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PELA Project using GPS to speed up emergency response

By Eric Sollman
WAFF 48 News Reporter

Five minutes can mean the difference in life and death.

The PELA Project, or pre-existing landing area, can mean quicker response times for first responders by way of the air.

WAFF 48's Eric Sollman says  it's a grid, and it works like G.P.S. on your cell phone or in your car.

It will get crews where they need to go, in the shortest amount of time.

This patch of grass may not look very technical, but this spot of land, is one of many "H's" on this map.

They're helicopter landing pads, 155 of them, and they've been mapped with G.P.S. systems.  

"We're now able to have a medical helicopter fly directly to a scene with an approved landing zone," says Lt. Doug Davies with the Decatur Fire Department.

A landing zone that can be extremely crucial during a traumatic accident.  

Accidents, like car wrecks in rural areas that can be difficult for medical helicopters to get to.  

It's simple, the quicker response teams get from point-A to point-B, the better your chances are for surviving.  

"With trauma patients, 95% of those folks will tend to survive if they're there within the first hour, after that survivability drops considerably," says Davies. 

Also known as the golden hour.  

When accidents turn fatal, crews often ask questions.  

"You wonder is the system as good as it needs to be, is there anything else we need to do?"

And hopefully this system will help others with similar thoughts.

Decatur City Geographic Information Systems Analyst Brad Phillips says the system can be coordinated between responders.  

"Having them in a digital format makes them easy to share, easy to change, same with that or any of the data," says Phillips.  

"Anytime you can save somebody's life it's the greatest experience you can ever have," adds Davies. 

The PELA Project will get off the ground this week.

Davies and others have pushed this project for the past year, and it's taken nearly 9 months just to map out.

You can contact Eric Sollman via email at esollman@waff.com