A 35-year veteran of the fire service, Assistant Fire Chief Tom Judge of Concord Fire Department recognized a good thing when he was first exposed to the StationSmarts records management platform. He recalls attending an academy class that included a StationSmarts demonstration.
“StationSmarts does the things we need it to do, while letting us stay focused on fire service.”
Since that demonstration, over four years ago, Concord Fire Department has been a satisfied StationSmarts customer. Assistant Chief Judge credits StationSmarts dedication to all things fire-related that first attracted him to the software. Before StationSmarts, his department had used another data management platform that he described as “the offspring of a police-based dispatch or shared 911 system.” He knew that it was essential to store his department’s records within a software program specifically designed for the fire industry.
Tom Judge sees a huge advantage to StationSmarts mobile-friendly, iPad format, allowing his crew to take it with them out in the field. Concord Fire is actively using the Activity Tracker and Training modules to record every permit issued, every inspection completed and to keep track of the crew’s training requirements. According to the Asst. Chief, this is “tremendously helpful.” Before, with their old system, they were tracking permits and inspections, but there was no way to gather the data into an accurate report. Now, with StationSmarts, he’s able to run an Activity Report in fewer than five minutes.
Even though not all of his crew are particularly tech-savvy, Asst. Chief Judge hears that they “like it a lot” and think it’s “easy to use.” His team is able to “produce a report quickly” so they can get back to their primary job, fighting fires.
From an oversight standpoint, StationSmarts records management software saves Tom Judge a great deal of time. He can go in and read a full day of narratives in no more than 5-10 minutes without having to open any of the reports individually.
“StationSmarts is much faster, much easier. It gives you a good snapshot of what you’ve achieved in just a few minutes.”
Back in January, Concord firefighters suffered a fire in one of their apparatus bays. Fortunately no one was injured, but one of the fire trucks was destroyed in the blaze. Station repairs are scheduled to begin soon and a replacement apparatus is on order. Throughout the cleanup and rebuild process, Tom Judge has managed to keep pace with his department’s record keeping. He credits the StationSmarts team with always being incredibly responsive to his software and technology questions.
“I’ve never had better tech support from any other company.”
Asst. Chief Judge plans to implement the Pre-planning module next. So far, he’s been careful to introduce one module at a time, but he is happy to report that his crew has been adjusting to the new technology quite smoothly. Best of all, he sees great value in using the StationSmarts system every day, in all facets of his department’s operations.
