South King County residents can now keep closer tabs on local emergencies – live – thanks to a new feature on The B-Town Blog.
The multiple award-winning hyperlocal journalism site recently added AidLink, a 24/7 live feed of emergency dispatch calls, to the upper right sidebar of its homepage.
The new feature provides an inside look at local emergency activity, from routine medical calls to fire responses, giving residents a better sense of what’s happening when they hear sirens or see activity in their neighborhoods.
You can view the latest calls either via a List or Map view, and click on individual dispatches to see more details or to view its location on a map:
Aid Link uses a variety of codes to categorize emergency calls, helping readers quickly understand the types of responses. “AID” indicates a standard medical aid call, while “AIDSVC” refers to an aid service call that often involves non-life-threatening medical assistance or patient transport. “AFA” stands for Automatic Fire Alarm, typically triggered by a fire alarm system activation. Other common codes include “CPR,” “FIRE” for active fire responses, “MVA” for motor vehicle accidents, and “SALT” and “RESCUE” for incidents requiring specialized rescue operations, and many more (see more EMS definitions here).
“This is another step in connecting our community with vital, timely information,” B-Town Blog Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer announced. “With Aid Link, residents can quickly see what is happening in their area and stay aware of emergency activity in real time – a feature you don’t yet see on any other local news website.”
Aid Link was originally created in 2013 by Vince Coppola, then an EMT with Tri-Med Ambulance.
“I started AidLink as my first coding project so crews and dispatchers could get a heads-up on nearby calls,” Coppola told The B-Town Blog. “Today, it’s used by everyone from ER nurses to local residents who open it whenever they hear sirens go by.”
Coppola credits the project for inspiring his eventual career as a full-time software engineer.
The feature is live now in The B-Town Blog’s right sidebar below our Weather widget, with free access for all users.
