Elkhart Fire Department Builds a Connected Ecosystem for Training and Operational Readiness

Department Profile

• Career Department
• 157 Personnel
• 7 Stations
• 30 mi² Coverage
• Scheduling 2013, TargetSolutions & Evaluations+ 2025, Check It 2026

The Challenge

Elkhart Fire Department, a career department of 157 personnel across seven stations in Elkhart, Indiana, first turned to Vector Solutions in 2013 when personnel scheduling was managed almost entirely by phone. Every shift change, open overtime slot, or callback meant working down a list of names one call at a time, sometimes reaching out to 70 to 100 personnel just to fill a single opening.

Vector Scheduling solved that immediate problem by streamlining staffing and automating shift communication, giving the department a faster way to fill gaps. But shift scheduling turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg for a department looking to modernize manual processes.

As Elkhart Fire evolved, it set its sights on advancing from an ISO Class 2 rating, earned in 2017, to ISO Class 1. That’s when the leadership started noticing the limits of the training module within the department’s records management system that they relied on for training documentation.

“It was very arduous to fill out any training, and the correct ISO hours weren’t being tracked either,” said the Division Chief of Operations. Entering training took too long, and the specific categories ISO reviewers look for were not easy to isolate.

In addition to training tracking, department leadership also recognized the need for an efficient process to manage skills evaluations alongside training, which was not formalized.

The department needed more than a scheduling tool. It needed a unified readiness platform, purpose-built for the fire service. Something flexible enough for administrators to configure while easy enough for busy crews to actually use.

The Choice

Already happy with Vector Scheduling, Elkhart Fire Department was confident that TargetSolutions, Vector Solutions’ specialized training management system, was the right choice after speaking with area chiefs using the system to help achieve ISO 1 ratings and manage their department-wide training program.

Elkhart Fire added TargetSolutions and Evaluations+ to digitize their skills evaluations in 2025. Together, they gave the department a complete training management solution, with an easier way to track training and hands-on assessments against real requirements, tied to personnel credentials.

By expanding its portfolio with additional, proven systems, integrated under Vector’s unified agency readiness platform, Elkhart Fire was able to cut down on administrative burdens while improving compliance across training, evaluations, and scheduling.

“It makes things a lot easier to track, especially with Evaluations+ syncing skills evaluations to TargetSolutions and being able to add training events in TargetSolutions that can automatically show upon the schedule,” the Training Captain said, “instead of having them go from one program to another program to another program and have to deal with different logins each time.”

Building on that momentum, Elkhart Fire Department brought on Vector Check It in 2026, adding rig checks and equipment management to their readiness platform for even more unified operational efficiency. For easier adoption, the department leveraged Vector’s Check It RapidReady managed implementation services for a hassle-free, custom-configured setup backed by extended, specialized support to ensure a successful rollout.

Now, the department has a single, integrated platform that can easily record training, track training aligned with ISO, reduce scheduling conflicts, and help ensure crews have what they need when the call comes.

The Change

With systems built for the fire service, and increasingly working together, Elkhart Fire Department has already seen the impact across crew readiness and day-to-day operations by growing its Vector portfolio:

• Faster, simpler scheduling. Rules-based callbacks reach crews directly on their phones, replacing time-consuming phone trees. Admins can easily validate qualifications and avoid training conflicts with visibility into training data.
• Training documentation nearly doubled. Logged training hours jumped from 16,000 to closer to 30,0000, when comparing Jan. 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025, and January 1, 2026, to July 31, 2026, with VoiceComplete AI-assisted training entry making it easier for busy crews to log training on the go.
• ISO readiness sharpened. Pre-built training trackers aligned with ISO benchmarks ensure all hours are accounted for in the right categories, helping close the small gap in training points the department needs for a perfect score.
• Accountability built in. The live skills mobile app gives evaluators a digital way to document every skill check, from probationary through task books and EMS skills, tied back to the relevant credential.
• Hands-free rig checks. VoiceCheck in the Check It mobile app, similar to VoiceComplete in TargetSolutions, speeds up rig walkarounds by allowing crews to describe what they see, and AI fills in the details.

What began as a single fix for callbacks has grown into a connected platform of specialized solutions built to support crew readiness.