The Erie Fire Department is testing out new technology that could cut emergency response time in half.

Every second counts when it comes to rescuing someone from a fire.  The Erie Fire Department is finding out how a system called ‘SimpleSense’ could impact how quickly crews can find someone who may be trapped. 

Mercyhurst University tested the product today.  One team of Erie Firefighters trying to find two students trapped in the building the traditional way.  The other team tried to find the students with help from SimpleSense.  The difference was about eight minutes.

Eric Kanagy, CEO of SimpleSense, says, “We came up with a very simple sensor that uses body heat to track people and inside a building like this. We can actually use that information in emergencies and tell the firefighters where people are stuck inside.” 

Matt Costello, Lt. Erie Fire Department, says, “Anything to make our job easier, conducting a search or putting a fire out is a good thing.” 

The CEO of SimpleSense tells us they tried out this technology with one other fire department in Nevada.  In that case, crews also cut several minutes from their rescue time.