Resgrid Blog
Resgrid.com Blog | Open Source Dispatch
At 2:17 a.m., the storm hits, alarms start coming in, and the room changes fast. One dispatcher is juggling radio traffic. Another is writing addresses on a legal pad because the whiteboard is already full. A supervisor is trying to figure out which crew is currently available, not just which unit was supposed to clear …
A city festival starts well enough. Traffic posts are staffed. Medical has a treatment tent. Security has a radio channel. Then the crowd shifts after a weather alert, one volunteer team loses contact, and three different supervisors start updating three different spreadsheets. Dispatch knows units are moving, but operations doesn't have a clean view of …
A call drops, units are moving, and then someone says the reserve ambulance has a charging issue and the frontline rig is already down for a repair nobody documented clearly. That's how many agencies discover their maintenance process isn't really a process. It's a mix of memory, sticky notes, paper check sheets, and a spreadsheet …
The failure usually starts small. Security spots lightning on the radar. Medical wants to hold a pedestrian route open. Stage management is asking whether to pause the set. Someone grabs a radio, someone else opens a group text, and the crowd hears three different instructions within two minutes. That’s why a rave emergency alert system …
You've probably used a walkie-talkie before. Press a button to talk, release it to listen. It's simple, direct, and gets the job done. That, in a nutshell, is the core of push to talk—but it's been supercharged for the modern world. What Is Push to Talk in Simple Terms? Push to Talk (PTT) is a …
When you're in the thick of it, you need answers. Not answers from last week's summary, but answers for right now. That's where an ad hoc report comes in. It's a one-off report you create on the fly to answer a specific, urgent question that your regular, pre-built reports just can't handle. Think of it …
When people hear "incident reporting program," they usually picture a stack of paperwork. But that's missing the point entirely. A good program isn't about filling out forms; it's a powerful intelligence system designed to capture every unusual event—accidents, near-misses, equipment hiccups, you name it—so you can stop it from happening again. It’s about spotting risks, …
When you’re in the thick of it, a fire department radio is an unbreakable lifeline. It’s your eyes and ears when smoke and noise make seeing or hearing next to impossible. This isn't just a piece of hardware; it’s the critical link that connects crews on the line, the command staff outside, and the dispatchers …
At its core, an EMS dispatch code is simply a shared language. It’s the shorthand dispatchers use to quickly classify an emergency call, figuring out its priority and what kind of situation responders are walking into. These codes are the foundation of systems like the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) and are what make an …
An operation management system is the digital command center that brings your people, equipment, and tasks together in one place. It’s designed to be your single source of truth, cutting through the noise of spreadsheets, multiple apps, and endless radio chatter to create a unified, real-time picture of what’s happening. What Are Operation Management Systems …