After going to the Ukiah and to the Willits meeting about FireDrake and the Mobile Monitor I felt compelled to write this letter.

I know its one thing to try and reach the General public and investors but reaching firefighters in the field is totally different.

For example, when the general public and most investors see a fire truck rolling down the road they see a flashy, clean, red machine with lots of cool chrome handles and knobs. Not firefighters. We see a big tool box with lots of compartment space built with extreme precision to our specifications, making it extremely functional on the fire ground. We take pride in and care for that vehicle, so it is flashy.

My point is that firefighters live their lives by the millisecond, always being dynamic and looking for that next move in order to be even more efficient with time and resources. We do this because most of the time, those milliseconds we live in are ticking away in what we call the "golden hour" of a patient or victims life. The best way for us to save their lives is to be highly efficient, and to have the best tool for whatever job we are doing. That is why we are always reviewing and critiquing past events and thinking of the next best way of getting our job done smoother, faster and safer.

I think that given FireDrake's Mission Statement and with the introduction of the Mobile Monitor you guys are on track to become a force in the fire industry. It's all about building products that serve real life situations where firefighters are in the middle of a very tough triangle between life-safety, saving property and protecting the environment, and my department will help you to create and test products that will improve our performance.

As a firefighter I just want to say that I appreciate the hard work you guys put in. I am glad someone is doing this. Thank You.

Chris Wilkes
Fire Captain,
Little Lake Fire Dist.