Liberty Fire Department Saves Time and Leverages Data

Executive summary

Liberty Fire Department in Missouri wanted to serve its personnel and community with better data and clearer reporting, but found data entry and extraction unwieldy in its previous software. The department needed a system that would make daily operations easier and provide reporting strong enough to set benchmarks and track key performance indicators (KPIs).

After a hands-on selection process, Liberty Fire Department now uses several ESO products together: Fire Incidents, Electronic Health Record (EHR), Quality Management, and Personnel Management.

Quick stats

Goals in software selection

• Easy to use
• Better quality of data and reporting
• Use data and insights to evaluate training needs and improve patient care
• Improve efficiency across the organization
• Save time extracting data
• Share accurate, useful data with internal and external partners

The challenge

The role of data across fire and EMS has gained real momentum in recent years, and it is not slowing down. With good data, departments can identify trends, gaps, and opportunities that lead to improvements in public safety and patient care. Many departments, though, are held back by the software itself, which can make entering data, analyzing reports, and improving firehouse operations frustrating work.

Liberty Fire Department knew that frustration well. “We struggled with data entry and extraction using our previous system,” noted Liberty Fire Chief Mike Snider. It was time to find a system that would help the department make better use of its data across operations, training, and patient care.

The selection process

Chief Snider started by looking at what nearby agencies were using, to hear the pros and cons from actual users. “We had neighboring entities that were already using ESO products, so having that first-hand use by others was great,” added Snider.

Because the priority was software where personnel could enter data quickly and accurately, the crews needed to see it working in person. The ESO team set up a sandbox environment for field testing. With no instruction, the crews used it immediately and ran into no issues.

“That spoke volumes right away. I knew that they would be the ones to give the honest opinion, so it was great to see how quick and easy it was for them to use,” stated Snider.

“After hands-on testing of ESO Fire Incidents, we found the capabilities to be far superior for our personnel than any other system.”

Fire Chief Mike Snider

Reporting breadth mattered just as much. In the past, the department had not always had the resources to use or share the data it collected, so being able to educate the public and bring accurate information to city council was important.

“Having the data sent back to me so quickly and easily can give me the ability to relay information to city council on call volumes, treatments, etc. I can also provide data to our department on response times, scene times, and other helpful information to them,” added Chief Snider.

Implementing ESO

Implementation went smoothly with support from the ESO implementation team. Liberty Fire Department needed to be up and running quickly at the time of purchase, and the team made that happen without disruption.

The training and support resources mattered as much as the rollout itself. As Chief Snider puts it: “Utilize the training and resources at ESO; you’ll have great success.”

“ESO is willing to listen, address any issues, and they will help you.”

Fire Chief Mike Snider

Using ESO today

Since switching, the department has begun refining its data to find where improvements are needed. “Our goal is to provide the best service and care possible, so having the ability to use data to evaluate our training needs will ultimately allow us to improve and enhance patient care,” said Snider.

Liberty Fire is also analyzing performance across different areas of firefighting, which has opened up useful benchmarking. “All of these reports provide me with insight into how individuals are doing within our organization – their skill levels providing ALS services, response times, scene times etc. Having this insight allows us to measure the success rate of our organization, which we can then compare to the state, regional, and national levels,” noted Snider.

“There has been a reduction of my efforts to get the same or better data that I was getting after many hours of work.”

Fire Chief Mike Snider

Looking further out, the department expects continued gains as it refines data collection. “Anything we can do to refine the data collection time will give us insights into where we need improvements. Or the data may show that we are doing well in those areas and we don’t need to spend time and money addressing them. So, it will improve overall efficiencies in our organization,” adds Snider.

Why ESO

• In-depth reporting for clearer operational insight
• Straightforward access to data for better reporting
• Usability that supports quick, accurate, and complete data entry

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