Improving The Alert System For Firefighters In Danger

Every year, dozens of firefighters are killed in the line of duty across the U.S. But there are hundreds more close calls — when a firefighter needs to be rescued.

Both volunteer and professional fire departments rely on a simple device designed to alert their fellow firefighters when they need help. It's called a PASS device, which stands for Personal Alert Safety System.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Matt Largey of KUT reports on the work some researchers at the University of Texas are doing to try to figure out if that little PASS device could be tweaked to save even more lives.