There are a few differences in the way emergency medical services schedule and the way law enforcement agencies schedule.

They are different organizations.

With different day-to-day operations.

It only makes sense to have different features tailored to each industry to maximize efficiency.

We have listed below some of the main features we see that differentiate Police and EMS scheduling...

POLICE

1. Court Appearances

This includes scheduling court appearances, notifying personnel of the details and updates, and giving access to a real-time schedule to your court. 

You can allow your local court access to a real-time view of your schedule which is meant to help reduce overtime by scheduling officers when they are already on duty.

2. Overtime/Extra Duty

Most law enforcement agencies count any officer’s hours outside of their “normal” scheduled as overtime.

When you schedule a special assignment or extra duty, it is a simple few clicks to get it posted and alert officers of the open shift.

When an officer works overtime, they are able to submit an electronic overtime form.

That submission will go to their supervisor and allow it to get approved and added to their payroll or comp bank.

Learn more about overtime in scheduling software here

3. Loaned Equipment

This feature allows you to track equipment that has been issued to people.

Track serial numbers, uniforms, tasers, anything like that.

We have seen some departments use it for tracking their vests.

So they'll set the due date as the expiration date of the vest and that way the system will let them know when that vest needs to be swapped out. 

And you have an audit trail of all that information.

EMS

1. Vehicle Checklists

Vehicle checklists allow you to move vehicle checks online and have an audit trail all in one place.

The form is customizable and will list out what you determine you need to check.

It will document who did the check as well as the date and time it was logged. 

2. Time Clock

Time clocks allow EMS agencies to calculate hours for payroll.

We most commonly see emergency medical services counting overtime as anything over 40 hours.

This is why they use the time clock instead of the overtime form feature.  

3. Availability

Each employee is able to input what times and days they are available so that administrators have full visibility when scheduling.

PlanIt allows part-timers availability to be easily managed.

With a recently updated screen and functionality, it is as simple as it has ever been.

Download a FREE 24x7 Excel Scheduling Template Here!

Similarities

Both EMS and Law Enforcement utilize tools such as:

• Employee templates
• Minimum staffing
• Color coding
• Reports
• Time off
• Shift trades
• Certification tracking

To check out PlanIt's EMS scheduling software, please go to www.planitschedule.com. PlanIt also provides scheduling software for fire departments and dispatch/communication centers. 

The site you are on currently is for police scheduling software. Feel free to navigate around for more information. 

While PlanIt Schedule provides scheduling software for the public safety sector, all industries within public safety are not operated the same. To make scheduling more efficient for public safety services, we are always updating and adding features specific to each industry.

Want to see the system in action to decide if it is the right fit for your department? Request a FREE demo today!

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