BELOIT — When a distress call is dispatched in Rock County, fire and ambulance responders currently write down the information, and often depend on experience to determine the fastest route to the scene.

“Otherwise, we have fold-out maps,” said Bill Ruchti, a Janesville Fire Department shift commander.

The need for scratch paper should dissipate in the near future as Rock County fire departments upgrade their in-vehicle technology. Using nearly $1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency grant money, the county will install computers — at a cost of $11,000 each — this summer in 57 emergency-response vehicles.

The county’s police vehicles have been equipped with mobile data computers — also funded with grant money — since 1999, giving officers access to criminal records and other information. Area fire departments and emergency responders soon will be online as well, and will receive updates on emergency situations without clogging the radio airwaves.

“We’re very pleased that we’re going to be updated to this level of technology,” said Beloit Fire Chief Brad Liggett, whose department currently has one laptop in its command vehicle, but that computer does not have the communication capacity of the new units.

The FEMA funds will allow the department to install 15 computers — one in each vehicle. The technology will close a significant communication gap, officials say.

“This need was always there,” said Rock County Communication Center Director David Sleeter. “We just didn’t have the money for it … we’ve been discussing it for years.”

The county board finalized the grant March 27 by approving a 20 percent local match, or roughly $250,000. The county will pay half that amount, and the county’s 10 fire departments will split the other half.

“(The grant) made the project doable and affordable,” said Assistant Rock County Administrator Phil Boutwell. “We didn’t consider it up to this point.”

The grant also includes funds to install at least one high-speed Internet access point in each municipality within a year. Each access point has about a 300-foot radius.

When in range of an access point, the computers can receive high-resolution photos and streaming video images. If an emergency occurs in a building with surveillance cameras, responders are able to see the situation in real time.

Initially, access to the high-speed network will be limited to areas near police and fire stations, but Sleeter said the network will be expanded countywide as funding allows.

The computers also allow easy access to building plans, emergency procedures and address information, and provide better and faster communication with dispatchers.

“With this new program, it’s a one-button push,” Liggett said. “What it also does is give us a more accurate time for response — it reduces our radio traffic.”

Currently, when a call is received, responders radio their status to the communications center and receive only sporadic updates en route. With the computers, responders can key in their status and receive more updates, which they say will help them arrive at the scene better prepared.

“You’ll see our response times improve because we’ll have a quicker way to record all that information,” said Bryan Northrop, deputy chief of the Beloit Fire Department and president of the Rock County Fire Officers group.

Sleeter agreed.

“Every time you don’t have to tell someone, ‘10-four, OK,’ it just speeds up the whole process,” he said.

Dennis Ahrens, the town of Beloit fire chief, said the technology also makes investigation forms available at the scene.

“There are so many things these computers can do relating to our operations,” Ahrens said.

In Winnebago County, there is plenty of interest in installing mobile computer systems in fire trucks, but few departments can afford the upgrade.

“There’s so many uses for it,” said South Beloit Fire Chief Kenneth Morse. “I know all the police in Winnebago County have it, but it hasn’t spilled over into fire services yet. We don’t have the financial resources to do it here.”

The Harlem-Roscoe Fire Department is one of the few in the county with mobile computers.

“We’ve been using the program for three years,” said Deputy Fire Chief Kirk Wilson.

He estimates 17 of his department’s vehicles have such computers, including all ambulances and front-line fire engines.

Sleeter said the new equipment and high-speed network make additional improvements possible. If the network becomes accessible countywide, Global Positioning Systems could be installed in each vehicle to make response times even faster.

“This really puts our foot in the door for the future of what’s coming,” he said.

Liggett agreed.

“There are a lot of great things that are going to come out of this,” he said.