Now, a relatively new technology shows promise of adding an element of certainty to an otherwise uncertain rescue.Downed firefightersOrange County (Fla.) Fire and Rescue has completed initial field tests of a Global Positioning System - based rapid-deployment, in-building personnel geo-location and tracking system for use by firefighters on the fireground. The system is designed by MeshNetworks of Maitland, Fla., a mobile broadband networking firm, with systems integration assistance from IBM.This Mesh Enable Architecture system, a spin-off of the company''s sophisticated military battlefield geo-location solution, employs three or four routers mounted on 6-foot tripods positioned auto around the burning building. Once the routers obtain their exact latitude and longitude via GPS, they are able to perform wireless radio triangulation to fix the location of any firefighter within the perimeter who''s equipped with a cell phone - sized transponder device.

The A220 is powered by a Deutz BF4M101 iF diesel engine rated 73 hp at 2600 rpm. The engine is a 2.97 L, turbocharged, four-cylinder powerplant with integrated oil cooling. The engine package also incorporates a Donaldson air cleaner with restriction indicator, Valeo starter and alternator, AKG oil cooler, Nelson muffler and Barry Controls elastomeric engine mounts.The main hydraulic pump, belt driven off the engine, is an electronically controlled Sauer-Danfoss series 42 hydrostatic pump with a displacement of 51 cc/rev. Also driven off the engine are Sauer-Danfoss gear pumps, two on the standard machine and three on the high-flow version. The main pump drives twin Rexroth MCR5 hydrostatic motors that displace 565 cc/rev and hydraulic system functions are controlled through a Bobcat-built control valve. "Other than the electronic pump, the rest of the drivetrain, the engine package and the basic geartrain package is the same as the 863 skid-steer," Krause said.

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