Baton Rouge Fire Department cut 100 morning phone calls down to a few clicks
Baton Rouge Fire Department replaced paper-based staffing and reporting with a modern operations platform—freeing command staff to focus on readiness instead of clerical work.
"It was like a load lifted off of me… all I had to do for a call shift was press a button. That was my hundred phone calls—click, click, click—done."
Measurable impact
80–100
80–100 Phone Calls Replaced
3 days
3 Days of Work Now Done In Minutes
1
Hurricane Staffing From A Week to Down to a Day
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The Story
Background
Baton Rouge Fire Department is a large, high-tempo metro agency where staffing accuracy and speed directly impact readiness.
Deputy Chief Richard Wells has served across ranks and saw how manual processes could overwhelm daily operations.
Challenge
For years, staffing and scheduling lived on paper—printing rosters, hand-editing changes, and calling down seniority lists to fill vacancies.
Some mornings required three to four hours to get two people to come to work, with 80–100 phone calls just to cover the day, and commanders spent entire shifts building coverage for the next shift cycle.
Solution
Baton Rouge adopted First Due Scheduling & Personnel workflows, along with messaging and reporting capabilities, to digitize the shift board, time off, and movements between apparatus.
Leaders can move staff with simple actions and send targeted messages instantly—replacing paper rosters and repeated phone calls.
Results
Daily hire-backs and vacancy fills moved from 80–100 calls to a fast, button-driven workflow, and building multi-day coverage shifted from taking the full shift to happening in minutes.
Surge staffing improved as well: extra hurricane squads can be built and filled in a day, and reporting moved from difficult manual work to on-demand run data available within minutes.
About
Baton Rouge Fire Department
Quick facts
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Build coverage faster—without the morning scramble
First Due Scheduling & Personnel Management helps agencies automate vacancy fills, manage time off and trades, and keep crews aligned with a real-time shift board—without relying on paper rosters or endless phone calls.
Baton Rouge moved from printing and handwriting rosters to button-driven workflows that can be completed in minutes.
In their own words:
- What was the breaking point that pushed you to modernize?
- Staffing. Printing rosters, hand-changing them, and calling down the seniority list every morning was hours of clerical work.
- How bad did the manual process get?
- Some mornings it was three to four hours to get two people to come to work, with 80 to 100 calls every morning.
- What changed immediately when you switched to First Due?
- For call shifts, it became pressing a button instead of making a hundred phone calls.
- What’s different about moving people between trucks now?
- No more flipping paper and handwriting rosters—leaders can move people on and off quickly.
- How did your crews react to the change?
- Skepticism faded once they saw accurate assignments and instant alerts on their phones.
- What role did communication play?
- Targeted messaging is a game changer—leaders can message exactly who they need without extra calls.
- How did First Due affect reporting and data visibility?
- Run reporting moved from difficult manual work to on-demand data that can be pulled within minutes.
- How did you prepare for hurricanes and surge staffing?
- Snap assignments and squads can now be built and filled in a day instead of needing a week of lead time.
- You mentioned you weren’t tech savvy—what helped adoption?
- Knowing changes are reversible and that support resolves issues quickly built confidence.
- What would you tell a department nervous about changing systems?
- Don’t be apprehensive—the transition can be simple, and support helps smooth out any kinks quickly.
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See how First Due can help your agency modernize operations, improve readiness, and reduce administrative friction.
