Chicago Tribune: How Southland Fire Departments Became Interoperable

As reported in the Chicago Tribune last year, 20 communities in the Chicago Southland adopted a new CAD-to-CAD system called CentralSquare Unify. Previously, these suburban fire departments operated on different CADs. Their systems couldn’t connect, making it difficult to coordinate emergency response and allocate resources optimally.

As a result, agencies had to manually call one another to relay information, creating delays that could endanger lives. Dispatchers had to identify unit location and availability manually. If there was availability, the appropriate unit was dispatched. Otherwise, the dispatcher would potentially have to call another agency for support.

For example, sometimes a neighboring agency would be closer to an emergency, even though it wasn’t in their jurisdiction. Or maybe they had a more appropriate unit available to respond – a fire truck or ambulance closer to the incident, better equipped, etc. When crises transcend jurisdictional boundaries, emergency response should too.

One suburban community, Orland Park Fire Protection District, led the transition to Unify by CentralSquare. The new technology has benefitted all 20 communities who now participate in the program, including Palos, Blue Island, Richton Park, and Tinley Park Fire Department.

“This will save lives, this will protect property, I know my colleagues were saying the Southland usually comes second or third. It’s good to be first.”

Mick Smith, Richton Park Fire Chief

The technology had been used in other states, but this was its first appearance in Illinois. The cohort of Southland fire departments used a state grant to pay for Unify. Even without the grant, however, the software was more affordable than each agency upgrading its own system.

Unify provides true interoperability to these suburban communities outside of Chicago. It connects their fire CAD systems to automate communication and backup requests. In fact, they expect the new system to reduce response times by two minutes per call, on average. Unify comes with other benefits as well.

CentralSquare Unify

A CAD-to-CAD system like CentralSquare Unify takes interoperability to the next level. It connects agencies across jurisdictions, allowing dispatchers to coordinate seamlessly and send the best unit to any call.

With Unify, responders don’t just arrive faster – they arrive better informed. Caller data, real-time updates, and historical incident details are instantly available, improving situational awareness and decision-making on the ground.

As the Chicago Southland learned firsthand, Unify eliminates the need for phone calls, radio relays or manual data entry between agencies. This cuts fire response times by two minutes on average.

When all responders receive updates simultaneously, it helps them make smarter and faster decisions. These automations are necessary in mass casualty incidents or large-scale disasters, where coordination across multiple agencies is vital. But it’s also helpful during everyday emergencies when one agency may be understaffed or overstrained.

Unify also improves resource management (like automating backup requests). Agencies can see the real-time location and availability of units across jurisdictions, preventing resource shortages in one area while another is overburdened. This visibility helps your agency use its resources more strategically and efficiently.

Unify is the only cloud-based, CAD-to-CAD system that integrates with any CAD vendor, including homegrown systems. Built on AWS cloud infrastructure, it offers top-tier security, reliability and scalability, so agencies can stay connected without worrying about system downtime or cyber threats. Unify is more affordable than costly infrastructure upgrades, and it’s more efficient than manual workarounds. Are you ready to bring your fire department into the future of emergency response?

The Future of Emergency Response

As emergencies increase in frequency and complexity, interoperability is essential to effective joint response. The right CAD-to-CAD system equips agencies to work smarter, faster, and together to keep communities safe.

Thanks to public safety software like CentralSquare Unify, fire departments and dispatch centers can communicate with a bi-directional data-sharing network to send the most appropriate unit to any call, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.

Schedule a discovery call today to learn how our advanced emergency response systems can help your agency maximize its current resources and improve response times.