A NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS

Bruce Bodmer explains how adopting new automated-workflow technology has streamlined crew management and governance at Station 8 (Hout Bay).

DURING THE COURSE of 2019 our station committee identified the need to find suitable technology to manage our teams, streamline data capturing and automate all our checklists. The goals are to analyse data captured to improve systems and the way we do things, and to communicate effectively with our crew.

Naturally, we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel but rather find best-of-breed software as a service (SAAS) that is cloud based and cellphone friendly.

Our requirements were quite extensive, to say the least, and included a good team-management application for scheduling crew duties and meetings, record-keeping, sending reminders, providing access to documents and for granular security control. We needed checklists to be automated for the servicing of boats, launch and recovery (these are sent to our Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) and captured on Seaweb) and Covid-19 screening. We also wanted a social media communications channel that would connect us to the various communities in Hout Bay. Accurate project management and reporting, and an integrated messaging system, which would allow us to create group chats on demand for operations, were also on our priority list.

FINDING SOLUTIONS

Our basic requirements were for apps that are cloud based, available on mobile phones, and are easy to configure and maintain. The data produced by the processes would need be securely stored and available to station management for analysis.

We decided to implement the following suite of SAAS products: TEAMAPP Primarily used for managing sports teams, this app has been adopted by 10 stations for teammanagement purposes. We’re able to maintain our crew database, sign on new recruits, schedule crew duties and meetings, manage crews in teams, and share documents (crew application forms, indemnity forms, etc), among other useful features. GOOGLE FORMS Google Forms is used to capture and impart information for the crew change, boat checklists and launch and recovery checks. The system uses customised emails and automated messaging to keep relevant groups informed. Messages are also sent via Telegram to The Friends Of Hout Bay channel, providing basic information of launch and recovery and a short description to keep the community involved. TELEGRAM This is a ‘chat’ app that replaces WhatsApp. It’s been fully integrated into our station for dayto-day use, station coordination, training and operations, and the automation of information. Telegram has channels that support an unlimited number of users (for instance, some Telegram channels are being used by governments to communicate Covid-19 information to up to five million users). Our station has created a channel called ‘Friends of the Station’. Friends and family find it informative when they receive the automated messages about launch and recovery information. Past crew members have connected to the channel and now feel more part of the station’s extended family. What we like about the channel is that it’s a one-way

broadcast and that we have full control of what we send out. Feedback from members showed that they had been reluctant to download another chat app but, after using Telegram and exploring its features, they now actively promote it.

Call-out messaging using Telegram has improved our station’s ability to determine quickly who is responding. In a single Telegram Poll message we get an immediate indication of this. The ‘Thumbs Up’ or ‘Thumbs Down’ messages that are spread in between operational messages are no longer in use.

One of the great features of Telegram is that we can create groups that are accessible from an internet link, for example https://t.me/station8. This allows us to create an operations group for major operations quickly and invite participating emergency services to assist and communicate. The same Telegram account can be accessed from multiple devices, so our station controllers and incident commander can use Telegram from their desktops too.

These new improved processes has been greatly welcomed and supported.

Station 8 (Hout Bay) crew are enjoying the benefits of fully automated systems that keep them in touch with each other and the community.

So far, the new systems have been welcomed and are making the following possible:

›› Analysis of fuel usage and engine hours. ›› Management of boat checks and operational status of assets ›› Analysis of crew attendance at training and meetings. ›› Historical view of information, enabling us to make good informed decisions. ›› Effective management of snags. ›› Immediate automated messaging about incidents and snags. ›› Better governance and tracking of projects and decisions from meetings. ›› Quick access to duty rosters and crew contact information. ›› Ease of scheduling meetings and events, and monitoring RSVPs and attendance. ›› The ability to involve the local community in our station activities.