New system gives Brigham City emergency vehicles faster, safer trips to critical calls
Today, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) announced a groundbreaking use of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology that is already helping to save lives in Brigham City.
UDOT has partnered with Brigham City to equip the city’s ambulances and fire trucks with V2X technology that gives the vehicles the literal green light when responding to critical emergencies. Known as signal preemption, this technology can extend green lights and even change signals from red to green for emergency vehicles during active calls.
The announcement marks one year since a Brigham City ambulance was involved in a crash at a busy intersection that left a paramedic injured and a vehicle damaged beyond repair. After the tragic incident, the city approached UDOT to inquire about the use of V2X technologies for their emergency vehicles.
“The partnership with UDOT was a no-brainer,” Brigham City Fire Chief Brandon Thueson said. “Our first responders face challenges every day, but one of our biggest hazards is just getting to the scene of an incident. Seconds are a matter of life and death in our line of work. UDOT’s technology has enabled us to respond faster and more safely during these emergency situations.”
For nearly a decade, UDOT has pioneered signal preemption for its snowplows to clear roads faster, improve travel times and enhance driver safety. With hundreds of intersections already equipped with smart signal technology, adding Brigham City’s emergency vehicles to the existing system made sense.
“Smart V2X technologies create a digital seatbelt that provides an extra layer of protection for the traveling public,” UDOT Transportation Technology Engineer Blaine Leonard said. “Extending our existing technologies to cities helps first responders save lives and makes the entire transportation system function better for everyone.”
The UDOT-Brigham City partnership makes Utah one of the first states in the country to implement this technology for emergency medical services. While off-the-shelf signal preemption technology has been commercially available to cities for years, UDOT is collaborating with its local communities to implement it on a regional scale. This allows Brigham City emergency vehicles to transport critical patients to hospitals across the region based on need.
“When someone is having a life-threatening emergency, every second can change the odds of survival and recovery,” said Jami Cottle, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at MountainStar Healthcare’s Brigham City Community Hospital. “Anything that helps patients reach our doors faster in a medical emergency can make a meaningful difference in the outcomes we’re able to deliver. This capability will save lives and enhance healing for our community.”
UDOT plans to expand V2X technologies to other cities across Utah, building a connected vehicle network that already spans hundreds of intersections statewide. As more communities join the network, first responders will be able to move through intersections more safely and reach emergencies faster.
