Fife Fire and Rescue Service has unveiled its new major incident command unit (ICU) as part of an investment of more than £5m in new state-of-the-art rescue equipment and facilities.  Developed in partnership with coachbuilder Cebotec and technology supplier Excelerate Technology, this new vehicle will play a major role in improving the management of major incidents and achieving interoperability with other emergency services. The new ICU is based on a Mercedes 7.5 ton Atego chassis and has been equipped with a rapidly deployable roof mounted 98cm satellite dish that provides a resilient stand-alone broadband connection for high-speed data, voice and video communications. The unit contains two main areas — a communications suite and a meeting room designed for operational briefings.

The communications suite at the front of the vehicle has a comprehensive range of technologies to improve the management of major incidents. Four ruggedised PC terminals are installed to enable STEPS (Strategic Emergency Planning Software), GIS, email, instant messaging, and other specialised applications to be run.  The satellite links ensure that all such applications are current in real-time to ensure that vital operational decisions can be made using the latest, up to date information.  They also enable video streams to be viewed by incident commanders on the scene as well as being transmitted to authorised personnel at other locations.  In addition, to complement the existing VHF and UHF radio communications equipment, VoIP handsets have been installed enabling calls to be seamlessly connected with 1's HQ. The separate meeting room has seating for up to 12 people and a wall mounted 42” plasma screen that can be used for operational briefings.  An additional screen is mounted externally within a separate compartment enabling larger scale briefings to be conducted.  The vehicle is also equipped with skydomes, external lighting and a reliable power generator.