Design and Application for a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Collection Board

By law it is required that all fire fighters and other first response teams be tracked at an incident or emergency scene. Traditionally this has been done using identification tags and a collection board. While this method works well for small incidents it quickly becomes inadequate for large scale emergencies. Salamander Technologies Inc. (Sal-Tech) has built on this concept by introducing Fire-Trax, an automated tracking system featuring high-capacity barcodes, scanners, and radio communications. While Fire-Trax works well, it does have drawbacks. Fire-Trax's limitations are two-fold. First the system requires an operator to scan each individual tag. This is a waste of personnel and it depletes precious time. Secondly the barcodes are read only. Therefore, the information on the tags can become obsolete after a short time. A potential solution to these limitations is the concept of radio frequency identification (RFID).

Due to its low cost, reliability, and read/write capabilities Sal-Tech sought to incorporate RFID technology into their existing Fire-Trax system. This was hoped to be the next-generation tracking system but after some analysis this may not be the case. After purchasing a mid-ranged high frequency reader from Texas Instruments (TI), for $631.75, its specific abilities and limitations were determined in detail. In testing it was determined that the reading range of an individual tag is highly dependent on its proximity to other tags. Since many tags will remain near to one another a reliable and simultaneous reading of multiple tags is impossible. For this reason the final prototype consists of a compartmentalized board with a reading zone and a hanging zone to be used for sequential (one at a time) tag reading. If a simultaneous read/write of multiple tags is absolutely necessary, microwave systems in the $3000-5000 range are a possible option. It is our recommendation that Salamander Technologies Inc. decide whether the benefits of RFID over the current Fire-Trax system are worth the added cost.