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From the dreaded Coronavirus to civil unrest throughout much of the country and the raging wildfires in California, 2020 has no doubt been a challenging year, especially for frontline workers. As these heroes continue putting their lives on the line, in combination with the demanding and harsh environments in which they work, the call for solutions to enhance their health, safety, and well-being, has never been more prevalent. At Safe Tech, we praise and support any company developing innovative tech aimed at enhancing the lives of first responders, military, and frontline workers – and FireHUD is especially dedicated to that notion. 

FireHUD’s mission is to reduce line-of-duty deaths for frontline workers by providing real-time group physiological monitoring. By providing an easy-to-use solution, the BioTrac platform, FireHUD aims to improve workplace safety for first responders, military members, and industrial workers. As discussed in Business Insider, FireHud collects “critical biometric markers such as heart rate and core body temperature” and uses “machine learning to create personalized profiles that predict exertion levels for all group members and provides real-time alerts in order to prevent injuries and deaths.” 

As seen in an article from the Georgia Tech College of Computing, The BioTrac Platform is made up of three different parts:  

  • The BioTrac Band, which is the wearable device 
  • The BioTrac Gateway, which is the long-range radio transceiver 
  • The BioTrac Web Application, which is the real-time software dashboard 

The BioTrac wearable technology is built for the extreme situational environments our first responders, military, and industrial workers experience every day. The BioTrac band is water-resistant, heat resistant, extremely rugged, and durable with a four-day battery life.  

Zack Braun and Tyler Sisk cofounded FireHUD during their junior year as engineering students at the Georgia Institute of Technology. FireHUD has been awarded several grants since its inception, including:  

  • March 25, 2020 – AFWERX: Selected for an Air Force Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) X201-CSO Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to explore a solution for real-time physiological performance of aircrew and mission partners 
  • November 6, 2019 – NSF: Received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $750,000 for research and development on a Biometric IoT system for First Responders
  • September 12, 2019 -AFWERX: Awarded a  Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the United States Air Force (AFWERX) that will accelerate deployment of FireHUD’s BioTrac Platform, a Real-Time Biometric Internet of Things (IoT) System across the Air Force 
  • June 19, 2019- NGFR: Chosen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to participate in the Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) – Birmingham Shaken Fury Operational Experimentation (OpEx) on Thursday, August 22, 2019. where FireHUD deployed the BioTrac Platform to display first responders’ biometrics in real-time and send alerts of overexertion events during an earthquake scenario featuring partial structural collapse and a HAZMAT leak at the Legion Field stadium

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Jordan Kuecker

Jordan Kuecker is the creative director and associate director of marketing for Make Safe Tech Inc.