Microsoft has announced they will be discontinuing the Office Live product which is going to force many forward thinking EMS Agency's to quickly find alternate software programs to provide assistance with their online incident reporting, data collaboration and various tasks related to running an efficient EMS operation in today's technology world.  Microsoft has stated they will be discontinuing their Office Live product as of April 30 2012. After Office Live is no longer available EMS Agency's may transition to Microsoft's product called Office 365. Office 365 is the next generation software, however it is not without it's limitations such as; Office 365 is designed for small company's with fewer than 25 employees (Read the full article here)and unlike it's predecessor Office 365 will not be offered in a free version.

The cancellation of Microsoft Office Live is putting pressure on agency's to research and select a suitable replacement which offers similar feature sets. It is because of this reason EMS Toolkit has created limited time special pricing for those agency's needing a speedy and comprehensive migration away from Microsoft Office Live.  EMS Toolkit has been assisting both large and small agency's by offering a complete suite of integrated online tools designed exclusively for the EMS Industry such as:

• Online Incident Reporting with built in work-flow management
• Document Sharing/Management
• Employee Management
• Certification Management
• Online Rig Check Sheets
• Online Collaboration
• CEU Tracking
• Online Training
• Agency Calendars
• Online Scheduling
• and 70+ Other industry specific tools and features

Click Here to learn more about our limited time special pricing and to start your migration to EMS Toolkit, the EMS industry's only complete web hosted Intranet suite!

EMS Toolkit is proud to announce our newest release into the family of EMS Toolkit features; Our new RFID enabled virtual time clock to accompany our enterprise level web-based employee scheduler allows EMS agencies seeking high accountability and security around their employee time clock punches.

Below are just some of the benefits of using EMS Toolkit's RFID virtual time clock:

• Fast, Easy and Secure Employee Time Clock Punching
• Additional Time Clock Lock Down from the traditional "code", "cookie" or "ip address" lock down measures
• Stops "buddy punching" in it's tracks
• Reduces the time needed to Punch In/Out for employees
• Cheaper, and just as effective as Biometric Clocks
• Simple Plug N Play Installation - No configuration or setup required

We are very proud of this feature release as we have already seen agency's rapidly adopt our RFID Virtual Time Clock as their own. Contact us today for more information or to get started.

EMS agencies across the country have many of the same business obstacles in common. One of the most common is the need for powerful and flexible EMS Scheduling Software. The purpose of this article to is to look at the many features that the EMS Toolkit eSchedule system has to offer.

Scalability:

The EMS Toolkit Scheduling system is a true enterprise level system offering powerful tools for EMS agencies with as few as 30 employees to large organizations with over 1000 employees in multiple physical locations.

Flexibility:

Our web based scheduling software allows your schedulers to quickly and easily modify and work with the existing crews on the schedule. With only a few clicks of the mouse your shifts are easily converted to "OPEN SHIFTS", then reassigned to another employee and finally that same shift can be split into multiple shifts to allow for multiple employee coverage of a single shift.

Features:

EMS Toolkit has tailored a scheduling solution to meet the demands of both large and small companies EMS Toolkit created a feature set to be compared against.

·         From Full time to Part time staff our system can schedule both those with recurring predictable patterns to those whose work schedule changes on a weekly or even daily basis.

·         Employee Time Off Submissions: Integrating directly into our scheduling system. For instance when an employee submits time off and upon supervisor/payroll approval the employee is automatically removed from the schedule

·        Part Time Employee Availability Submission: Allow your part-time employees to tell you when they are available. This will assist you in filling the "wholes" that are created by your Full Time Staff

·         Shift Bidding: Allow your staff to bid on those open shifts within the system. With full employee validation and candidate ranking you will see who is the best fit for that shift

·         Instant Fill Shifts: Allowing your staff to put themselves on the schedule to avoid time delays of supervisor approvals

·         Text Message and Email notifications to staff on open shifts within your schedule

·         And many many more!

Compliance:

With our web based EMS Scheduling software your agency will have the power of complete system compliance. This means our system will do the "thinking" for you and your scheduling team. We ensure schedule compliance through various checks against the employee including: Expired Certifications, Certification Mismatch (i.e. EMT working Paramedic Shift), Multiple Bookings (i.e. same employee working on the schedule for the same day in two spots during the same hours). This level of scheduling compliance will ensure your agency's schedule is filled with qualified, fresh and appropriate staff members.

Deployment:

With our Shift Templates, Pattern Manager and our easy to use Workload manager you will find creating your EMS Schedule to be easier than you had ever thought possible. All the tools you need will be at your fingertips to create and customize your employees scheduling.

Integration:

There are a few notable EMS Scheduling companies out there today however EMS Toolkit is the only one with a fully integrated scheduling package. This means our scheduling system integrates with over 75 other features (all from a single employee login) including our Certification Tracking system and many others.

We hope this article has assisted you in learning about EMS Toolkit's Web-Based Scheduling Software. CLICK HERE to contact us today if you would like to see a short demonstration.

EMS Toolkit, over the years, has created the industry's only complete web hosted Intranet suite built specifically for EMS Agencies around the nation, but that isn't all we have created. We have worked hard to create an eco-friendly solution. EMS Toolkit's Intranet product will save not only time and energy of your EMT's, Paramedics, First Responders and management but will also save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every month on paper and other tangible resources. With easy to use tools, email forwarding reports, and various other green solutions, we invite you to be a part of staying eco-minded.

EMS Toolkit has not only built a "Green" product but our corporate mindset follows closely. Our facilities are state-of-the-art, we utilize high efficiency technology equipment powered by clean renewable energy sources which allows us to serve our valued clients with the highest degree of precision while keeping an eye on the world we live in.

Contact us today for more information on how we can assist you in moving your agency toward becoming a more eco-friendly EMS Agency.

EMS Toolkit has been working for some time with industry professionals to re-invent the QA/QI/PI (Quality Assurance / Quality Improvement / Performance Improvement) process. After hundreds of development hours, EMS Toolkit is proud to release our new QA/QI/PI tool.

The QA/QI/PI feature offers EMS agencies the ability to capture QA/QI/PI records for all your employees in an easy to use, highly flexible and extremely robust system. With the flexibility of this system you can utilize much of your existing QA/QI/PI processes. This means you can continue to track your:

• Documentation issues
• Protocol Issues
• Treatment Issues
• Time Management Issue
• or ANY other criteria that you may want to pay close attention to

As with many of the EMS Toolkit features, you may create an unlimited amount of QA/QI/PI Types. Example, if you have contractual obligations to a specific municipality that required your agency to QA 100% of all calls within that township, or maybe you need to QA all Cardiac related trips, our tool offers these functions. The EMS Toolkit QA/QI/PI feature can be used to track nearly any QA scenario.

Do you need to QA 100% of all your trips, or maybe just a 20% sampling? The flexibility that comes with the EMS Toolkit QA/QI/PI system allows users to easily integrate with many of the popular CAD (computer aided dispatch) systems that are in use today. This feature allows you to create predefined queries that will automatically import your trip information directly from your CAD system on a nightly or weekly basis.

Finally, loop closure is an extreamly important aspect with all areas of EMS toolkit especially with the QA/QI/PI system.  Any items in the QA/QI/PI system can be configured to require employee feedback. This ensures if certain criteria that the employee performed did not meet your agencies standards you can quickly and easily identify why or what the issues were that prevented the employee from completing the task properly.

For more information regarding the QA/QI/PI system and how it can be used to increase the speed of your agencies QA/QI/PI process or how it can fit within your agency contact us today!

CAMTS, also known as The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems is one of the premier accreditations ambulance agencies around the country can obtain. CAMTS is a peer review organization dedicated to improving patient care and transport safety by providing a dynamic accreditation process through the development of standards, education, and services that support our vision. Started back in 1991 CAMTS reviewes ambulance agencies on various categories ranging from documentation, employee management, loop closure, patient care and many others.

EMS Toolkit's Web Based Intranet system offers those EMS Agencies attempting to become CAMTS Accredited the tools needed to make the accreditation and review process a breeze! From strong features within EMS Toolkit related around accountability, loop closurem, employee managment systems and  EMS Toolkit's innovative Performance Improvement (PI), Skills Testing (ST) and our Quality Assurance and Quality Improvment (QA/QI) tools will make the documentation CAMTS requires second nature to your day-to-day operations. EMS Toolkit offers over 60 features that will help your agency when it comes time for your CAMTS site visit such as:

• EMS Certification Tracking for all your EMT, Paramedic Certifications and Nurse Licenses
• Online Training where crews can earn CEU credits while viewing material online and taking graded tests
• Classroom education tracked for every employee
• Full Employee Management including
  • Emergency Contacts
  • Medical Records for immunizations, allergies, fit tests and more
• Online Rig/Vehicle Checks with full loop closure for depleted stock replenishment
• Online Corporate Policies, Employee Manuals and handbooks offering full accountability when employees read the material. Additionally, notify all employees of any changes with the click of a button
• Full Vehicle maintenance system to track all vehicle services, accidents (MVA's) and more

To see a full General Criteria List for CAMTS Accreditation click here.

To become accredited with The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems an agency must not only apply, but also pay certain application and site visit fees. These fees are very reasonable however no-one likes paying fees more than once. EMS Toolkit gives your agency the tools and features to increase your agencies chances of being approved on the first site vist rather than subsequent visits. 

To speak with one of our representatives to find out how EMS Toolkit's Web Based Intranet System can help you with your CAMTS accreditation efforts please call us at 1-800-670-0160.

As EMS Toolkit continues to grow and expand its features within the EMS Web Based Intranet for Ambulance companies nationwide we are also working on creating tools never seen before at reasonable prices within the industry.

EMS Toolkit not only offers a feature rich web based intranet software solution that will literally revolutionise the way your agency does business nearly overnight but we also offer a brand new product called Satellite Real-Time Monitoring System or SRMS. SRMS is a suite of real-time monitoring products.  These products include:

• SRMS ALERT: A fully installable software application that will allow your agency to be notified of pre-defined scenarios within your CAD or database system. Imagine instantly being notified of those "special" circumstances, or high call volume within 30 minutes or maybe too many respiratory calls within 15 minutes. The possibilities are literally endless!
• SRMS REPORT:Go beyond a simple notification when a pre-defined scenario exists within your CAD and get the full details. SMRS REPORT allows you to not only be notified via Text Message, but also a detailed email with full data output. Imagine seeing run/tag numbers , call types, nature of calls, response times, out of chute times and more instantly when an event occurs.
• SRMS DASHBOARD: A powerful addition to the SRMS REPORT system.  Take that same detailed email notification sent via the SRMS REPORT and place it in a fully auto refreshing EMS DASHBOARD with audible and visual notifications for new events

Contact one of our representatives today to talk about how the SRMS system can be added to your EMS Agency seamlessly to gain the full benefits tomorrow.

Over the years the EMS industry as a whole has changed. It has become more tech savvy, more streamlined and more versatile with the tools that have been made available to field providers.  EMS Toolkit has built a system on those industry guiding principles as well as Integration.

The value of integration is something that we believe cannot be overlooked.  Think about your daily activities; how many different applications do you interact with? How many different systems do you ask your staff to utilize throughout their shifts?

System integration is a key aspect of the EMS Toolkit Intranet system. Our 50+ features are fully integrated which puts a powerful, flexible tool at your fingertips. Imagine clicking an on an EMT's name, viewing their certifications, when they expire and with a click of the mouse, you are now viewing their past attendance record or perhaps their emergency contacts or past medical history.

The level of system integration within EMS Toolkit has instant return on investment. We don't ask you take our word for it. Click here to see for yourself how much money the EMS Toolkit system can save you.

EMS Toolkit is now on Twitter.  Follow us as we hold open tweets about the trends of the EMS Industry, ask for feedback and talk about what's really on your minds.

Check us out and follow us at: http://www.twitter.com/emstoolkit