CARTER COUNTY, Okla. (KXII) - The Criner Hills Volunteer Fire Department is using a new device to keep first responders safe when they respond to an emergency.

“We are looking out for the safety of our guys, and this is just another tool in the tool box to help prevent that,” Chief Michael Campbell of the Criner Hills Volunteer Fire Department said.

The department’s engine one has installed ‘Safety Cloud by Haas Alert’, which automatically sends digital alerts to nearby drivers who are in a one mile radius of an emergency vehicle.

“Our goal is to hopefully get that notification, and have them look and say ‘hey something is going on here’ and just pay more attention,” Campbell said.

The alert will pop up in certain newer cars and on phones using Apple Maps or Waze.

“We got the traffic vest, we got the flashing lights, we got the sirens, we got the traffic cones, we got the signs that says ‘accident ahead’, but people are glued to their phone, it’s just the world we live in, and if we can get that notification popped up on that then maybe they will look up and say ‘hey there is something here, lets slow down or move over,‘” said Campbell.

Campbell said the warning has been proven to protect responder and limit the possibly of a second incident occurring by 90%.

“It will let you know, every incident that you go to, how many people were actually notified, so you’re going to see if its effective or not, and if it is effective ,and we can see the results, then we are going to put it in our other engine,” Campbell said.

According to Campbell, the Caney Fire Department also has the tool in their trucks.

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This story was originally published by Kylee Dedmon at KXII.com