July 16, 2015 3 min read
St. Charles Fire Department Increases Reportable Training Hours with TargetSolutions
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St. Charles Fire Department in Missouri employs 77 firefighters to protect the community of 70,000 citizens. The department responds to around 8,500 emergencies each year.
DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT OVERVIEW
- St. Charles Fire Department was struggling to log all of its training hours
- After implementing TargetSolutions, the department has seen a ‘25 to 30 percent increase in reportable training hours’
- Department benefits from ability to efficiently deliver consistent training across department
St. Charles Fire Department in Missouri, Jamie Young quickly realized there was a significant issue with the department’s training program.
That issue had nothing to do with the actual training being conducted and everything to do with the way it was recorded.
“When I started running the numbers, I could see personnel were lacking in a number of areas,” said Young. “But I didn’t feel it was because we weren’t doing anything. I knew the problem was in the difficulty we were having consistently logging what was being done.”
With a clear need to improve how the department tracked its firefighter training and EMS continuing education hours, Young turned to TargetSolutions in December of 2012. From that point on things changed for the department.
“TargetSolutions has given us the ability to consistently log training that would go uncounted in the past,” said Young. “We have seen a 25 to 30 percent increase in reportable training hours, mostly just because of the ease of reporting within the system.”
The ability to effectively track firefighter training hours has Young optimistic for the department’s upcoming ISO review.
“We’re going to rely on TargetSolutions to help us nail down our report for ISO training hours,” Young said. “Last year we had a number of people up around 90 percent for the year. I think we’re going to maximize our reportable hours for training.”
The reporting component inside TargetSolutions’ fire department training management system is huge for the 77-man department on the outskirts of St. Louis. But St. Charles has experienced additional operational benefits since contracting TargetSolutions.
“TargetSolutions has given us the ability to consistently log training that would go uncounted in the past. We have seen a 25 to 30 percent increase in reportable training hours.”
Jamie Young
Captain St. Charles Fire Department (Mo.)
“TargetSolutions helps us get things out over the Internet, making training more efficient and cost-effective,” Young said. “The online courses help. It’s a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips and we have the ability to get content out. We’re able to standardize training and meet our department goals.”
What pleased Young most is how quickly his department adapted to the new system. Before signing up with TargetSolutions, he expected some of the department’s personnel to disapprove of “training on the cloud.” In reality, the department’s personnel embraced the technology.
“Usually, when you bring in a computer-based program, you might think you would get some push back from some of the older guys,” Young said. “Actually some guys came up to me and said, ‘Jamie, this is awesome.’ I told him it wasn’t me, it was the program. I’ve been pleased with the buy-in we have seen.”
About TargetSolutions
TargetSolutions delivers cutting-edge software applications, engaging online training courses, and world-class customer service. The company was founded in 1999 and today thousands of organizations across the country use TargetSolutions’ innovative technology to solve their training challenges. For more information, please call 1 (800) 840-8048.
