Emergency Reporting Launches COVID-19 Cost Recovery Report

According to the FEMA website, fire service, 911, and EMS agencies may be reimbursed for certain costs related to the COVID-19 response. The site says that COVID-19 cost recovery is being offered for fire and EMS departments because “fire and emergency medical services (EMS) providers are engaged in responding to one of the world's most significant medical emergencies in modern times. The response to COVID-19 is not without impact in terms of the fiscal strain of extraordinary personnel, facilities, equipment, supplies and apparatus usage.”

One of the key elements of this FEMA program is the need to fill out ICS Form 214 – Activity Log. “That’s where we come in,” says Tom Louis, Business Development Analyst at Emergency Reporting. “ER is making it easy for agencies to reduce the hours needed to fill out this form by providing users with Report #1797 – FEMA ICS 214 Form Activity Log for Reimbursement. This new, first-of-its-kind report is a first for ER, since it is formatted to match the actual FEMA form.”

Louis says that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Reporting team is committed to doing all it can to make updates to the system that will help its customers. “ER is staying true to our core value of fire service advocacy by providing system tools to make this challenging time just a little bit easier for our customers,” he says.

In addition to the many challenges faced by those in the fire and EMS service during the current pandemic, fire departments across the country are being forced to propose significant budget cuts. Emergency Reporting CEO David Nokes says that many fire agencies are using their ER software during this time to help save time and money, and to secure grant funding.

“Cloud-based software like Emergency Reporting can save departments thousands by eliminating the amount spent on costly maintenance of installed software, as well as many hours of personnel time spent on things like managing spreadsheets and paper forms for different compliance needs,” Nokes says. “The benefits received from a high-quality RMS becomes especially clear in times like these. We’re working hard to ensure that our system is delivering everything our first responders need to get them through this difficult time.”