First Arriving Dashboards is a valuable tool for fire, EMS and law enforcement personnel, providing improved communication, real-time data and crucial operational insights. It is important to periodically refresh and maximize your dashboard content to ensure it continues to meet the always-changing needs of your personnel. Here are five ways to refresh your First Arriving Dashboards for maximum effectiveness.
1. Evaluate Your Current Layout: Take a look at your existing dashboard layout and evaluate whether it aligns with your current operational needs. Consider rearranging and reorganizing the widgets and panels to prioritize the most relevant information. A new look will be eye-catching and hard to miss.
Example: The new year is a great time to place upcoming recertification and training deadlines at the beginning of your slideshow.
2. Streamline Essential Information: To avoid clutter, streamline your dashboards by removing any unnecessary or redundant information. Consider “WIN”: What’s Important Now. What information is important right now to your personnel? Focus on displaying critical data, such as incident status, resource availability, response times, and any other key metrics specific to your department.
Example: If you want to improve turnout times in the new year, your personnel will need to see their current turnout times. Integrations such as Emergency Reporting, ESO and FirstWatch provide real-time turnout time and response time data.
3. Update Filters and Parameters: Review and update your filters and parameters to ensure they reflect your current operational requirements. Refine your filters to provide more granular control over the data displayed, allowing you to track specific incidents or resources as needed.
Example: Identify what data is in line with your organization’s new benchmarks and goals. Perhaps there needs to be an improvement in reports or a deeper understanding of certain data.
4. Incorporate New Data Sources: Take advantage of any new data sources or integrations available for First Arriving Dashboards. This could include integrating external systems, social media feeds, or other relevant sources. Review your existing integrations and any new data you’ve added recently to see if you are missing important information on your display.
Example: Consider integrations that can help improve fleet management, equipment checks and training information that can help streamline repeated daily processes and highlight personnel safety.
5. Optimize Mapping Capabilities: Leverage the mapping capabilities of First Arriving Dashboards to their full potential. Ensure that the map displays accurate and up-to-date incident locations, resources, hydrants, and other critical details, enabling better geographical visualization and resource allocation.
Example: Using a mapping integration that displays the address, running route and an image of the address can easily and quickly enhance your personnel’s situational awareness as they respond to an alarm. Additional CAD, dispatch and mapping integrations can help with the preplanning processes.
Need some help implementing these changes? No problem. Submit a support ticket here.
