Columbus (GA) Fire & EMS Elevates Training Tracking and Automates Reporting to the State

Columbus Fire & EMS is the largest fire department in Georgia outside of Atlanta. Serving all 220 square miles of Muscogee County, the department leverages over 400 career firefighters in 13 stations strategically spread across the county to respond to nearly 50,000 calls yearly.

A beacon of excellence, Columbus Fire & EMS obtained an ISO Class 1 rating in 2017 and has been internationally accredited by the Center for Fire Accreditation International for over 25 years.

Maintaining a complex operation with many moving parts while upholding its world-class status is no easy feat, especially during times of continual growth and change. The department needed to deliver, track, and report on all types of training to meet various department, state, and national requirements. However, the system it was using was time-consuming and cumbersome.

“We were using a system that required a lot of steps. Trying to generate a report to see where your people were on hours was tedious. There was a big, long spreadsheet that we had to submit to the state every year,” said the department’s Deputy Chief of Training.

A Better Way to Meet Training Requirements

In 2022, Columbus Fire & EMS turned to Vector Solutions to help streamline and simplify training management with TargetSolutions. The department was also an early adopter of AgencyConnect, the only solution that can automatically transmit training completions from local to state agencies.

With a user-friendly interface and purpose-built capabilities, TargetSolutions made it easy for the department to meet all its training requirements:

• Automate Required Fire Training Reporting: Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council (GFSTC) requires every Georgia firefighter to complete 24 hours of training each year. The department eliminated dozens of administrative hours and pounds of paper by digitizing training tracking on TargetSolutions and automatically transmitting training to the state via AgencyConnect.

“Now, you don’t have to do any heavy lifting. You just go in and validate to make sure everything’s going smoothly. With 400 personnel, there were thousands of pieces of paper that we had to keep on file and scan.”

• Simplify ISO Training Tracking: TargetSolutions’ pre-built ISO trackers organize training that is aligned with ISO benchmarks and are customizable to meet department-specific needs.

“ISO requires 192 hours; we require 200 hours. They also require drivers to have the driving hours, but not firefighters, so we added driving hours that our firefighters are also required to do.”

• Streamlining EMS Recertification: By leveraging pre-loaded online CAPCE-accredited EMS courses, custom content, and flexible EMS trackers, the department fulfills 100% of national and state requirements for EMS recertification, all delivered and tracked in TargetSolutions.
• Support Incentive Programs: Georgia firefighters can earn extra pay for four certifications, such as swift water technician and asthma technician. Granular tracking and comprehensive reporting in TargetSolutions are critical to show finance that training requirements are met to get members paid.

Expanding Optimization with Vector Solutions Ecosystem

Columbus Fire & EMS is expanding its adoption of Vector Solutions’ best-in-class software suite beyond training tracking and reporting. The department is elevating operations and strengthening readiness by adding Vector Scheduling for automated, rules-based staffing and Vector Check It for centralized inspections and asset management to its tech stack.

“The single sign-on is really nice! You only need to log into TargetSolutions, which serves as your hub,” concluded the Deputy Chief.

Request a demo to discover how Vector Solutions can improve training, tracking, and reporting in your department.