The City of New Orleans transforms their emergency response with real-time visibility
The City uses Samsara to manage vehicles and assets across 41 departments, including their Emergency Medical Services and Equipment and Maintenance Division, improving how they track and allocate resources to better serve the public.
Meet the City of New Orleans
New Orleans EMS needed one solution to track vehicles and assets
The City of New Orleans is a vibrant city located in southeastern Louisiana. Often called "the Big Easy," the city has almost 400,000 residents and welcomes millions of visitors each year for a variety of cultural events, including its most famous celebration, Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is also home to thousands of public servants—including the New Orleans Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS) department—who are dedicated to keeping the City safe. NOEMS relies on a large fleet of ambulances, sprint cars, bicycles, and other vehicles to respond to nearly 70,000 emergency calls every year, as well as provide services during high-profile events like Mardi Gras.
However, a lack of real-time visibility into their vehicles and assets was making it difficult for NOEMS to coordinate emergency response as safely and effectively as possible. "We were using a bunch of different tools, including radio GPS, modem GPS, Apple Air Tags—we were even moving pins around on magnetic boards to try and track our assets,” said Bill Salmeron, Chief of NOEMS. "We needed an updated way to bring everything into one platform to improve how we were operating."
The City began the search for a technology partner that would not only give NOEMS real-time data into asset location to help improve emergency response, but also enhance vehicle maintenance, fuel management, and the safety of providers overall, whether during a busy event like Mardi Gras, or any day of the year.
A flexible, easy-to-use solution that provides visibility across departments
To modernize their operations, NOEMS implemented Samsara Vehicle Gateways (VGs), AI Dash Cams, and Asset Tags across their fleet. "The main reasons we chose Samsara are because it's a flexible platform that's easy to use," Salmeron said. "Samsara devices were easy to install on many different types of vehicles and assets, and the dashboard and reports are easy to understand."
In addition to NOEMS, Samsara was implemented across 40 City departments, including the Equipment and Maintenance Division (EMD). EMD is responsible for managing a fleet of approximately 2,700 assets—including police, fire, and maintenance vehicles—and they faced similar challenges tracking their fleet. "We really didn’t know where our vehicles were," said Kim DeLarge, Jr., Assistant Chief Administrative Officer. "We would have $450,000 worth of equipment that was just somewhere, and we couldn't easily locate it."
With Samsara VGs, EMD can now see in real time where assets are located and how they're being utilized, helping the City be more transparent and accountable. "Now, we can easily respond to any audit or request for information about any of our vehicles," said Shelita White-Stewart, Chief of Staff-Operations. "We are here to serve our citizens, and Samsara helps us do that more effectively."
Samsara Video-Based Safety provides real-time coaching
Before Samsara, NOEMS faced a lag getting driver performance data. "With our previous system, we would get data about risky driving behaviors a week after it happened, and we couldn't tie it to a particular driver," said Cedric Palmisano, Deputy Chief of Special Operations and Logistics. "With Samsara, we can see which operators are using which vehicles, and Samsara will give them real-time feedback to flag behavior. Samsara helps us coach our operators within hours, when it's more likely to be effective."
AI Dash Cams help the City identify a range of driving behaviors, including distracted driving, drowsy driving, following too closely, wearing seat belts, speeding, and rolling through stop signs. NOEMS also uses Safety Scores to encourage drivers to improve risky driving. "Safety Scores are reflected in our providers’ evaluations, so if their performance exceeds expectations, they get a bonus," said Palmisano. "We're incentivizing our safety culture, and providers are responding with significant improvements."
During Mardi Gras and other busy events, AI Dash Cams also help crews navigate crowded city streets. "If providers are unfamiliar with certain routes, we can remotely tap into the dash cam and give them turn-by-turn navigation to get to the hospital," said Gerry Figueroa, Operations Administrative Major, Special Events. "It helps us get patients the care they need faster and more safely."
Samsara video footage exonerates and protects drivers
In addition to improved coaching and live navigation, video captured by Samsara AI Dash Cams enables the City to protect their drivers against false claims. "When ambulances are driving with lights and sirens, we become targets, and having video footage can help us exonerate our drivers," said Palmisano. "In one instance, a driver hit one of our ambulances at an intersection, and when a supervisor got on scene, he was able to pull the Samsara footage and clearly show the police officer that NOEMS had the green light."
AI Dash Cams and driver coaching help providers operate more safely
As part of their overall focus on safety, the City deployed Samsara AI Dash Cams in ambulances and other vehicles to identify unsafe behaviors and to improve coaching for EMTs, paramedics, and other drivers. As a result, NOEMS has been able to reduce speeding by 37% and mobile phone usage by 46% over 12 months, while EMD was able to lower speeding by 16% and collision risk by 81% over six months. The City has also used AI Dash Cams to exonerate drivers and resolve disputes, as well as give providers real-time, turn-by-turn directions to help transport patients to hospitals faster when minutes count.
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Samsara telematics help NOEMS allocate resources and manage fuel more effectively
While real-time asset location data is always useful, it can be critical during events like Mardi Gras. “Samsara has been one of the most important tools we use during Mardi Gras to ensure efficient operations," said Figueroa. "We're able to see all of our units along the parade route, and based on location and the nature of a call, we can quickly determine who would be the most appropriate asset to respond."
Samsara VGs are also an essential solution that has allowed the City to improve their fuel management across their fleet. "Sending crews to top off their tanks can be time-consuming, especially when we have to give our providers eight hours of downtime," said Palmisano. "With Samsara, I can pull up the data and make a decision based on the actual fuel percentage whether or not to send vehicles to refuel. It helps ensure our vehicles are ready to go and our crews are properly rested."
With Vehicle Gateways, the City can proactively maintain their fleet
Samsara telematics data plays a critical role in NOEMS’ ability to deliver fast, effective emergency response. With Samsara VGs, the City can route vehicles to calls more efficiently, as well as help ensure ambulances and other vehicles are up to date on maintenance. "If an ambulance were to break down while transporting a patient, it could be a catastrophic failure," said Palmisano. "With Samsara, we can proactively maintain our fleet and ensure that ambulances and other vehicles are ready when needed."
LEARN HOWSamsara helps NOEMS modernize asset tracking and improve decision-making
During events like Mardi Gras, NOEMS’ Command Post becomes the nerve center of EMS response. Before Samsara, commanders at the Command Post used manual methods to try and track assets and coordinate which assets to respond to calls. "We were using magnetic and cork boards with maps on them to move pins or magnets around the maps as units would respond to calls for service," said Chris Keller, Deputy Chief of Operations. "Now, we can issue Asset Tags to our bike teams and SRVs, as well as mutual aid units working the event. Having location data for every asset along the parade route has been priceless. Samsara has elevated us to the 21st century, allowing us to use technology to always make the best command-level decisions."
Samsara enables the City to track their fleet with one solution
The City uses a wide range of vehicles and assets to respond to emergencies. However, NOEMS had limited visibility into some of their assets, such as bicycles and Special Response Vehicles (SRVs), and they couldn't see all of their vehicles and assets on one map. With Samsara Asset Tag, the City can get real-time location data across their entire fleet, making it faster and easier for commanders to allocate the right assets to the right calls.
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