EMS Planner
EMS Planner is an online software development company that sells subscriptions to its shift-based volunteer scheduling application.
History
Brian Yun had the idea for EMS Planner in March 2005, when he was the director of quality improvement for Tufts University EMS in Medford, MA. Yun decided to look for an online scheduling program to handle shift requests from his squad members. Unable to find one, he contacted his friend Noah Spitzer-Williams, a Computer Science major, to see if he could build a prototype for Tufts EMS. Spitzer-Williams did, and after a successful trial period of two months, they decided to take their system and market it to other volunteer EMS organizations. EMS Planner is now being used by a number of collegiate and municipal EMS agencies in the northeast.
Operation
EMS Planner is a web-based system, requiring no local installations. Squad members can sign themselves up for shifts, then the administrator accesses the schedule to approve or reject those shift requests. There is no limit on the number of users that register in a squad.
The program's features include: online scheduling, a customizable calendar, e-mail reminders, member statistics, a message board, text-message reminders, file-sharing, and additional setup details. EMS organizations can engage in a free 90-day trial.
References
- Barishansky, Raphael M., and Katherine O'Connor, Best Practices for EMS: Who's found a better way of doing things, and how can you benefit too? (EMS Responder, January 2007)