Featured Solution: Ringdahl EMS
Randy Fischer from Ringdahl EMS called to propose the development of a web-based scheduling application in February of 2007. We had our first meeting in early March, and the application was completed in May. By July, just three months after our very first meeting, Ringdahl had completely replaced their old system and were scheduling all their employees through our jointly-developed program, which we dubbed Crew Quarters.
Background
The original wall-mounted system
Before Crew Quarters, Ringdahl's scheduling operation consisted of whiteboards and telephones. At the beginning of each month, location managers would write the basic schedule on wall-mounted whiteboards. Then, throughout the month, employees would pick up and swap shifts with each other, as well as mark shifts they wanted to give away with different colored markers.
This sounds manageable in one office, but imagine trying to use this system across four locations in two different states. And remember, this is the EMS industry; lives are at stake. You can start to see the scheduling and management nightmare Ringdahl was facing. To make matters even more confusing, crew members are allowed to pick up shifts at different locations, if certain criteria are met. This is where the telephones came in. If there was a scheduling question, a crew member wanted to pick up some shifts, or an office had an opening they could not fill, they had to get on the phone with each other and call around. Meanwhile, for archival and compliance purposes, management had to manually re-enter the schedule into an Excel spreadsheet. The process was cumbersome at best.
Finally, they'd had enough.
Enter Crew Quarters
Randy's idea for a web based scheduling solution was brilliant: simply take the what was already working and put it online. That way, there was no need for crew members to re-learn a different scheduling system.
The Original Crew Quarters log in screen
At its core, Crew Quarters is an interactive calendar. Each day has 12 available shifts, which need to be covered by EMTs or Paramedics, depending on the shift type. Administrators create a new month, and enter in a "rough draft" of what shifts will be covered by whom. Then, crew members log in, and swap shifts with each other. Shifts are available first to full time employees, in order of seniority, then to part time employees. Crew Quarters also allows for crew members to sign up for shifts at other company locations, if a certain set of criteria are met.
A full month's schedule.
Crew Quarters became a full-featured web application.
Then, to top it all off, we created a website for Ringdahl. Like Crew Quarters, RingdahlEMS.com gets its color scheme from the paint job on the very ambulances the company operates.
Testimonials
"S.A. Watkins created a personal web page and customized scheduling application for our ambulance companies. We envisioned what we wanted in an on-line scheduling program and S.A. Watkins took our ideas and made them work. Fantastic, personal, responsive service from a quality company." -Randy Fischer
"With S.A. Watkins' help we were able to help promote our services and offer an interactive website that is spoken highly of within the EMS industry." - Tollef Ringdahl
