Staffing for combination fire departments presents more challenges than for most other organizations.
Staff members who visit the station contribute to the station staffing numbers if their hours are recorded. If they record their time during times they are at the station, it reflects positively on the department and the organization as they can show they have a crew in the station ready to respond quickly.
The number and types of duties and shift requirements vary among the duties and the personnel. Some staff are required to perform a certain number of shifts each month, qualifications among staff and duties vary, and occasional public events require additional staffing.
Fire Departments have special one time events, like high school football game coverage, parades, community events, and those events need qualified personnel to sign up in advance to ensure the staffing levels are met. Other staff members need to be kept aware of who else has signed up and which responsibilities still need to be met.
All members need to manage the demands of their duty in relation to their family and personal lives. The ability to advise coworkers of necessary and requested shift exchanges, and to manage those exchanges can go a long way to helping staff balance their department and personal needs. onDuty provides this opportunity for staff to easily view who is requesting exchanges for which dates, and manages those transactions without requiring administrative personnel.
