Feature - Communications
look into this option. I called the num‐ ber on the ad and spoke with a very knowledgeable representative (Nate Davis) who helped arrange a free demo of their program. Nate came to the sta‐ tion one evening and gave us a presen‐ tation on EMS Manager. Within min‐ utes, members were navigating the trial system and couldn't believe what they were seeing. Members learned they could log in from anywhere to sign up for shifts and I could manage the whole schedule anywhere there was access to the Internet; at the station, from home, from my office, from my car (more on that later), etc.
they did. We let everyone know we’d be using this new system and before we even had our small training and orienta‐ tion, most of our members had already logged in and started getting acquaint‐ ed with it. This made training very easy. We went over the different sections of the system for members and we were up and running.
After the first month of online sched‐ uling, members were telling me they really enjoyed using our new system. I think it goes without saying that signing up for shifts from home sure beats dri‐ ving down to the station! For me, the amount of time and energy I would
through the system. There is a built‐in mechanism to send email and text mes‐ sages out to members, which we utilize to communicate with specific groups of people. We can send information out to EMTs only, or Drivers only, or both. This kind of flexibility is only a few clicks away and makes mass communication much easier than ever before. On the department management side of things, we’re getting much more functionality than we had anticipated when signing up for this service. Any data we input into the system is saved and archived and can be used to gener‐ ate any type of report needed. We’ve now created and saved a number of custom reports, which we use for pay‐ roll. The reporting engine is so sophisti‐ cated that it allows us to create any number of custom reports, which can be saved and recalled rapidly ‐ even for preset pay periods. Not needing to re‐ enter data or manually enter informa‐ tion has made the payroll process that much easier and faster. The built‐in member database has also served as an incredible tool for simply keeping track of our employees. We can easily print out lists of our members by position or any other criteria. Recently, we were looking to get new uniforms for our EMTs and with a few clicks; I had a list printed out of just EMTs, which I was able to use as a checklist.
We had talked with other EMS providers who had suggested a variety of scheduling options, but we felt that none of them came close to what we saw in EMS Manager. We decided to implement the program and all it took was a phone call to Nate and he got things moving.
With so much to offer, we wanted to get online scheduling implemented as quickly as possible. Personally, I had a lot of faith in our members being able to pick up this new system ‐ I figured if I could learn how to use the system so quickly, certainly all the younger mem‐ bers could pick it up even quicker. And
24 EMS PRO Magazine
have typically spent had been signifi‐ cantly reduced. Instead of dreading the process, it’s now a very easy part of our operation. Since switching, scheduling has become quick and convenient for everyone ‐ EMS Manager has truly been invaluable.
We get daily use out of our system. We are now able to send to eligible members coverage request messages right from the online schedule to fill open shifts. We use the Event Calendar to let everyone know about upcoming events, trainings, and meetings. Even things like scheduling standbys for local high school football games are done
We cover a population of about 3,700 full time residents spanning three towns and one village in Juneau County, WI. During summer and peak seasons, the population increases dramatically. Last year we almost doubled our annu‐ al run volume from the year before. With the use of the available reports within EMS Manager, I can provide proof of 24/7/365 coverage to our con‐ tract holders. This level of organization along with the ability to run reports is very useful for us internally. Accordingly, the system is also used a marketing tool.
Having a unified schedule and data‐ base online makes a once daunting task now much easier. Peggy Beise, our Deputy Chief, accesses the system via her smartphone to check the schedule and to have our member’s contact information handy. For me ‐ I opted for
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