Fire and EMS Software RFP Template

The short answer: a fire or EMS software RFP should describe your department, list each requirement as a must-have or a nice-to-have, make vendors answer every line with the same response codes, ask for a three-year pricing table with every fee on it, and tell vendors up front how you will score them. This template does all of that. Fill in the brackets, cut what you do not need, and send it.

Key takeaways

• Mark every requirement MUST or WANT before it goes out, so a missing nice-to-have does not sink a good vendor.
• Replace yes-or-no answers with response codes that separate “included” from “add-on” and “coming soon.”
• Make every vendor price the same department, for three years, with no blank lines.
• Ask what it costs to add a member, a rig and a station after you sign.
• Publish your scoring weights in the RFP so every vendor knows what matters.

What this template covers

This RFP is for the software that runs the department between calls: daily truck checks, rig and warehouse inventory, EMS controlled substances, SCBA and turnout gear, equipment, hydrants, training hours and the other records an ISO review or a DEA inspection will ask for.

Incident reporting (RMS and NERIS) and CAD are usually separate purchases with their own RFPs. The template does not try to replace those. It asks each vendor how its product works alongside the systems you already run, so you do not buy a second copy of something you have.

The 10 sections in the template

1. Issuing agency and schedule. Contact, question deadline, due date, demo dates and target go-live.
2. Department profile. Stations, career and volunteer members, apparatus by type, controlled substance registrations, SCBA, gear, ISO rating and the systems you already run.
3. How vendors must respond. Six response codes for every requirement, so included, add-on and future features cannot hide behind a yes.
4. Functional requirements. Truck checks, inventory, controlled substances, SCBA and PPE, equipment and fleet, ISO records, people and tasks, reporting, devices and integration.
5. Implementation, training and support. Week-by-week plan, who builds the first forms, migration, training hours, support channels and references.
6. Security, data and administration. Hosting, encryption, roles, audit trail, retention, data ownership and a free export at contract end.
7. Pricing response. A three-year table with every fee on its own line, growth costs, annual increase cap, renewal and cancellation terms.
8. Demonstration and trial. Five real scenarios for finalists to run, and whether members can try the software without a sales call.
9. Evaluation and scoring. Weighted categories, a 0 to 5 scale and a cost formula, published up front.
10. Required submittals checklist. Cover letter, response tables, sample contract, insurance, W-9 and your own forms.

Use response codes, not yes or no

“Yes” is the most expensive word in a software proposal. It can mean the feature is in the product today, or that it costs extra, or that it needs another vendor’s product, or that it is on next year’s roadmap. The template asks vendors to answer every line with one of six codes:

Anything marked A or 3P has to show up as a line in the pricing table. That one rule closes the gap between the demo and the invoice.

Pricing questions that prevent surprises

Vendors price this software per user, per vehicle, per module or per station, and the same department can get very different numbers depending on the model. The template asks every vendor to price the department you describe for three years, on one table, with setup, migration, training, support, mobile licenses, hardware and third-party costs on their own lines. It also asks:

• What one more member, one more apparatus, one more station and one more module will cost after you sign.
• The maximum annual increase written into the contract, and whether a multi-year price lock is available.
• Whether there is a volunteer discount, and whether pricing is published.
• Auto-renewal, cancellation terms and early termination fees.
• Which features shown in the demonstration are not in the quote.

If the pricing models are new to you, read fire and EMS software pricing models compared before you send the RFP.

Scoring categories and weights

Put the scoring in the RFP. Vendors write better proposals when they know what you care about, and the committee has a defensible record of how the decision was made. These are the default weights in the template. Change them to fit your department; they need to total 100.

Each category is scored 0 to 5 and multiplied by its weight. On cost, the lowest three-year total gets the full weight and every other proposal gets a share in proportion.

Ask for a demo of your work, not theirs

A canned demo shows the product at its best. The template gives finalists five scenarios to run instead: a crew member fails a truck check item on a phone, a medic unit is restocked with an item close to expiring, a narcotics count at shift change turns up a discrepancy, an officer pulls every overdue check across all stations, and an administrator adds a member, a rig and a check item without calling the vendor. It also asks whether your members can try the software themselves before anyone schedules a call.

How Emergency Logs answers the pricing section

We wrote this template to be fair to every vendor, including us. For the record, here is how we answer the questions that most often trip up a quote:

• Pricing model: per station, published on our pricing page. Plans start at $1,200 a year for the first station.
• One more member or apparatus: $0. Every member gets a login.
• One more station: $400 a year on Station Essentials, $700 on Full Suite.
• Setup: $500, waived on a 2-year term.
• Price protection: a three-year term locks the price.
• Volunteer discount: 25 percent off any plan.
• Mobile licenses and support: none and included. It runs in the browser on any phone, and phone, email and text support come with every plan.
• Trial: our live demo opens with sample data and no sales call.

Related guides

• Truck check software buyer’s checklist: 12 questions to ask any vendor
• Fire and EMS software pricing models compared
• EMS narcotics tracking and the DEA PPAEMA rule
• EMS inventory management guide
• PFAS-free turnout gear under NFPA 1970 and NFPA 1850