Digitalisation matters most where the time is volunteered.
- Client
- Freiwillige Feuerwehr Neustift im Stubaital (volunteer fire brigade), Tyrol (AT)
- Industry
- Volunteer fire brigade / volunteering
- Period
- in live operation since 2026
- Framework
- ÖBFV (Austrian Fire Brigade Association) guidelines KS-10 (breathing apparatus) and GP-01 (hydraulics)
Starting point
Digitalisation is usually discussed with businesses in mind. Yet it affects no one more than organisations where administrative time is free time. In a volunteer fire brigade, every hour spent on forms after a call-out is an hour missing from training and equipment. The incident data still has to go into the state-wide fire brigade administration platform, and with equipment, a missed inspection deadline means more than a missed appointment.
Over the years this had grown into two separate applications — one for incidents, one for equipment. Two systems mean master data twice, two logins, two versions of the truth. Since 2026, both have been one product.
What the application covers
Alarm and incident
The alarm message creates the incident on its own, the alarm sheet prints automatically at the fire station, and the display there updates in real time. Vehicles, crew, drivers, section commander, breathing apparatus and turnout times are documented.
Crew, drills, training
Scheduling drills and recording attendance, including special formats such as specialist and breathing apparatus drills. Plus each member's training status: who holds which courses and qualifications, taken over from the state-wide platform instead of being maintained twice.
Equipment and inspections
Inventory, locations and assignment to vehicles, deadlines with advance warning, tamper-proof inspection records with measured values, result and inspector, defect tracking. Each item carries a QR code: scan it to see where things stand — even without logging in, limited to the essentials.
Workshop according to ÖBFV
Breathing apparatus according to KS-10 with target values, traffic-light assessment, cylinder filling and wearing-time account. Hydraulics according to GP-01 across inspection levels I to IV. Plus clothing with cleaning orders and wash counter, as well as radios and pagers with their assignment to members.
Equipment on call-outs
Which item was used on which call-out. When the incident is closed, the system notes what needs checking afterwards and suggests the wearing times of the breathing apparatus wearers. The evidence builds up during operation, not the evening before the inspection.
Sync, reporting, operation
Automatic sync with the state-wide platform as soon as the incident is closed — with a self-maintained keyword mapping. Statistics and exports for the annual report from the same data. Reminders of due inspections by email and push notification, roles by area of responsibility, data in Austrian data centres.
Result
Information is recorded once, at the point where it arises anyway. Everything else builds on it. The application runs in live operation at an active fire brigade, the legacy system has been switched off — every piece of feedback from a real call-out goes straight into the next version.
This software was not designed on the drawing board. It came about because I sat in front of the form myself after the call-out.
What we take from it
Software for volunteers is not measured by what it can do, but by how much time it gives back. The most effective lever is rarely a new feature — it is the interface that makes double data entry unnecessary.