELANCO-area residents served by GSFR can utilize. "The people you protect can go on a website and pull up their (home) address to preplan their house for us," explained Keiser. "So, we have all the information we need about their house coming to us as we are responding, and it's documented."

Residents who visit the website may set up an account and then answer questions about the type of home they live in and whether there are children or elderly persons or persons with disabilities or other special needs in the home. "The Community Connect walks you through questions. It breaks it down for you," said Good, who asked his mother to test the system for him. "She said it was very simple," Good reported. Other information residents may include is types of building materials and whether there is a gas connection and where the shut-off valves are located.

Information provided by residents is uploaded so that it is readily available when a call comes in. Keiser noted that a street view will be available on a tablet for firefighters to know if the home is a ranch, a Cape Cod, or two-story farmhouse. Keiser added, "Everybody says, 'We won't have a house fire,' but when you do need us, this will save time."

Good emphasized that just creating an account and including contact information is extremely helpful, since the call may come in from someone other than the homeowner. "If no one is (at the home) to tell us anything, we can get in touch with (the homeowner) ... so we are not walking in unprepared," he explained.

"We don't want to be intrusive; we just want the information we need to serve those people in their time of need and keep our guys safe," explained Keiser.

Residents who would like to have the benefits of preplanning may visit http://www.communityconnect.io/info/pa-gardenspot and click on the tab that says "Residents." "The more information we have, the more we can do," said Good, who explained that the cloud-based system will be updated and allow for expansion. "We invested in this knowing we can use it for a long time," he said, adding that he is hoping community members will step up and help GSFR with the cost of the program.