StationHQ User Manual

2.1 — Creating an account

Download StationHQ from the App Store (or Google Play), open the app, and you have two ways to create an account:

1. Email & password — tap Sign Up, enter your name, email, and a password.
2. Sign in with Apple, Google, or Microsoft — one tap, no separate password to remember. The app uses your provider identity to create your account.

Sessions persist across app restarts — you only sign in once per device unless you sign out manually.

2.2 — Joining a department

StationHQ is invite-only — every account belongs to a department. After you authenticate, you join a department one of two ways:

• Join Code — your chief shares a department join code. Enter it and you're added to that department's roster immediately.
• Request to Join — if you don't have a code, use the Request to Join form. Fill in your name, department, and contact info; your request is sent to StationHQ so your department can be set up or you can be connected to it.

Once you're in, your home screen populates with your department's data.

2.3 — Member roles overview

Roles are set by an admin in the Roster tab.

The home screen is your daily dashboard. From top to bottom:

• Greeting + station name — confirms which station you're viewing (chiefs with multi-station access can switch).
• Stats strip — quick counts: total members, on-duty count, alert count, etc.
• Command Center card (if alerts active) — most recent push alert from a chief or officer.
• Preventive Maintenance card (if maintenance tracking is enabled) — only shown when there's something pending or acknowledged. Hides itself when everything's clean.
• Last Report card — most recent NERIS incident report.
• Next Event card — the next event on the calendar with type pill, RSVP counts, description, and your RSVP status.
• On Duty Now — list of members currently clocked in.
• Quick Actions — buttons for Hose Check, Equipment Check, Engine Check, Pack Check, NERIS, Chat, etc. (visibility depends on role and feature flags).

Most of the home screen updates live — when something changes server-side (someone clocks on, an alert sends, a check completes) the home screen reflects it without a manual refresh.

The Calendar tab shows your department's events in three views:

• Month view — calendar grid with event dots
• Week view — full-day breakdown
• Day / Agenda view — selected day's events

Event types

Drill, Meeting, Training, Rental, and Event. Each type has its own color so the calendar reads at a glance.

Adding events (officers / chiefs / admins)

1. Tap the + button.
2. Set title, date, time, and type.
3. Optionally add a description (visible on the home Next Event card).
4. Toggle RSVP Required if you want members to respond.
5. Tap ADD EVENT.

Editing events

A pencil button appears next to the X delete button on each event card you have permission to edit. Editing is allowed for 24 hours after the event was created — after that the pencil disappears and only delete is available, to prevent late-stage changes members may have already coordinated around.

RSVPs

Tap an event to RSVP Going / Maybe / Decline. Counts show on the event card and on the home Next Event card. Officers can see who responded and send reminders to members who haven't.

Reminders

Tap the bell icon on an event to set a personal reminder (push notification before the event starts).

The Roster tab is your living phone book + on-duty board.

Layouts

• Phone: accordion grouped by rank (Command Staff → Officers → Firefighters → EMS → Apparatus Accounts).
• iPad: two-pane — group selector on the left, member cards on the right with a static panel header showing the active group + count.

Member cards

Each card shows initials, name, rank, and badge tags (Admin / On Duty / Dues status). Tap a card to open the full profile (contact info, certifications, gear list, training hours, etc.).

On-duty status

Toggle yourself on duty from the home screen quick action OR via geofencing (auto-clocks you in when you arrive at the station — see section 16). Other members see who's available in real time.

Service Record & certifications (admin / officer)

Open a member card → tap the Service Record edit pencil to manage their rank, join date, dues status, and certifications. Certifications work in two layers:

• Self-reported certs — what a member claims; these count toward training hours and show as pending (yellow) until verified.
• Verified certs — an admin/officer signs off; verified certs unlock the "suggested next steps" cert-progression recommendations.

When an admin checks a cert in the Service Record editor, it's added to the member's earned list and auto-verified in one step.

Admin actions on a member

• Toggle Admin role
• Toggle Apparatus account — when promoted to apparatus, geofencing is automatically disabled for that account (apparatus shouldn't auto-clock in).
• Suspend — removes the member from the roster and revokes app access. Suspended members live in the Suspended Members screen (Settings → Suspended Members) and can be reinstated later.

The Alerts tab is the dept-wide push announcement board.

Sending an alert (admin / officer / chief)

1. On the left side of the Alerts tab, fill in the Send Alert form:
   • Alert Type: Emergency / Drill / Meeting / Training / Hall / General Info
   • Title + Message
   • On iPad, tapping the title or message opens a popup editor so the keyboard never covers the field
   • Optional Send to entire department toggle (chiefs with multi-station access only) — fans the alert out to every station they oversee
2. Tap SEND NOTIFICATION.

Members get a push notification immediately and the alert lands in everyone's Recent Alerts feed.

Reading alerts

• Filter pills at the top (All / Emergency / Drill / Meeting / Training / Hall / General)
• Each card is color-coded by type with a left stripe and tinted background
• Cards 7+ days old fade slightly but keep their color so you can still tell what type they were
• Auto-cleared after 30 days

Clearing alerts (admin)

• X button on a single alert deletes just that one
• Clear All button at the top of the feed deletes every alert in the active filter

The Chat tab is your department's threaded messaging — a General room (entire department) plus custom rooms (officer chat, sub-team chats, etc.).

Layouts

• Phone: tap a room → opens the chat-room screen
• iPad: two-pane Slack-style — rooms list on the left, selected room's messages on the right. First load shows your station logo as a welcome screen until you pick a room.

Reading & sending messages

Standard messaging interface with typing indicators, edit/delete on your own messages, and emoji reactions on others' messages.

Creating a room (admin / officer)

1. Tap the + button on the Chat tab.
2. Name the room.
3. Pick the members to include.
4. Tap CREATE.

Privacy

Custom rooms are private to their members. Admins can see room membership but only see message contents in rooms they're part of.

Auto-deletion

Messages are automatically deleted after 90 days.

The Dues tab opens the Finance Manager with four sub-tabs.

8.1 — Annual Dues

• Stats strip at top: Paid / Outstanding / Collected / Rate
• Sidebar (iPad): Admin/Officer settings card (year + amount + due date), collection progress bar, REMIND UNPAID button, filter pills (All / Unpaid / Paid / Exempt)
• Member list: each member with status-colored left stripe and PAID / UNPAID / EXEMPT badge
• Tap a member → cycle their status (Unpaid → Paid → Exempt → Unpaid)
• Apparatus accounts and suspended members are excluded from the list and counts.

8.2 — Charges

• Each charge has a title, amount, category, recipient, due date, paid status, and optional notes.
• Add Charge issues a new charge to a member or with a custom recipient name.
• Filter pills: All / Unpaid / Paid.
• Edit mode lets admins/officers bulk-delete charges.
• Each charge can be moved between Queues.

8.3 — Queues

Group charges into named buckets ("Spring Fundraiser", "Hall Rental Deposits") for organized reporting.

• Each queue card shows: ISSUED / COLLECTED / UNPAID / CHARGES counts and a collection progress bar.
• Open a queue to see only its charges in the Charges tab.
• Report generates a PDF of all charges in the queue.

8.4 — My Notes

Private member-only notes. Only you can see them. Tap a note to edit; tap the link button to attach a charge for context. Useful for "Bill owes $20 from the raffle" or "Call Tom about the refund."

Reminders

The REMIND UNPAID button on the Annual Dues sidebar sends a push notification to every member with an unpaid status. Charges have an individual Send Reminder button when expanded.

StationHQ tracks four item categories: Equipment, Hose, Engine (Apparatus), and Pack/Bottle. Each has its own inventory page with a two-pane iPad layout: list on the left, detail on the right.

9.1 — Equipment Inventory

• Left sidebar: templates (e.g., "Engine 1 Daily") with collapsible groups (Cab & Controls, Compartments, etc.).
• Search bar: "Where does a tool go?" — filters across ALL templates and groups; tap a result to jump to it.
• Compartment photo: admins can attach a reference photo per group; tap to view full-size with pinch-to-zoom.
• Adding items: edit mode → Add button. Each item has name, make, model, serial number, optional cost, and notes.
• Generate List from photo: AI scan of a compartment photo auto-creates the item list (when the photo-AI feature flag is enabled).
• OOS toggle: mark an item out of service from the detail card.

9.2 — Hose Inventory

Apparatus list on the left, hose lines (size, length, MFG year, retirement countdown, last check status) on the right. 10-year service-life retirement bar per hose. Tap a hose to edit details or mark OOS.

9.3 — Engine / Apparatus Inventory

• Apparatus list (Engine 1, Engine 2, Rescue, Tower, etc.).
• Tap an apparatus → Apparatus Info card showing maintenance status bars (oil change, brake check, hose test, pump test, etc.) with countdown to the next interval.
• Edit Dates (admin) logs when a maintenance task was performed.
• Annual Maintenance Cost field feeds budget projections.
• Share / Export generates an Apparatus Maintenance Status PDF.

9.4 — Pack & Bottle Inventory (SCBA)

• Two related views: Pack Inventory (the SCBA frame) and Bottle Registry (the cylinders).
• Each pack tracks its frame age (15-yr retirement) and the assigned bottle's hydro test cycle (5 years).
• Bottles can be reassigned between packs.
• Hydro test dates surface in the Preventive Maintenance dashboard when expiring.

9.5 — Turnout Gear

Personal gear lives on each member's profile (Settings → My Profile → Turnout Gear).

• Add items: helmet, coat, pants, boots, hood, gloves, etc.
• Each tracks make, model, year, serial number, optional notes, and optional estimated cost.
• Service-life alerts auto-fire based on NFPA-aligned defaults (10 years for most gear).
• A Gear Alerts screen surfaces turnout gear that's expiring or past its service life.
• Generate Estimate uses AI to suggest a replacement cost (when the cost-estimate feature flag is enabled).

9.6 — Preventive Maintenance Tracking

The Maintenance screen aggregates everything that's due, expiring, or in service-life decline across personal turnout gear, SCBA bottles + pack frames, hose lines, equipment items, and engine apparatus.

Each item is bucketed by status: EXPIRED / CRITICAL / WARNING / MONITORED. Admins can acknowledge an item to suppress alerts for 30 days.

The home screen shows a Preventive Maintenance status card when something is pending; it hides itself entirely when everything is clean. Email alerts fire automatically (server-side, deduplicated 7 days) when items hit critical states.

Check sessions are the officer-facing flow for actually running a recurring inspection — daily/weekly checks of SCBA packs, hose, equipment, and engines. (Defining the templates for these checks is in Settings — see section 15.)

Starting a check

1. From the Home screen Quick Actions, tap Hose Check, Equipment Check, Engine Check, or Pack Check.
2. Pick the template / apparatus you're checking.
3. A new check session opens with every item from that template.

Working through the session

• Go item by item — mark each as pass, flag an issue, or skip with a reason.
• Flagged items can be marked out of service and feed straight into Preventive Maintenance.
• Some templates capture extra fields (PSI readings, bottle IDs, notes) depending on how the admin built them.
• Attach photos to document an issue where useful.

Completing & reviewing

• Finish the session to save a permanent, timestamped completion record with your name on it.
• Completed sessions are listed under each check type's "Completed" view for later review and export.
• Export a completed session as a spreadsheet for station records or AHJ documentation.

The Budget Planner aggregates the estimated cost of every item across gear / packs / bottles / hose / equipment / engines, projects replacement timing based on service-life cycles, and reports an annual replacement budget.

• Snapshot at the top: total inventory value, items with no cost set, items expiring in 12 months.
• Items with no cost set card: tap to open the bulk-edit screen and fill in missing prices.
• Default Prices section: set a default Pack Frame cost and a default Bottle cost so you don't have to enter them per-item.
• Annual Budget Report: PDF export with itemized year-by-year replacement projections.
• Liability disclaimer: the report explicitly notes this is a planning aid, not an insurance valuation or appraisal.

Budget Planner is admin-only and toggled on per-department (the Budget Tracking flag in Admin Settings).

The NERIS tab handles National Emergency Response Information System incident reports.

Incident List

Recent incidents with date, type, address, and status. Tap to view or edit.

New Incident Report

Tap the + Fill button or Reporting sub-tab → New Incident Report. The form is a 9-step wizard:

1. Incident Type — Structure Fire, EMS, MVA, Wildland Fire, Hazmat, Alarm-False, Rescue, Other
2. Location — address, station, county
3. Times — dispatched, arrived, cleared, etc.
4. Units — apparatus & personnel
5. Fire Details — conditions, cause, damage
6. Casualties — civilian and firefighter injuries (cause, severity, duty status)
7. Actions & Aid — suppression / medical actions, mutual aid
8. Narrative
9. Review & Submit

Step indicator with Next / Back buttons. Save partial reports as drafts; submit when complete.

Reports

Generate filtered PDF or Excel reports of all incidents in a date range — admin / officer / chief.

A scratchpad designed for apparatus accounts and members in the field — quick note-taking during or right after a call.

• Single text field, save → log entry timestamped with member name.
• Apparatus accounts use this for crew notes that get reviewed at the station later.

Apparatus accounts must enter the apparatus PIN to access this screen.

Apparatus accounts are special accounts tied to a piece of apparatus (or a station's shared device) rather than an individual person. Common use: an iPad mounted in the engine bay or dayroom that anyone in the station can use without signing in/out individually.

What apparatus accounts can do

• View the Home dashboard
• View the Calendar
• See alerts (read-only)
• Use Quick Call Notes (PIN required)
• View the Roster (PIN required)
• Use Chat (PIN required)
• File NERIS reports (PIN required)

What apparatus accounts cannot do

• Cannot pay dues (excluded from the dues list)
• Cannot use geofencing (auto-disabled when an account is promoted to apparatus)
• Cannot access Settings without the PIN
• Cannot be assigned admin permissions

Apparatus PIN

Admins set a 4–6 digit numeric PIN in Settings → Apparatus PIN.

• The PIN gates Quick Call Notes, Roster, Chat, NERIS, and Settings on apparatus accounts.
• Once entered, the PIN unlocks all gated screens for 15 minutes (or 5 minutes of inactivity, whichever hits first).
• Auto-locks on app background.
• Press-and-hold the eye icon next to the PIN field to reveal the saved PIN; release to mask again.

Promoting an account to apparatus

Admin → Roster → tap member → Toggle Apparatus. The account stays on the roster but is now treated as an apparatus account. Geofencing on that account is force-disabled at the same time.

The Settings tab uses a sidebar of sections on iPad, or a single scroll on phone. What you see depends on your role.

15.1 — Member settings (everyone)

• My Profile — name, rank, contact info, certifications, turnout gear. Also where you'll find Sign Out and Delete My Account (see section 19).
• Notifications — per-device toggles for push notifications: alerts, calendar/event notifications, chat notifications. These are scoped to the current device, so turning push off on your iPad doesn't affect your iPhone.
• Geofencing — its own dedicated section; covered in detail in section 16.
• Appearance — dark mode, accent color.

15.2 — Admin / Officer settings

Admins see additional sidebar sections:

• Department — department name, logo, tagline, station number.
• Admin Panel — feature flags (NERIS, Chat, Budget Tracking, AI features), Join Code management, Maintenance Tracking toggle, Dues enable/disable.
• Apparatus PIN — set/clear the 4–6 digit PIN that gates apparatus accounts.
• Pack / Equipment / Hose / Engine Checks — define the check templates, groups, and item fields that officers use when running check sessions (section 10).
• Station Access — chiefs only; redeem a chief access code to add stations (section 17).
• Suspended Members — view and reinstate suspended accounts.

Geofencing automatically clocks you on duty when you arrive at the station and prompts you when you leave — no need to open the app. It has its own dedicated section in Settings, visible to every member.

Station Location (admins)

• The Geofencing section shows a Station Location card. Admins tap it to expand an inline map editor — drag the pin to set the station, adjust the geofence radius (default 150m; 100m+ recommended for reliable triggering), and save.
• Non-admins see the station location read-only — tapping shows an "admin only" notice.
• One station location is shared by every member of that department.

Auto-toggle duty (every member)

• Each member opts in individually with the Auto-toggle duty switch in the Geofencing section.
• Turning it on requests "Always" location permission from iOS — required so the app can update your status even when it's closed.

How it works

• Arriving at the station: the app fires an "On Duty" notification and clocks you in automatically.
• Leaving the station: the app fires a "Still on duty?" notification with two action buttons — Toggle Off Duty clocks you out, Stay Available keeps you on duty (for quick errands or returning from a call).
• No continuous tracking — the app only checks position when iOS wakes it on a region boundary crossing.

Limitations

• Apparatus accounts can't use geofencing — the toggle is force-disabled.
• Org-only roles (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary) don't see the auto-toggle switch.
• iOS region monitoring is unreliable below ~100m radius; keep the radius at 100m or above.

For chiefs who oversee multiple stations under the same department, the Chief Portal lets a single account view and manage all assigned stations.

Gaining access

Access works by redeeming a chief access code:

1. The chief goes to Settings → Station Access (visible to chiefs/admins).
2. They enter a chief access code for the station they should be able to oversee.
3. Once redeemed, that station is added to their accessible stations list.

Switching stations

A chief with access to multiple stations sees an Active Station picker at the top of the home screen and on every relevant page. Switching cycles all data on screen (events, roster, alerts, dues, inventory, maintenance) to the selected station.

Dept-wide alerts

When sending a push alert, chiefs with multi-station access see a Send to entire department toggle that fans the alert out to every station they oversee at once.

The home screen says "loading…" forever.

Check your internet connection. If on Wi-Fi but slow, force-quit and reopen the app.

Push notifications aren't working.

Settings → Notifications → confirm the toggles are on. Then check iOS Settings → Notifications → StationHQ and confirm they're allowed. On a new device it can take a few minutes for the device's push token to register — open the app once and give it a moment.

I'm an admin but can't see admin sections in Settings.

Sign out and back in once. The admin flag is loaded at sign-in; if it was set after you last signed in, a refresh fixes it.

My geofence isn't auto-clocking me in.

• Confirm the station location is set (Settings → Geofencing → Station Location — an admin must set this).
• Confirm the Auto-toggle duty switch is on in your Settings → Geofencing.
• Confirm location permission is granted to StationHQ in iOS Settings — set to "Always" so it fires while the app is closed.
• If the radius is set very tight (under ~100m), iOS region monitoring can trigger inconsistently. Ask your admin to widen it.

I signed in with Apple/Google/Microsoft and got a "Welcome to StationHQ" message.

That's not an error — it means your identity isn't linked to a StationHQ account yet. Tap Request to Join, or get a join code from your chief.

An apparatus account is asking for a PIN I don't know.

Ask your admin — they set the PIN in Settings → Apparatus PIN. Press-and-hold the eye icon there to reveal it.

The Dues count seems wrong.

Apparatus accounts and suspended members are excluded from the list and counts. If a member is missing, check whether they were suspended (Settings → Suspended Members).

I deleted an event by accident.

Events can't be undone after delete. Recreate it via the + button. RSVPs from the original are not recovered.

A certification shows as "verified" but isn't counting my training hours.

Training hours are computed from your earned certifications list, not the verified flag. If a cert is verified but not checked in your cert list, have an admin open your Service Record (Roster → your card → Service Record) and check the cert there — that syncs both.

• What we store: only what's required to run the app — names, email, rank, dept membership, RSVPs, dues records, inventory items, NERIS reports, chat messages, alerts.
• Location data: never persisted server-side. Geofencing computations happen on-device; the app only checks position when iOS wakes it on a region boundary crossing.
• Chat retention: messages auto-delete after 90 days.
• Alert retention: notifications auto-delete after 30 days.
• Inventory photos: stored as base64 data URIs on the department record. Visible only to that department.
• AI features (cost estimates, photo scans): send the relevant snippet (item name + make/model, or a single photo) to a third-party AI provider for processing. Results are stored on your record. No persistent training data is shared.
• Screen capture prevention: departments can enable a setting that blocks the app's content from appearing in screen recordings and AirPlay mirrors, protecting member data. It's controlled per-department; sign-in screens are never blocked.

Account deletion

You can delete your account and all associated data directly in the app: Settings → My Profile → Delete My Account. The flow has a two-step confirmation and permanently removes your member record and login. This cannot be undone — if you only want to stop notifications or take a break, sign out instead.

Full privacy policy: app.jdxstudio.com/privacy

• Bug reports / feature requests: in-app Settings → Send Feedback.
• Direct email: admin@jdxstudio.com
• Web app & marketing site: app.jdxstudio.com and jdxstudio.com
• In-app help: per-feature "How It Works" explainer banners on most screens.