Patent ID: 7633387

Claim:
A method for automatically calibrating a tracking system of the type used by emergency responders at the scene of a chaotic event, said method comprising the steps of: affixing a wireless tag to each of a plurality of emergency resources, each tag configured to broadcast a unique ID number via wireless signal; dispersing the resources together with their affixed tags about the scene of a chaotic event occurring over a generally defined area; placing a first drop reader device within the generally defined area of the scene; assigning the first drop reader an absolute position relative to the scene from a reference input external to the tracking system; receiving in the first drop reader at least one ID number from a sensed first one of the tags; locating the sensed first tag relative to the first drop reader; calculating the absolute position of the sensed first tag relative to the scene by relationship with the assigned absolute position of the first drop reader; placing a second drop reader device within the generally defined area of the scene and spaced from the first drop reader; receiving in the second drop reader at least one ID number from a sensed second one of the tags; locating the sensed second tag relative to the second drop reader; and locating the second drop reader relative to the first drop reader and then determining the absolute position of the second sensed tag relative to the scene by its relationship through wireless communication and calculation back to the first drop reader with the assigned absolute position of the first drop reader.