Civil Defence Board (now Department of Defence) - Volunteer Register System
Technologies: IIS, .NET, ASP.NET, SQL Server
Customer Profile
Civil Defence began as the civil response to the hazards of wartime. The organisation was designed to undertake non–combatant activities and measures to afford defence against, or mitigate the effects on persons and property, of an attack on the State, or of hazards otherwise arising during a time of war or emergency, such as from radioactive fallout or biological or chemical warfare.
Its main programmes of activity are:
- Casualty/ First-Aid
- Rescue
- Fire Fighting
- Radiation detection & monitoring
- Radio Communications
- Welfare Provision
Civil Defence is made up of several thousand volunteers who make themselves available in their spare time. Much of this time is devoted to attending classes to train for situations which it is hoped will not happen in real life.
Business Situation
The Civil Defence Board was responsible for Civil Defence at national level, with headquarters at Benamore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, and Civil Defence Officers managing the units in each county. The Civil Defence Act required that a Volunteer Register be created.
Volunteers were registered in separate databases kept by each Civil Defence Officer. This duplicated information, increased the risk of incorrect or incomplete data and placed an administrative burden on each officer.
Civil Defence at national level is now managed by the Civil Defence Branch of the Department of Defence.
Solution
With the increased operational and training information captured and larger requirements around management reporting, it was decided that a web-based centralised volunteer register would be developed for the Civil Defence Board.
As well as the Volunteer Register the new system has both operational and training features. The main volunteer register integrates seamlessly with these extra features and allows users and managerial staff a clear picture of all information available.
As well as managing the volunteers, their training & qualifications and operations activity, the system allows managerial staff run reports on the information stored in the system. This allows highlighting of any gaps in training that may exist as well as any operational strengths or weaknesses.
Results
The new Volunteer System allows the Civil Defence Officers within the Civil Defence Board to manage and update their volunteer information in a central and organised way. This promotes data accuracy, removes duplication and provides greater data consistency.
It allows central and local training information to be recorded with volunteers so that local and central managers can see at a glance what skill sets are at their disposal and what skills may be required.
With one system now being used to record volunteer, operational, and training information it focuses any system administration and training that may be required, decreasing these overheads significantly.
The system provides an accurate, up to date, secure environment to store volunteer information and a full audit trail of all actions performed on this information. Coupled with a much improved data export facility it ensures the Civil Defence Board compliance with the Data Protection Act.
The system is user friendly and intuitive to use while also providing powerful functionality to its all of its users.
Testimonial
"Engine Solutions quality of work and professionalism has been outstanding. They have exceeded our expectations within all aspects of the project. Flexible and creative in their approach, they have provided a solution that will continue to support the Civil Defence Board into the future. We look forward to working with Engine Solutions again."
Eileen Joyce | Higher Executive Officer
Civil Defence Board
www.CivilDefence.ie