How the frustration of a Firefighter from Missouri led to a better technology to fight for fires | Kcur

When Jason Cerrano worked as a paramedic for the Pattonville Fire Protection District as a paramedic for the Pattonville Fire Protection District, he got an idea that would change his life.

“It is not a great hero story,” said Cerrano. “It was just a little smoke that rolled out the eaves, and [the crew] I didn't ask for water very quickly and I only spent a lot of time to drive around the truck. ”

Cerrano no longer had the mere urgency. The fire brigade, which controls the truck's water flow, looked the street and covered its view of the fire. He was responsible for the operation of the pump, but felt isolated from the rest of the crew.

“You can only hear the radio,” he said. “And it was probably my fourth trip around the truck and I said:” Man, there has to be a better way. ”

He believed that the solution would be to install a pump plate on both sides of the truck. “The only way to do this was to digitize it, and as soon as I arrived at this point, I realized that you can now automate it because everything is connected.”

Cerrano, born in Quincy, Illinois, and the current resident of the Lake St. Louis, on a multi -year journey, which led to the Sam control system led to the current resident of the Lake St. Louis. Similar to a tablet, the all-digital interface controls as a fire water water absorbs and unloads water.

The SAM control system – SAM stands for Simple Apparatus Management – is now used in more than 120 fire departments across the country. Many of these departments concentrate on the area of ​​St. Louis, including Cahokia Heights, New Athens, Mascoutah, Glen Carbon, Rolla, Maryland Heights and O'fallon, Missouri.

The SAM control system in Freeburg, Illinois

Hans Müller, the fire chief of Freeburg Fire Protection District in St. Clair County, Illinois, met the Sam control system at a trade fair for the first time about eight years ago. He was not on board immediately.

It was a hurdle to rely on a new, purely digital technology. “It is a lot of electronics and I said: 'Man, we have a lot ride with it. We have people who go into a burning building and I rely on a computer, ”said Müller.

However, when the technology developed, Müller recognized her potential. The control system not only automatically did what firefighters did manually, but also knew that his volunteer fire brigade would help in the rural areas of Freeburg where there are no hydrants.

In particular, Mueller was excited that it makes it easier to draw water. Then firefighters have to suck water from a pool, lake or another water source.

“One of the most difficult things we can ask an engineer is water to deliver a barn that is on fire or something. It is somehow difficult to do, ”he said. “And then you take a guy and put it on this truck compared to another truck, and it makes it more complicated.

“With this system, it has a button you push, which says:” I want to be in design mode. “I wipe it. It knows that it has to suck water in which printing uses, but it does all of this for you and Everything for you, ”he said.

The system can also automate the switching between different water sources.

“If you do this system everything for you, it is like:” Oh, that's really good, “he added.” These are moments in an officer or a fire brigade if you are on these control structure in which you Cross fingers and every toe you have [hoping] That everything is fine. ”

Jason Cerranos Entrepreneurship trip

Cerrano's path to the fire brigade began at the end of the 1990s when he was a student at the Missouri S&T and aimed at mechanical engineering.

“What is it on your belt,” he asked a friend at a college party and referred to a bulky pager on his belt. “This is my fire pager,” replied the friend.

“So you tell me that I can just register tomorrow [to volunteer] And you give me the clothes and put me on the trucks? And he says 'yes.' ”

“I loved it,” said Cerrano. “As soon as I did it and rose to the department – it is difficult not to love this job.” He even left the Missouri S&T Baseball team to spend more time in the fire brigade in Rolla.

After completing the college, Cerrano rejected a technical job and instead became a fireman for paramedics. He had every intention to retire as a firefighter until his journey to invention in the house fire in 2010 began.

“It starts with the patents,” said Cerrano. He worked for almost eight years with patented attacks from Armstrong Teasdale in Clayton. “They almost become a family with their patent.”

With secure patents, Cerrano worked with another local company to develop a video game that shows how the technology works. But only at a large trade fair in Indianapolis, as firefighters from the St. Louis fire brigade, took things off.

“[The St. Louis Fire Department] It was just in the process of improving all of their trucks to be digital and they said: “Well, that's interesting. Maybe you could play around with one of the older ones [trucks] First, and they actually gave me courage from Motorhaus No. 10 from 1999 and they gave me the truck. ”

Cerrano built a prototype of the SAM control system. The truck was back on duty five months later. “It is not easy to get a fire engine, especially one to which you have to make serious changes. So it was really brave from St. Louis City to help us, ”he said.

Cerrano sold his business to Idex Fire and Safety to Illinois in 2018. He continues to work as a trade director for research and development for the company. After the company has created a success balance of the reliable delivery of the SAM control system, the next step is to obtain the technology for further fire engines.

“Our next biggest challenge is to take the fire brigade,” he said. “Nobody likes changes and the fire brigade is known worldwide for its resistance to changes.” This is partly for good reason, said Cerrano, because the muscle memory of a fireman is of the greatest importance in stressful situations.

“If there are enough advantages, you will find a way to like it,” he said.

Listen to the inventor Jason Cerrano and the Freeburg fire chief Hans Müller, discuss the SAM control system St. Louis in the air To Apple podcastsPresent SpotifyPresent YouTube Or click the Play button below.

“St. Louis in the air”Bring the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya still flutteredPresent Emily WoodburyPresent Danny WicentowskiPresent Elaine Cha And Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.

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