ELKHART, Ind. -- New technology has come to the Elkhart fire department.
It's called AquaEye, and the goal is to help with water rescues.
The device basically looks like a tablet with a handle attached, and its sonar technology gives off a signal to help detect a potential victim.
This tool could be the difference between finding a drowning person...or not.
The device can locate a human body from the length of a football field, but if for example, a vehicle is being searched for, it can detect that as well.
"We have a command tablet that goes with it so someone on shore, we have two of these at a time so we can scan two football fields at once, and so this person can look at the sonar manually, so we'll say if we're looking for a vehicle. A vehicle will show up differently on here than a person so it can locate some additional things at well," said Jason Gour, EFD division chief of operations.
AquaEye utilizes sonar technology, as well as artificial intelligence.
The Elkhart fire department is the only local department as of now that has an AquaEye, which they've now had for a couple of months.
"Obviously there have been incidents in the past couple years that have happened but I think more of just getting out in front of that, and knowing there's potential, and we have areas of water such as this, such as the Elkhart Saint Joe River, and things like that so we're being proactive and being on the cutting edge of the technology versus waiting," said Gour.
"With our two rivers and how deep they are, as well as how rapid the flow of the stream, that we have the opportunity to go straight to a victim and/or an object, and be able to locate it, so I'm very happy that our fire department has come up with this technology so we can do exactly that," said Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson.
Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson was on hand for the AquaEye simulation today, and says this technology can help improve the chances of rescuing someone in need of help in the water.
"This obviously allows us to work together with the AI technology to assist us as we go about making sure that if there is a water rescue, we have a better idea of how quickly we can get to a person in distress," said Mayor Roberson.
The price of the AquaEye is between $13,000 and $30,000.