Mt. Lebanon (PA) Fire Department Implements Tablet PC Solution

A major functional area for Mt. Lebanon Fire Department is its Fire Prevention & Life Safety Education division, which includes inspections and reinspections of all occupancies in the town, such as residential dwellings, businesses, restaurants, churches, schools and nursing facilities.

During inspections, firefighters were required to fill out paper forms and inspection checklists as well as take notes by hand. Once back at the stations, administrative assistants would input the information into a database via FIREHOUSE Software’s Occupancy, Permits and Inspections module; and type up violation reports, which were printed out for the firefighters’ review and approval before being mailed to the business owner. If errors were found during the review process, the administrative assistant would correct the report and resubmit it for the firefighter’s review. If a firefighter went off duty, it meant additional delays to the review process.

“It was a time-consuming and costly process, because reports could go back and forth several times for a simple spelling or data error, and every revision meant another piece of paper,” says Glenn Wallace, platoon chief, Mt. Lebanon Fire Department. “Reinspections that should have taken place within 30 days of the original inspections were taking up to 70 days because of the back and forth paper shuffling. We needed to streamline the process.”

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