Release Notes - March 2024

Release Notes - March 2024


Video





App

  1. Current Version:
    1. iOS: 5.5.5
      1. Added a new setting to manage hydrant marker size on the map.
      2. Refresh mechanism for all modules. Simply pull down on the screen to refresh.
      3. Outside resources will open directly into a browser.
      4. Enhanced ability to save map settings. Settings will be available on any device using the same account.
      5. Remember email function has been added.
      6. Google maps layer for real time traffic has been added.
    2. Android: 6.6.6
      1. Updated menu options reflect the new Scheduling menu and sub-menu.
      2. Unit Filter option allows for filtering by unit type, agency, or name. This will allow users to have more control both the unit list and units visible on the map.
      3. Permission based status response. Now, agencies can control who is allowed to status themselves responding to an incident or not based on user roles.

Dashboards

The Dashboards Module has been released in its beta phase. The First Due Team will be making quick and frequent improvements on this feature based on customer feedback and performance
  1. New Features
    1. Dashboards allow an agency to consolidate information from several sources into one view.
    2. The Knowledge Base has Several Articles to assist agencies in setting up and using Dashboards:
      1. Setting Up Dashboards
      2. Associating Reports with a Dashboard








Assets

  1. New Features:
    1. Missed Checks Questions Identification
      1. Awareness of remaining/missed required questions is now much more visible to users:







    1. Checklist Timeout
      1. Setup -> Settings
      2. Agencies can now set a "Last User in Checklist Time Out After" threshold.
      3. The default Timeout time is set to 10 minutes. Agencies can adjust between 5 & 720 mins.
    2. Import Wizard - Add Location during Import
      1. The Equipment Import Wizard has been improved to allow the creation of locations when importing. 
      2. A downloadable CSV template is available when a user clicks in the Import Wizard tool.
    1. Apparatus - Boat Specifications
      1. When the NFIRS apparatus type is defined as "Marine Equipment", "Fire Boat with Pump", or "Boat, no pump" the specifications tab will appear with the following fields:
        1. Maximum Persons: Text field, Length: 6, Not Required
        2. Maximum Gross Load: Text field, Length: 20, Not Required
        3. Persons, Motor, & Equip.: Text field, Length: 20, Not Required
        4. Fuel Capacity: Text field, Length: 20, Not Required
        5. Fresh Water: Text field, Length: 20, Not Required
        6. Grey Water: Text field, Length: 20, Not Required
        7. # of Motors: the maximum is 5
          1. Make: Text Length: 40
          2. Model: Text Length: 40
          3. Serial #: Text Length: 40
          4. Type: Single Select: 4-Stroke, 2-Stroke
          5. HP: Numerical: Format 999.9 hp
          6. Shaft Length: Text Length: 40
          7. Current Hours: Numerical, 1000.5 format

  1. Enhancements
    1. Work Order Card Updates
      1. Work Order Cards have been redesigned.
        1. Click on the card to view work order details
        2. Action Icons are now available inside the Work Order Card.
        3. WO Number has been moved to the bottom right corner.
        4. Priority Labels are updated with color
        5. Drag and drop remains unchanged.
                                                            

    1. Preventative Maintenance Page
      1. New PM list page was created to assist agencies in tracking/forecasting PM work orders.
      2. Filters
        1. Filter by work order type, Maintenance type, Next due date (for scheduled WOs), apparatus
      3. Add Maintenance - same as within Setup, will allow the user to create a new scheduled or triggered work order type.
      4. Play Button: Manually create an associated PM Work Order before the schedule/trigger criteria. Upon work order completion, the last due/next due (scheduled) OR next value (triggered) will be updated with new "previous" values.



    1. New Specification Fields
      1. Apparatus: Initial In Service Date MM/DD/YYYY
      2. Equipment:
        1. Last Service Test Date
        2. Next Service Test Date

Community Connect

  1. New Feature:
    1. Alert Types
      1. Community Connect Alerts have been broken down into four categories: 
        1. Notifications
        2. Weather
        3. Community Events
        4. Alerts
      2. CC users can opt in/out of alerts PER TYPE within their CC portal.
      3. Fire Dept. Users can send alerts PER TYPE within their CC user page.
      4. Additional column and filter on the CC users page displays users' opt in choices per type.
      5. Alerts can be sent in bulk, with support for saved templates.
      





Fire Prevention

  1. New Features:
    1. Risk Assessment - OVAP Scoring
      1. Users can now auto-calculate an occupancy's Risk Score based on occupancy information entered.
      2. See our Knowledge Base Article: Risk Assessment - OVAP Scoring 




    1. Inspection Form - Backdate Options
      1. Users can now edit an inspection form within the Form Builder without affecting completed inspections.
      2. See our Knowledge Base Article: Inspection Form – Make changes to the form without changing historical records


    1. Inspection Notification - Enable/Disable for assigned inspectors by Inspection Type
      1. New ability to turn on or off automatic notifications for assigned inspections by type.
      2. When editing an Inspection Type, within the Email tab:
        1. Turn on Email Notification when an inspection is automatically scheduled
          1. If ON, any inspector assigned to an automatically scheduled inspection will receive an email when completing an inspection.
          2. If OFF, no email is sent to an inspector assigned to an automatically scheduled inspection.
        2. Turn on Email Notification when an inspection is manually scheduled
          • If ON, any inspector manually assigned to a scheduled inspection will receive an email when completing an inspection.
          • If OFF, no email is sent to an inspector manually assigned to a scheduled inspection.



    1. Inspection - New Checklist Response Type: Field Update
      1. Users can add Occupancy Fields to an Inspection Checklist to help inspectors fill out vital information during an inspection.
      2. Similar to Assets, values entered here are updated into the Occupancy Record.
        1. By default, the value shown in the Occupancy Details view will be visible in the checklist, but can be edited by the inspector while completing the checklist.
      3. Initially, 5 fields are available:
        1. Floors Above Grade
        2. Floors Below Grade
        3. Construction Type
        4. Posted Occupancy Load
        5. Risk Classification




    1. Inspections - Add to Personal Calendar
      1. When an inspector receives an email for an assigned inspection, they can add the inspection to their personal calendar.
      2. The Calendar Event will populate as follows:
        1. If the scheduled inspection has a scheduled date and time -> the event will be set to the selected date and time, and it will block one hour
        2. If the scheduled inspection has a scheduled date but no time -> the event will be set to the selected date and block out the day.
        3. If the scheduled inspection has no scheduled date -> The event will be set to the current time.
        4. Users can change the event in any scenario before saving it in their calendars.
                                                                   



  1. Enhancement:
    1. Inspections - Inspection District and Zone Visibility
      1. Inspection District and Zone are now visible in the Scheduling modal and inspection header.


    1. Inspection Checklist - Fail Item without triggering a Reinspection
      1. Inspection Checklist Items can now be failed without automatically triggering a reinspection.
      2. This feature allows for the "automatically schedule reinspection" global inspection setup option to be ON while still allowing for minor items to be failed without the need for a reinspection.
      3.  Items that fail with no-reinspection will still be tracked within violations tracking, the Violations Table, the inspection series, and the Occupancy Record.
      4. To use this feature, the checklist item will be a "Custom Response" item mapped to the desired Standard Response Fields. If fail is chosen, choose whether to trigger a reinspection.



ePCR

  1. Enhancements:
    1. QA/QI - Change Incident Status from Within QA
      1. Reviewers can now change the report status to any status (except provider completed) during QA review.


    1. New Fields Added for Station/Shift
      1. Two new fields have been added to the ePCR report in the Response Section: Shift and Station.
      2. These fields are also now available as columns/filters in the incident list, and can be queried within Ad-Hoc Reporting.


    1. NFIRS Short Form - New Fields
      1. Response Zone & Covid Special Study have been added to the NFIRS short form available within an ePCR.


    1. Custom Question Positioning
      1. Custom Question Positioning has been enhanced to place the custom field immediately after the defined "after field" selection when creating a custom question.
   

    1. Custom Values - Treatments | Dosage Unit is now Available for Custom Values
    2. CAD - New Field Supported
      1. eDispatch05 - Dispatch Priority can now be populated with CAD information.

Medications

  1. New Features:
    1. Count Scheduler
      1. Admins can now schedule counts to be performed on Med Kits.
      2. Similar to Asset Checks, set a schedule type such as daily, weekly, or custom.
      3. Scheduled Counts can only be created for Kits that are "Controlled Substance (CS)" and/or "require count" enabled, as well as Med Supply (with require count ON).




    1. Signature Configuration
      1. Signature Requirements within the Medications Module can now be configured with greater control.
      2. Signature requirements can be different for Controlled Substances and Non-Controlled Substances.
      3. If the validation option chosen is "none" then no signature is required.
      4. If the validation option chosen is Signature Only
        1. Choose whether user 1 is allowed to "fill" their saved signature.
        2. Add a second and/or third signer, and determine if their signatures are required or optional.
        3. Determine which ranks/qualifiers can sign as user 2/3.


Personnel

  1. New Feature:
    1. Custom List Views
      1. Custom List Views are now live in the Personnel Module.
      2. Custom List views allow greater control of access and navigation within the personnel list.
      3. See our Knowledge Base Article: Personnel Custom List Views

 Reports

  1. New Feature
    1. Ad-Hoc Reporting - Summary Report Grouping
      1. Advanced Grouping Options within Ad-Hoc -> Summary Reports give users the ability to create computed columns and build custom charts.
      2. For Instructions, Use Cases, and Training Videos, see our Knowledge Base Article: Ad-Hoc Summary Reports: Grouping
 

 






    1. New Ad-Hoc Data Source: Asset Inventory
      1. The following fields can now be queried in Ad-Hoc under the Data Source = Asset Inventory
        1. Asset Type
        2. Location
        3. Sublocation
        4. Item Name
        5. Minimum
        6. Maximum
        7. Count
        8. Description
        9. Sku
        10. Package Type
        11. Vendor
        12. Expiration date


    1. Incident Report, Events, Training Data Sources - Modifications
      1. Incident Reports no longer require authorization to display information.
      2. Events will display as long as they have a start date. 
      3. Training Classes source will display both completed and in-progress classes
    2. Canned Report - Incident Type Breakdown
      1. Chart will load with "This Calendar Year" as the default interval.
      2. New Filters Added: Response Zone, Station, Shift.
      3. All records are now included regardless of incident status.
      4. Any records that do not have an "Actual Incident Type" documented yet will display as "None/ In Progress".
      5. Chart Colors have been updated:
                                                                      

Fire Incident Documentation

  1. New Features:
    1. External Resources
      1. Similar to within ePCR, agencies can now provide quick access to hyperlinks or other external resources from within an NFIRS report.
      2. See the following article: NFIRS External Resources


    1. Validation Warning for Possible Duplicate Reports
      1. When creating an NFIRS incident, if a duplicate exists in the system, a warning will display.
      2. FEMA submission defines the following criteria for a unique report:
        1. Unique combination of Incident Date, Incident Number, and Exposure Number.
      3. This warning will not prevent the user from completing the report, but should alert the user to double check their data submission before attempting to submit.


  1. Enhancements:
    1. CAD - Populate Secondary Unit Address from CAD
    2. Fire Incident List - First Arriving Apparatus
      1. Only Department Apparatus will display in the "First Arriving" column of the Fire Incident List, not aiding apparatus.
        1. This will provide easier list navigation for agencies who primarily assign Fire Reports to the First Arriving Apparatus.
    3. Fire Incident List - Manually Assign Officer in Charge
      1. Users can manually assign (in bulk up to 20 at a time) the Officer in Charge for Incident Reports.
      2. This action can only be performed for "Not Started" or "Incomplete" statuses.
        1. This action will not affect the "Not Started" status.
      3. In the case where an OIC is set from the List view, and a different user goes into the report and triggers the "Member Completing the Report" field, the OIC field will remain unaffected.


    1. Field Management - Free Text Box Option
      1. Admins have the ability to require a free text box in an NFIRS report if certain selections are made. This applies to "Actual Incident Type Found" and "Property Type"
      2. The most common use case is if an admin wants the text box required when a user selects an "other" choice:
  

    1. Vehicle Information - Business Owner
      1. Users can now designate businesses and other commercial entities as a vehicle owner.


    1. Archived Apparatus Removed from NFIRS form
      1. Now, when an apparatus is archived, it is no longer available for selection on new incidents.
      2. For previous incidents where an apparatus was previously documented, the information for that apparatus is retained and still displayed.

Scheduling 

  1. New Features:
    1. Call Shifts - Ranking List Options based on Length of Shift
      1. A new option has been created for agencies that only want to charge hours if a shift duration exceeds a certain number.
      2. Setup /Call Shift Rules / Rules / Add or Edit Rule.
      3. Change Ranking if: then choose from the dropdown list.
      4. The user will only rotate down the call shift rankings list and charged hours if the call shift complies with the rule, otherwise the hours will remain "uncharged".


    1. Call Shifts - Users Above Accepting User
      1. A new option, only available under the candidate method, can be enabled to "only charge users above the accepting user".
      2. This allows agencies to contact everyone without charging everyone.
      3. With this setting enabled, the only users subject to charge/moving down the list are users who had the OPPERTUNITY to accept but did not accept the shift. Any user below the accepting user in the rankings will be unaffected.

    1. Call Shifts - Include/Exclude users Manually
      1. A new option has been added to allow users to manually include or exclude multiple users from a call shift. 
      2. In the call shift preview, a new action column allows users to quickly include/exclude from either list of users.




    1. Shift Board - Switch Function
      1. Users can now quickly switch two employee's assignments with a right-click instead of drag-and-drop.
        1. 1) Right click on the first employee and select Switch.
        2. 2) Other employees are now selectable. Click an employee to switch with.
        3. 3) Click on the Switch button on the right side menu to confirm the switch.






 

    1. Enable/Disable Recurrence Rules
      1. In an effort to reduce unnecessarily long dropdown lists when rotations or kelly days are set, admins can enable recurrences appropriate for their agency and hide the rest.
      2. In the Setup -> Rotations page, a new Rules tab has been added.
      3. Use the "Manage Rules" button to exclude/include recurrences for your agency. 







  1. Enhancements
    1. Shift Board - Vacancy Background Color
      1. A new setup option has been added to help identify which vacancies are minimum staffing and which vacancies are extra positions.
      2. Setup -> Settings -> Shift Board Settings: "Indicate non minimum positions in gray" toggle. 


    1. Setup - Max Consecutive Hours by Work Type
      1. Previously, all work types counted towards a "Max Consecutive Hours" rule. Now, admins can define which work types apply to the max hours worked rule.

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