NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue is in the process of getting new reporting software. The department has been using their current software for nearly 13 years.
The new software, called Emergency Reporting, will give the department some needed upgrades.
“Right now we have no EMS software in house,” said Lt. Jayson Edge. “We’re looking to integrate our EMS software database with our fire software. Right now, we have two separate software: one goes to the state and one’s local.”
That feature will have a big impact on the department, because around 80% of their calls are medical calls.
“Our new software integrates them into one database for us so it helps us with efficiency,” added Lt. Edge. It will also help spot fire and medical call trends.
“Any special type of calls – water rescue, overdoses – it will let us track and pinpoint where they’re at on a map,” said Edge. Those trends will allow the department to plan for the future, including the possibility to hire more firefighters or build a new fire station.
“It would give the city government, city council, more tools in the toolbox to plan for future growth for public safety for the fire side,” added Edge. “It will give them statistical data and tracking data that we don’t have right now.”
Another feature is instant street-view and data about a building that is on fire.
“We can pull up on a fire scene or any call and pull up all that info instantly,” added Edge. “[It’s] more in detail, more modern that we have now.”
Lastly, the new software will speed up the department’s reporting process.
“It takes us a tad longer every medical call and this way it will really slim that down a little bit,” said Edge. Implementing the new software will allow the department to focus on other tasks in the community.
“So we can get out in the public and do more public education and do more inspections, you know, just do more for our citizens and for the tourists,” added Edge.
The goal is to have the software up and running in the next two months.
