As a Bloomington, Indiana, firefighter deploys to the southeast coast in preparation for Hurricane Florence, he is taking a piece of Indiana University-created technology along with him: Spider-Link.
Built by Matthew Link, associate vice president for research technology at IU, in collaboration with Bloomington Fire Department Capt. Stephen Coover, the mobile storage device allows first responders to manage the reports, data and photos necessary to assess storm damage and determine where to send federal resources. Like a spider with eight legs, Spider-Link has eight connections to link different computers.
“In the field, first responders encounter environments with no network, no wireless and no cellular signals,” said Link, a retired volunteer firefighter and EMT. “To share data, individuals resorted to using flash drives and the like. With Spider-Link, they can connect eight computers to a network switch that talks to the storage drive and share everything. All they need to run it is a power source.”
Coover was sent to North Carolina as part of Indiana Task Force One, a U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency unit.
“In national disasters like Hurricane Florence is expected to be, certain levels of damage are what trigger federal or state level help,” Bloomington Fire Department Chief Jason Moore said. “Spider-Link helps give first responders a baseline of the recovery resources needed to put the community back together.”
Spider-Link is the latest outcome from a collaboration between Bloomington Fire Department and IU to develop practical technologies that help save lives.
To speak to Link, contact Ceci Jones at 812-360-4348 or [email protected]. To speak to Moore, contact Yael Ksander at 812-349-3406 or [email protected].
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