Civil Defence Board - Volunteer Register System
Technologies: IIS, .NET, ASP.NET, SQL Server
Customer Profile
The Civil Defence was set up in 1950 to be part of the national defence structure as the necessary civil response to potential hazards which might arise in a war situation. 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.
The traditional main programmes of activity undertaken by Civil Defence could broadly be described as:
- Casualty/ First-Aid
- Rescue
- Fire Fighting
- Radiation detection & monitoring
- Radio Communications
- Welfare Provision
Civil Defence is an organisation comprising of approximately 4,500 members who voluntarily 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
With the enactment of the Civil Defence Act 2002, the Civil Defence Board assumed responsibility for Civil Defence at national level. Prior to this, the Civil Defence function at national level was the responsibility of the Minister for Defence and was normally delegated as a specific function to the Minister of State and administered by the Department of Defence. There was also a requirement under this act that a Volunteer Register be created.
The Civil Defence Board headquarters are located at Benamore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary with 32 Civil Defence Officers managing Civil Defence Units in each County.
There was an existing system of registering volunteers which was comprised of separate databases, kept by each individual Civil Defence Officer. This resulted in large amounts of duplication of information and increased the possibility of incorrect or incomplete data as well as a burden of administration for each of the Civil Defence Officers.
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