Expand your Patient Records with Device Monitor data

ACS FIREHOUSE Software is excited to introduce Device Monitor with the new FH Mobile v1.6. Device Monitor is an installable add-on component for FH Mobile EMS ePCR to collect data information from Medtronic LifePak 12 cardiac monitors, and populate the data into FH Mobile patient records.
 
Device Monitor gives users another FH tool for capturing complete patient data real-time in the field. Activities recorded by the cardiac monitor are processed by Device Monitor as "events." The Device Monitor import wizard gives the user the ability to preview the events before importing. Once the events are chosen, they are imported into 'Device Data' fields within the patient record, including generating Vitals records. Users will be able to view EKG rhythms imported as .JPG formated files for the patient record. The Device Data is then retained with the patient record and sent to the FH master database when a synchronization is performed.

FH Mobile v1.6 will be released during the final quarter of 2008. The update has something for all FH Mobile applications to go along with the Device Monitor addition. A new compression feature will be included in all FH Mobile applications to compress attachments and captured signatures. The compression option is for reducing the file size of the items, minimizing the volume of drive space needed to store them. An alternative FH Mobile synchronization will be available to install for departments wishing to run the FH Mobile EMS ePCR sync as a Windows Service. The 'sync service' was developed for clients requesting to synchronize live data in the field using wireless network cards.

Contact your sales representative for an evaluation copy or an update to be shipped to you today!

FHETS 2008, An Event Like No Other!
The 2008 FIREHOUSE Software Education and Training Seminar held September 24th - 27th at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, LA. was an outstanding success. 545 users attended this year's event, smashing the 2007 San Diego attendance record. Thank you to everyone who attended this year. Many departments continued to send multiple staff members to cover the expanded number of classes available at this year's seminar. Post-event details and comments will be posted to the FHETS home page of the FIREHOUSE Software web site soon.

The 2009 location has not yet been chosen. Updates will be posted on the FH web site when new details become available. Email FHtraining@acs-inc.com for questions or suggestions about FHETS 2009.

Tips from the Field...
Returning after a short hiatus, this column details different ways FH clients have put FIREHOUSE Software to work for their department. We encourage clients to submit tips and suggestions for future FireVISION articles. Feel free to email them to: FHdocumentation@acs-inc.com.

This tip from the field comes from the Fairfield Fire Dept, CT. It provides a summary example of how they use FH for staff payroll.

Begin by setting up payroll activity codes. Set up groups for On Duty, Off Duty and Overtime. Then, assign your activity codes to the appropriate groups. Examples include:
On Duty:                                    Off Duty:                       Overtime:
OD On duty                                VL Vacation Leave           OT Overtime
AOD Acting On Duty                   PL Personal Leave           AOT Acting Overtime
SWAPON Swap On Duty            SL Sick Leave
SWAPOFF Swap Off Duty

Try to keep the names simple for the personnel to remember. Add as many codes as you need for your department. At this point, it may be necessary to establish some system rules so only specific personnel (like a payroll user group) can enter the codes in an activity. Use the Scheduling module (easiest way) or create staff activity templates for your shift rotations. When you create the activity record, enter the shifts, using "OD" as the Default category for the On Duty staff. Next, select the personnel normally on the shift but are off duty, populating the appropriate activity code, and conclude by adding the Overtime personnel. This will create your daily payroll activity records.

For reports, start with an activity report by activity type, and include the activities you added as payroll. Group it by day, and you will get a list of all on duty and off duty personnel. This would be your basic Payroll Roster. Then make one showing only On Duty personnel. This would be accountability. Next, make a report that summarizes the weekly or biweekly information, and adds up the activities based on the activity type.

It may take multiple reports (EG: a Garcia Report) and several rules to get this set up, but once created, it makes the whole process fairly simple to use.

A Continued Partnership with the State of Ohio
The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal has continued its partnership with ACS FIREHOUSE Software to provide Ohio fire departments the special licensed version of FIREHOUSE Software. A new agreement was finalized in September 2008 to provide the latest version of FH to the departments who have previously registered a state licensed version with us. This update addresses all NFIRS code enhancements implemented January 1st, 2008. The distribution of the update will be completed by the end of October.

New Additions to the Team!
We are excited to welcome two more new members to our team. John Campbell and Jason Duke both joined the FH Technical Support team. John is bringing two years of technical support assistance with him from Wells Fargo Financial. John also has extensive knowledge and experience for web development. Jason joins us from MediNotes Corp, but previously was at Wells Fargo for about two years as well. Jason brings over five years of technical support experience for both software and hardware requests. We welcome both to the team!