Springfield First Aid Squad Needed An Online Solution That Centralizes Communication And Informs Staff Of Schedule Changes

Founded on March 18, 1949, the Springfield First Aid Squad in Springfield, New Jersey, provides emergency medical services (EMS) to the residents of Springfield – those who live, work and play in their town as well as those who are just “passing through.” They are a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization separate from the Township of Springfield. Unlike other emergency services in town, they do not rely on tax dollars to operate and are completely volunteer-run. Instead, the Springfield First Aid Squad relies on donations to cover operating expenses.

They operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and split their duties among their sixty-five volunteers, who are of all ages and from all walks of life. This enables the Springfield First Aid Squad to provide emergency aid to those in need at no cost.

While improvements in medicine have enabled the Squad to provide better quality care, the changes in technology and increases in membership prompted them to find a better way to deal with staff scheduling and training session. As a volunteer-run organization, juggling personal schedules efficiently, to meet the customer demands can pose as a challenge. Scheduling volunteers is one of the biggest difficulties on any coordinator’s plate, let alone when offering a 24/7 service. When it comes down to the scheduling volunteers, unless you are utilizing Humanity’s state-of-the-art, integrated scheduling software, you could be wasting time, effort and money.

Previously, they used simple Excel spreadsheets but quickly needed a dynamic online solution that would also centralize communication and keep members informed of all schedule changes. The less time spent on scheduling and managerial tasks, the better. By expediting and streamlining the scheduling process (and everything it involves), the Squad has more time to focus on more important and pressing tasks.

The Springfield First Aid Squad was drawn to Humanity because it enables them to stay organized with scheduling, communicate effectively and efficiently, and volunteers are always up-to-date with schedule changes. Though they are primarily using the scheduling features for the time being, the Squad is slowly transitioning more of their users to other modules of our application, including the Message Wall and shift trade feature. They have found that the Humanity user-friendly interface has allowed for members to easily swap shifts and serves as one easy place for members to message each other and the rest of the Squad.

We thank the Springfield First Aid Squad for all their volunteer work!