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  1. #1
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    Fire Department PPE Maintenance Checklist

    Hello,
    My name is Christopher. I am a fire fighter here in Texas and I have been put in charge of our PPE maintenance program. This consists of monthly routine and yearly advanced inspections for our bunkers (coat, trousers, helmet, gloves, hood, and boots). I need to maintain records for 20 years for all of these items for our fire department.
    I started out five years ago saving a hard copy of these forms. Within three years I had several 5" binders and knew I couldn't continue that way. I moved to storing my forms on Word documents with an Excel form containing the equipment serial numbers and important data linked to each inspection. This way of storing the data isn't the best for my hard drive but it works. The only thing I would really like is the ability to extract good information from it and for it to be less tedious to maintain.


    I have watched a few hours of videos learning the ins and outs of Access but as I was trying to learn how to make a checklist I realized I was in way over my head. Although, I was able to follow along somewhat I was unable to accomplish what Mr. Hine was teaching. https://youtu.be/r1y_Zl3uLkM

    I also found some help on this forum here, here and here.

    If you have read this far, thanks. My question is this: Is there an easy way to do this? I am a quick learner but I guess I just need some direction. Thanks for your time.

  2. #2
    June7's Avatar
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    I can't view youtube. Easy way to do what? Exactly what is your 'checklist'?

    The third link you posted seems full of guidance on this issue. What have you done so far?

    You need to identify data entities and relationships and build tables to fit. Perhaps this tutorial site will help http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/
    How to attach file: http://www.accessforums.net/showthread.php?t=70301 To provide db: copy, remove confidential data, run compact & repair, zip w/Windows Compression.

  3. #3
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    Thanks.

    The youtube link is to a tutorial on code to have a checklist fill a table. Code is something I have no experience with so I just copied what was on the screen. I'm sure I did it poorly because the program didn't work.

    Thank you for the link.

  4. #4
    June7's Avatar
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    Often, user friendly paper checkoff sheets don't translate easily to normalized data structure - hence the elaborate code you tried to adapt.

    I seldom encounter an issue that can't be resolved by some means. However, it might take a lot of sophisticated VBA coding and since you don't have the skills for that, perhaps you need to step back and get a grounding in the basics of relational database principles.

    I still don't know what your checklist is for - what are you checking and why?
    How to attach file: http://www.accessforums.net/showthread.php?t=70301 To provide db: copy, remove confidential data, run compact & repair, zip w/Windows Compression.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by June7 View Post
    I still don't know what your checklist is for - what are you checking and why?
    Our bunker gear need yearly inspections completed. These inspections consist of about a dozen items per garment like the fire fighter's coat, trouser, or helmet. There is a federal ruling named NFPA 1851 that mandates that I keep the records for this process for 20 years. Unfortunately for me there isn't a commercial option yet so I need to develop a system of record keeping myself until there is one.

    You're saying that there is a way I can achieve what I want without having to use the code? I hope so because I have spent almost a week on Access with little progress toward my goal. Thank you for that link again. I'll keep plucking away.

  6. #6
    ItsMe's Avatar
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    I got half way through that youtube video before I gave up trying to understand what the video was trying to teach, say, or accomplish.

    @SabotageMyself
    Is firehouse the correct term to use? How many firehouses are you going to be responsible for auditing? I am pretty busy right now but the idea of an application for equipment compliance intrigues me. I may be able to offer some assistance. However, it should be understood that developing applications that manage compliance departments and provide audits are not simple.

    There are a couple of (general) approaches to this sort of problem. On one hand, you could spend a lot of time in up-front designing and produce a turnkey solution that stands alone. On the other hand, you could identify pain points in the existing scenario and address those issues one at a time, phasing in solutions that address specific pain points. Either way, a full assessment would have to be made in order to create a model for business rules. This is a general description of the process.

    No pun intended but, there is a list of things that should be gone over to determine what best suits your situation. For instance, time constraints and the number of users that will interact with the application need to be considered. A more technical description would be, create a workflow for the development of the application. The workflow is how the application will be built. As I mentioned before, compliance issues are not easy to automate and manage. Creating a solution will be more than, simply, understanding how to write code.
    Last edited by June7; 08-30-2015 at 10:32 AM. Reason: correct typo

  7. #7
    June7's Avatar
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    I think this db would be similar to a survey or questionnaire type - a common topic. Search forum. Here is one https://www.accessforums.net/databas...-my-46596.html

    Your questions are along the line of: Does helmet condition meet minimum standards of rule xxx. Answer: yes or no

    It is a balancing act between data normalization and ease of data entry/edit. But first you must understand relational database principles and data normalization before you can make decisions on how to structure your db. How far should you take normalization? Normalize till it works and denormalize till it hurts (or vice versa).
    How to attach file: http://www.accessforums.net/showthread.php?t=70301 To provide db: copy, remove confidential data, run compact & repair, zip w/Windows Compression.

  8. #8
    ssanfu is offline Master of Nothing
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    You might watch this youtube video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQI1aWf1XJw
    web site
    http://fireadmin.com/ <<< web based

    Also go to these sites:
    http://www.firehouse.com/forums/t76250/

    http://www.globeturnoutgear.com/turn...tracker-system
    http://www.ppetracker.com/ << click on HELP to see pdf manual

  9. #9
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    I really appreciate all of the help.

    @ssanfu thank you for the links. I have been to each one of them before and I have a very unique problem. I work on an Air Force base and have such strict computer usage rules that none of these sites could provide me a solution. In fact I have to build this on my own CPU then have a computer guy download it on the Air Force servers for me.

    @Itsme I guess in my head it seemed simple due to my ignorance with MS Access. If I could upload some of the paper forms that go with the inspections would that help? Only 1or 2 people would ever access this database. We only have 40 fire fighters.

    @June7 thanks for the link. I will go through it today and see what I can learn.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by SabotageMyself View Post


    @Itsme I guess in my head it seemed simple due to my ignorance with MS Access. If I could upload some of the paper forms that go with the inspections would that help? Only 1or 2 people would ever access this database. We only have 40 fire fighters.
    I might be able to offer some assistance. I will send you a PM so we can talk on the phone or something. I am interested to understand what you expect from an application.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by ItsMe View Post
    I might be able to offer some assistance. I will send you a PM so we can talk on the phone or something. I am interested to understand what you expect from an application.
    That would be great. Thank you.

  12. #12
    Micron is offline Virtually Inert Person
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    SabotageMyself: I have some experience in database design related to ISO regulated inspection of measurement devices and can tell you that what you want to do is no small task to execute properly. The more you research (and make notes) and comprehend about the structure you will need for your application, the more likely you will suceed without pulling out your hair. What I can suggest is:
    - consider one of your tables to be reserved for equipment types, e.g. headgear, footwear, hand protection, respiration, etc. so that when dealing with data entry on forms (updating inspection data) you can filter the results to equpment type.
    - Another would be tblStatus to hold the status types e.g. Current/Compliant, Failed, Overdue etc. Also a possible filter when loading form data for inspections.
    - maybe a table for inspector names and related data
    - a table for inspection results; equip type as FK (foreign key from type table), DueDate, InspDate, NextDue, Status (FK), Inspector (FK), Notes (FK)
    - notes table using memo fields; this tbl's PK is a FK in inspection results table
    - there is always a chance of typo errors if transposing paper check sheets into database forms, but I imagine reading bar codes from inspection forms and downloading into your db is out of the question for you. Electronic is nice, but for your needs, should you stick to paper given the issues and work ahead? Even paper based systems can make use of db's to prompt for on-time inspection and recording of pass/fail results tied to inspection record numbers.

    You might also want to look for examples of measurement device calibration software to see how they do it.

  13. #13
    ssanfu is offline Master of Nothing
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    I understand about being locked down. Currently we are using a "cloud" solution for desktops and server. We are so locked down I can't even change sounds or cursor icons.

    Are any of the links close to what you are looking for?

    If I could upload some of the paper forms that go with the inspections would that help?
    I would be interested in seeing the forms also.
    Maybe some bogus info filled in to see what the data looks like.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by ssanfu View Post
    ...
    I would be interested in seeing the forms also.
    ...
    Steve,

    I spoke to SabotageMyself and I agreed to help him out with an app. Would you be interested in collaborating with me? We could share ideas on a SharePoint Team Site. SabotageMyself is going to upload some files to the team site in a couple of days.

  15. #15
    ssanfu is offline Master of Nothing
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    @Itsme
    Sure. Always interested in learning. I've was involved with a few audit/reporting dBs.
    Should be interesting...

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