In 2019, wildfires across the west coast brought attention to local fire departments and districts, putting a spotlight on outreach and effective communication to protect the public. A local Oregon district, Philomath Fire and Rescue, responded immediately, and made the push to upgrade their technology to accommodate these fast-paced and growing needs. The district understood that a key part of making this successful was to make sure their internal team was working efficiently to show the public that they are operating on all cylinders.
It was time to bring in the experts and let Streamline take the lead.
The Challenge
As a Special District, Philomath Fire and Rescue understood that their technology needs to be easy to navigate for their community and also meet the state and federal mandates. Also, they were looking for a platform that would be easy for staff to maintain and update; something modern-looking yet affordable enough to get Board approval.
Philomath determined that if technology was going to help solve their community goals, it needed to address at least 3 core challenges:
- How can we become more involved and establish a two-way communication system with the public?
- How can we make it easier for volunteers and staff to access their work across fire stations and from home?
- How can we achieve the first two challenges in the most easy, compliant, and seamless way?
The Result
In less than a year, Philomath Fire and Rescue has been able to solve all three of their challenges with a single technology solution and without a single hire.
Increased Recruitment
Philomath Fire is now able to accept volunteer applications through their website. These can be easily tracked to help manage recruitment and grow their volunteer ranks.
New Online Training Program
The Deputy Chief was able to post training videos, meeting invites, and load training materials on Portal to meet the changing safety requirements and training needs during COVID.
Brought Community Connection Online
Over 200 form submissions on their website for business inspection requests, hazard complaints, and First Aid and CPR Class sign-ups - the public no longer has to come into the office to do this.
Can we help?
We've helped over 650 special districts upgrade to the affordable website platform created specifically for them. Will you be next to join the Streamline community?
