In the firefighting industry, proper planning and data collection are critical for your safety and the safety of the wider public. Proper use of fire department pre plan software and fire department inspection software allows you to be properly prepared to help fight fires and also ensure that inspections are accurate and up to date.
Pre-Planning
Fire planning and safety require careful planning before a fire even starts. Information such as hydrant locations, the layout of a building, the structure, and an accurate floor plan helps keep you and your team prepared for events you may encounter.
- Digital Floor Plans Vs Paper: traditional floorplans are drawn on paper and can be cumbersome for both transport and updating. Digital records are far easier to both update and transport. Plans can also be accessed from various tools such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.
- Sharing: another advantage of digital floor plans is the ability for collaborative editing. By having a centralized location for your maps, any needed changes or updates can be made by staff as needed. Maps can also be exported and uploaded to websites, making outside access outside your department easy.
- Pre-Planning:with accessible digital plans, you can quickly review this while on the way to a location. This allows for planning the best steps to take once you arrive at a location. You can review the layout, not access points, hydrant locations, review safety equipment needs, and look for dangers such as barriers and hazardous onsite materials. Rescue operations can also be planned if needed. This makes navigating a fire more efficient and allows for contingency plans. This makes the entire process not only faster but also safer as well.
- Flexibility: your digital maps can also be used by other agencies, such as the police and paramedics, making events such as disaster management far easier to manage across various local agencies.
How Inspection Software Helps You
Inspection software provides useful information and tools to help make inspections easier and more organized. Here are some of the tools software offers to help make fire inspections more effective.
- Historical Data: when inspecting a building, knowing its history is of high importance. Many locations such as businesses and residences can change ownership over the years and commercial properties in particular can see high turnover rates. The history of a building can tell you how it was used and any potential hazards you should be aware of. These can include chemical storage, past violations, and other things of note. Using software makes this information easily accessible.
- Scheduling: your schedule can involve multiple inspections across multiple types of property throughout the year. With software, you can replace handwritten notes and non-automated spreadsheets with software that allows for automation and batch scheduling to keep inspections organized. This saves time and helps smooth out the process.
- Attachments:with software, you can easily add useful information to your report, such as images. Photos are a valuable record-keeping tool and can easily note things that can be hard to describe. Other attachments you can add include signatures and supporting documentation.
- Permit Records:inspection software can also include permit features such as adding a copy of a permit to an inspection record, issuing permits, and managing any permit requests. You can also provide permit copies for property owners through several methods such as email or printing.
Final Thoughts
Fire management software benefits your department by tracking and managing important data. Having information on hand to plan for any future needs and keeping inspections current helps keep everyone safe and ensures when fires need to be dealt with, that this is done properly. Organization maximizes both safety and successful fire control.