BACKGROUND
Cold weather is no match for durability of SAM. Just 30 minutes from the Canadian border, South Hero Volunteer Fire Department (SHVFD) is a fully rural department serving 1,600 individuals in the wintertime and a growing population of 5,000 in the summertime. Situated in the northwest corner of Vermont, South Hero is a draft-only department with no hydrants in the area. SHVFD responds to about 300 calls per year, 120 of which are fire related, with a fully volunteer team. South Hero is primarily a bedroom community, with most residents commuting outside of the town each day and returning to a community that can experience -30F temperatures in the winter.
CHALLENGE
When the time came to replace the old frontline fire engine, the SHVFD created a small committee to research a new truck. Each member had their own priorities: Some focused on decreasing the number of staff needed to respond to fires, others wanted a more high-tech, future-focused solution, while Captain Reed himself was looking for a fool-proof, long-term investment engine. During the 7-year long search, SAM was the only system that checked all the boxes for each committee member.
South Hero is primarily a bedroom community, with most residents commuting outside of the town each day, and returning to a community that can experience -30F temperatures in the winter.
SOLUTION
In a fully volunteer run department, members often train once a week, but may only touch the pump in a real-world situation a few times per year. Thus, everyone must be an expert at everything, with little experience. However, with SAM, more members get more training, as Captain Reed noted, “SAM has allowed more members to run the pump successfully; it has created more equal opportunity in training.”
RESULTS
More than simply creating equity in training, “SAM has the sensors to tell you when things need to be changed – it can self-diagnose. As a volunteer-led department, there is no one person assigned to truck maintenance, so the self-diagnostic features are very appreciated.” Nationally there is a transition between the “old and new guard” of firefighters. Veteran pump operators at SHVFD were sold when learning that SAM builds upon traditional technology and provides an extra failsafe buffer system that does not rely solely on brain power. When asked what he would say to departments looking for a new engine, Captain Reed responded, “You don’t have to follow tradition with your new truck… When looking at SAM, don’t envision replacing your old engine, but rather imagine all the things a future truck could be.”
“When looking at SAM, don’t envision replacing your old engine, but rather imagine all the things a future truck could be.”
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