Personnel Availability

For some agencies, knowing who is available to respond and who is not is valuable information. This information can be used to get a rough idea on who would call in as "responding" should an incident be dispatched. It can also be used to know who would be able to respond during high probability periods when your agency could be dispatched, such as a weather related event or on weekends.

An example would be a weather storm that is moving in and being able to view who is available to respond should your agency be dispatched. Here is how it works.

Available and Unavailable Location and Position/Event data

Each agency can create their own location and position/event data to fit their needs for both the available and unavailable grids. An example of an available location could be where the members are at such as In District, Home, or Work. Available Position/Event examples could be All Events, Major Events, etc.

Changing Status

Members can change their availability status in one of four ways: calling in from a phone, automatically from a scheduler, from the FFRS app user interface, or from the mobile application.

The value of a member being able to call in from a phone is that it can be done from any location and does not require an Internet connection. An example is a member is at work, and has finished early for the day, the member can simply call from a work phone or from their mobile phone and change his or her status to available. Another example is a member heading home after work, and a buddy from out of town calls up and invites him or her over for the evening. The member can simply call in and change his or her status to unavailable. This simple and easy to use feature will encourage members to keep their status up-to-date.

The scheduler enables members to create their own schedules and their status will automatically change according the schedule.

The FFRS application and the mobile web app both allow a member to change their status with just a few clicks.

At home and in the Field

Mobile data terminals (MDTs) with broadband cards can be used in emergency and command apparatus to provide real-time member availability data in the field.

Tablets such as the Apple iPad or Motorola Zoom can also be used to display the FFRS application. (See Mobile Web App for smartphone application)

The Available/Unavailable feature is an option that is included with the Firefighter Response System. For agencies that do not need this feature, it can be disabled.