PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield is rolling out an app to help first-responders interact with some of the region's more vulnerable individuals. 

 

The app "pings" when someone carrying an identifying Bluetooth beacon gets within 80 feet and it brings up information about the individual that public safety or medical personnel may need in an emergency or other situation.

 

Vitals Aware Services, based in the Twin Cities, grew out of a partnership with an autism association in Minnesota to aid first-responders in connecting and communicating with individuals with special needs. Pittsfield and its public safety partners are the first organizations outside the Midwest to avail themselves of the technology. 

 

"This is just another reason why I love the Pittsfield Police Department. Our departments are always willing to innovate, to be creative, to think differently about how to best serve the people of our city," said Mayor Linda Tyer in a recorded press conference on Tuesday. "This particular initiative addresses a vulnerable population in our community that our Police Department and our community partners will often interact with. And this is a way to improve that experience for the residents and for police officers and first-responders from the various departments."

 

Police Chief Michael Wynn said he'd learned of the services during a training conference he'd attended. The department had been involved with so-called "Silver Alerts" for elderly individuals at risk or missing with other agencies in the state but had not been able to come up with a more local alternative. 

 

"We were tasked with trying to find a vulnerable persons identifier or a vulnerable persons registry," he explained. "There were several products available to us at the time but for various reasons when we experimented with them, we found we had some concerns, particularly around the issue of data security."

 

The department considered collecting information on individuals but it would have required storing sensitive information in the pool database, Wynn said. "I didn't want the Police Department to be responsible for collecting information that wasn't part of our mission."

 

Vitals has the ability to store the information that is entered by a parent or caretaker; the user has control over what is posted and can update at any time. 

 

Wynn demonstrated how it works with two fictional individuals provided for training purposes. One was a young boy with medical issues, the second an older woman with dementia. When their beacon — a Bluetooth device that comes in various forms — is pinged, their profile comes up on the officer's phone. 

 

There's a picture, name, age, medical condition, possibly de-escalation techniques or triggers, and contact information. It also can have a  stored video — in the case of the child, the mother explained that everything is OK and she would see him soon and for the older woman, her daughter assured her she was among people who would get her home safely.

 

"I think the coolest feature in this whole thing is they can embed a video ... to deliver a message," said Wynn. "That recording in itself is invaluable. We can't put an estimate on how impactful potentially that is going to be if we encounter somebody with a condition or diagnosis that is not visible or readily apparent."

 

Police played a video from Vitals that gives a real-life incident in which a young woman found her way home blocked by an accident. The woman is mostly independent and driving but also has a disability and becomes extremely anxious because she is unable to continue on her memorized route and is afraid to turn off. 

 

The sheriff who approaches her car because she is agitated gets an alert and her profile comes up. He understands why she's so upset and helps her calm down and assists her in getting home. 

 

Pittsfield is also unusual in that Wynn pushed Vitals to include its immediate partners: the Pittsfield Fire Department, County and Action ambulance services, state police and the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department. Vitals normally works with single departments but worked with Pittsfield to make the crossover happen. 

 

"Anything that my people are going to carry, I need to make sure that all of my community partners who may be in the city of Pittsfield also have access to," Wynn said. 

 

Brian Andrews, president of County Ambulance, applauded the chief for pursuing this technology. The ambulance service has a large amount of vehicles out in the community and this app will be of service in supporting searches for missing people, he said. 

 

"It will also help us if we encounter one of these individuals in the community, and being able to differentiate, hopefully, whether they're having a medical problem or this is their normal behavior," he said. "Things that we may have to keep in mind in caring for the patient."

 

Sheriff Thomas Bowler said he'd like to see this technology spread out through the Berkshires. While his deputies don't patrol, they do transport and work details that could put them in situations in which the app could be helpful. 

 

"Oftentimes as first-responders and public safety, we have officers who end up going into situations blind," said Bowler. "This certainly is a tool that's going to enhance their capabilities of understanding people's behavior. It's certainly going help them deal with situations much better."

 

The cost of the program is $26,730 for three years and the department redirected some of its 911 grant to pay for it. It will show up on all government phones within the Fire and Police departments and can be downloaded by the other entities. The app has a free and premium plan for consumers, although the Bluetooth beacon ranges from $20 to $40 and users can get more than one. There's also an android version in which the phone is the beacon. 

 

Wynn expected the roll out to start within the next week with the delivery of 50 beacons. Those free beacons will be doled out first come, first served to anyone who has signed up for the app and can show a profile has been loaded. 

 

"I'm extremely proud Pittsfield is going to be the first location outside of the Midwest to undertake this technology and I'm really looking forward to supporting the families that want to take advantage of this technology, the app, and the services that the app will provide for keeping themselves safe here in Pittsfield," said Tyer.