When migrating from your legacy Fire RMS to your new system, here are some key considerations for your migration plan:
Having blocks of years of records - typically three years of records - is important for many reasons, but primarily for grant applications. Ensuring that you have a consistent block of the past set of years is key. How will you handle reporting through the migration, including for years after the migration is complete.
NFIRS, and the FEMA USFA eNFIRS system, can help here. All fire department records that are taken by Fire RMS, then sent to their state or territory , are consolidated in the eNFIRS system database. Check with your state or territory point of contact to gain access to the reporting mechanism on eNFIRS. Run reports there to overlap both the legacy and the modern Fire RMS databases.
Most Fire Records are month based, and many are year based.
If migrating at a year boundary evaluate training on the new system by starting a month or so before the cut over and allow side-by-side testing.
People (firefighters, officers and administrators) are slow to change, and need time to adjust. Your timeframe may not work for your firefighters. The more time you can allow the better, but don’t let that become and excuse for the migration to drag on.
Provide multiple training sessions, and allow some key contributors to catch up in their own time. Move the majority forward.
Ensure you export - including to a printable PDF format for manual review - and archive your member records. Export to a spreadsheet (if the system allows it.) Export to a folder of printable formats. If not other options are available, then take screenshots.
Migrating from your legacy Fire RMS takes thought and planning to ensure a smooth transition. If you’d like help, please contact Responserack.
Responserack provides services for volunteer fire departments; member information services, incident reporting, NFIRS and so much more.