Safer, Smarter, Better: A Day In The Life Of A Firefighter

Safer, Smarter, Better: A Day In The Life Of A Firefighter
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May 13, 2021

Resource: Blog Industry: Multiple Industries, Public Safety
Tags: Fire, Online Training, Operational Readiness

Connecting Content & Technology to Improve Safety and Performance

Around the country, organizations in critical industries rely on our solutions to maintain a state of operational readiness. We take that responsibility seriously! We’re on a mission to elevate the safety and success of our customers and their communities by delivering intelligent, world-class  solutions that empower them to make safer, smarter, and better decisions. In doing so, we’re ensuring our customers have the critical information they need at their fingertips, wherever they are, and whenever they need it. 

From school systems to fire rescue to EMS, availability and seamless delivery of information matters when it comes to safety and success. To help illustrate how the right technology can help you keep employees, organizations, and communities safe, we can look to how these systems support one of our most critical sectors: the fire service industry. 

A Day In The Life of a Firefighter with Vector Solutions

Let’s look at an example day in the life of a firefighter, Joe, and how a comprehensive and flexible solution set (with a dynamic tech stack) empowers him, and his department, to communicate and make better decisions.

The Night Before

Before Joe’s shift day even starts, it has already been impacted by a seamless technology solution: workforce management. Joe is on A shift, but because another firefighter in his crew requested an exchange of time, a firefighter from the C shift will be joining him today. Using Vector Scheduling, which Joe can access remotely from his home computer or mobile app, he can see the crew members have exchanged their time within the system and, because this solution has been built specifically for fire departments, it has already taken into account union guidelines and overtime rules before completing the swap.

Shift Day

7 am

Before work, Joe uses HealthPass, an app on the Vector LiveSafe risk management platform, to go through a remote health check that confirms he’s healthy and ready for work. His chief gets the results right on his dashboard, so he can give Joe a call or make staffing changes proactively if needed.

8 am

Joe arrives at the firehouse and logs into Vector LMS on the station desktop. There he receives any important information for his shift and sees he’s been assigned training on a new compliance update. He watches a short, customized video from his chief, which explains a new procedure, and Joe can quickly review and sign the updated policy right then and there to comply with his department’s SOP.

8:30 am

The next priority is ensuring the rescue and engine are fully stocked and ready to go in the event of a call. Joe grabs the fire house’s tablet and logs into Vector Check It, a mobile application used for routine checks of inventory. Using the app, Joe can complete his shift turnover checks on the vehicles and equipment, as well as any Class II substances. That includes:

  • Reviewing all turnout and bunker gear comply and ready to go
  • Confirming vehicles and equipment are in operating condition and reporting any discrepancies, which Vector Check It will help route efficiently
  • Confirm quantities of Class II substances

11 am 

Joe and his station have been assigned hands-on department training, so they head to the drill yard to meet their training supervisor. Once they arrive, their training supervisor logs into Vector LMS to access Vector Evaluations+, a powerful mobile training tool to assess competencies and observe drill-yard tasks. There, Joe’s training supervisor can: 

  • Access trainer videos and documents to use and distribute during the training
  • Log real-time assessments of Joe and his crew’s performances and upload the training record
  • Keep all online, classroom, and drill-yard trainings in one place

As the shift supervisor, Joe can acknowledge his training was completed, as well as that the other firefighters in his crew have completed theirs. The system automatically populates the training record for each firefighter. Joe’s training supervisor can upload this completion record into Joe’s file to highlight at his next performance review also using Vector Evaluations+ to capture the rating and comments with the customizable forms. 

4:30 pm

Joe arrives back at the station and gets an alert that his EMS certification needs to be renewed. He grabs the station tablet again and logs into Vector LMS to see he just needs to complete one Continuing Education Credit. He completed the online course right there on the tablet and Vector LMS updates his training record in real-time, so he can get back to work - and maybe even catch some sleep between calls.

7 am

After breakfast, Joe starts getting things ready for a seamless transition when his relief arrives at the end of his shift. He logs into Vector Scheduling on the station computer to a system note that allows him to update the entire next month’s schedule based on current union and department standards. He gets the schedule complete and logs off, ready to complete his shift and head home.

A Flexible Solution Set That Connects Content and Technology is a Gamechanger

In the example above, you can see how the right content, tools, and technology can come together to provide team members with the opportunity to access information and resources anytime, anywhere to improve efficiency, amplify learning and training, mitigate risk, and remain compliant. In providing your organization with the resources they need when and where they need them, you’re creating the optimal conditions to help your employees become safer, smarter, better. 

As we saw this past year, we can’t ever know what’s coming, but we can be prepared to act in smart and safe ways when it does. If you’re ready to be prepared for whatever challenges come next, we’re here to help.

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