In an emergency response situation, time is the most important asset firefighters, EMTs and ambulances have – anything that helps them work faster and more efficiently has a magnified impact on their success. The ability to know the current status of a situation and respond accordingly can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Icelandic Red Cross and the Capital District Fire and Rescue Service understand the value of timely, reliable communication, and their investment in Handheld Algiz 10X rugged tablets has allowed them to save precious time and cut emergency response times for their fire appliances and ambulances. Improved communication, navigation, decision-making and reliability have proved the worth of these devices time and again.

In the past these emergency response organisations had used off-the-shelf, non-rugged desktop computers with capacitive touch screens. But the harsh environments, need for mobility and the importance of reliability pointed them toward rugged the Handheld Algiz 10X rugged tablet.

Their main priorities were integrated features and strong support. Olafur Ragnarsson, manager and software developer at Capital District Fire and Rescue, says “The Algiz 10X's available accessories, such as the vehicle dock, and the good support Handheld offers in its knowledge base, led us to an easy decision to choose the Handheld computers.”

In an emergency situation, the last thing anyone wants to deal with is complicated or hard-to-use technology. With the Algiz 10X, simple one-button responses are all that's required for most actions, and the tablet's 10in, daylight-readable screen displays information clearly in all environments.

The Algiz 10X has an IP65 rating and meets stringent military standards for performing in harsh environments; by the very nature of their jobs, emergency responders work in challenging environments. They can take the Algiz 10X from its vehicle dock and use it on-scene, not worrying about rain, dust, cold or even accidental drops. This ruggedness also leads to greater reliability and durability. 

“After we started to use the Algiz 10X, the need for hardware maintenance has significantly decreased, and is very little now,” Ragnarsson notes.