Setting Up New a New VPN Connection (Laptop or Desktop to Connect to a County Desktop)

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Have you been granted VPN rights, but now you don’t know the first thing to do? Here is your next course of action.

(Note: This presumes you’ll be connecting to your office/cub desktop PC in your office/cube and you don’t have your county notebook or PC at home with you.)

Office PC: Find out the hostname of your MCG PC. You’ll need this if you’re going to connect to it.

  • Click the Windows Start button.
  • Right-click Computer.
  • Choose Properties.
  • Find Computer Name about 3/4 down the screen.

Personal Notebook or Desktop PC: Set up Pulse Secure

  • Open a web browser and go to secure.montgomerycountymd.gov (or secure2.montgomerycountymd.gov, if DTS told you that your server is secure2).
  • Let the software install.

County Notebook: Set up Pulse Secure

  • Find and double-click MCG Software Center on your desktop. (This is only on county computers and you will not find this on your home computer.)
    Software Center Icon

 

 

  • Find and click to install Pulse Secure Client from the list. Go through the installation.
    Pulse Secure SW Center Icon

 

 

 

 

 

  • Run Pulse Secure. We now need to establish a connection (something you’ll do only once, as you will just use that saved connection after this point). The screen should show an empty list of connections and we’ll add one.
  • Click the plus (+) button in the Pulse Secure window to add a connection.
    Pulse Select Connections Header

 

  • Add the necessary info:
    • Type: (use the default Policy Secure or Pulse Secure).
    • Name: Call this whatever you would like. I recommend MCG or VPN.
    • Server URL: https://secure.montgomerycountymd.gov (unless DTS told you your server is secure2, in which case it would be secure2.montgomerycountymd.gov)
  • Click the Add button.

Connect to the VPN

  • Launch Pulse Secure (if you have not already).
  • Find the saved item for the county VPN and click the Connect button.County VPN Connection

 

 

  • Input your county single sign-on username and password (i.e., what you use to log into Windows in the office) when prompted and click the Connect button.
  • Wait for the connection to be made successfully. You will know it was successful if you see the green check mark next to the name of the saved connection.VPN Connection Successful

 

 


Connect to Your Work Desktop

  • Click the Windows start button at the corner of the Windows taskbar.
    Windows Start Icon

 

  • Type Remote and click to launch Remote Desktop Connection.Remote Desktop

 

 

  • Key in the name of your hostcomputer (as you found in the very beginning of these instructions) and press the Connect button.
  • Enter your SSO login username and PW as though you were sitting at your office computer.

 

Requesting a Timecard Correction

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Is something wrong on your timecard, as an employee?  Are you an officer or manager and one of your employees needs a change to his/her timecard from three weeks ago? There is a specific process to follow and you have come to the right place for the details. The actual paperwork has to be completed by the manager. For uniform personnel at the rank of captain and below, the battalion chief will also need to sign off on the paperwork before it goes to FRS HR.

First things first: FRS HR has an important message for you to read, located here as well as via Quicklinks (HR Division menu, HR & Labor Relations list, MCtime Timecard Correction Request Info link).

Step 1: Go to the MCtime Timecard Correction Request form, located in Quicklinks (same menu item as above but second link on the same bullet) or in MCtime (MCtime home page after you log in, go to the My Links section and the subsequent MCtime Info forms).

Step 2: Fill out the form on-screen as follows:

  • Date Requested: The current date
  • Employee Name: Last Name, First Name
  • Employee #: This is not the person’s fire ID — this is the HR ID, which the employee will find in MCtime in parentheses next to his/her name
  • Department Name: Fire and Rescue
  • Department #: 45
  • Manager Name: The employee’s direct supervisor
  • Phone #: The phone number by which the direct supervisor may be reached
  • Manager’s Signature: (Wait until you print the filled-out form and then sign the form for your employee)
  • Battalion Chief Name and Signature: (Print the BC’s name and then ask the BC to sign the printed copy)
  • Pay Period Begins: The beginning date of the pay period for which you are requesting a change
  • Pay Period Ends: The ending date of the pay period for which you are requesting a change
  • Describe Change Required: Type a generic overview of the change without specific dates or transfer codes (those details will be input in the table below the description)
  • Add or Delete Checkebox: Check the box

Scenario 1: Your employee took 24 hours of ANL three weeks ago and (oops) meant for the time to be comp leave.

  • Fill in the appropriate data from the bullet list above and then the specifics in the table:

 

 

  • Note that there are no transfer codes (Cost Center, Project Task, Expenditure or Reason) for changes that did not involve the transfer codes in MCtime.

Scenario 2: Your employee work 24 hours of overtime but neglected to add it to the timecard.

  • Fill in the appropriate data from the bullet list above and then the specifics in the table:MCtime Payroll Correction Example 2

 

 

Scenario 3: Your employee was paid for the holiday (HDP) but prefers comp leave (CLH).

  • Discuss the issue with the employee: Having already been paid for the holiday and received the money from the county, changing to comp leave at this point will result in Payroll telling the employee to pay the money back to the county. If the employee still wants to earn comp leave instead of pay for the holiday, proceed to the next step.
  • Fill in the appropriate data from the bullet list above and then the specifics in the table:MCtime Payroll Correction Example 3

 

 

 

One final note: Multiple correction requests you input on a form must fall within the same pay period and for the same employee. If you need to request changes that span across more than one pay period, use additional forms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completing an ALS to BLS Downgrade Checklist in Elite

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Are you downgrading a call from ALS to BLS? While there has been a procedure in place for your documentation, the EMIHS group has added a new page (called Worksheet in Elite) for you to fill out, as well. Here are the basics:

Find and click the (new) black and gray Worksheets button, now located a few buttons below the Times button on the right side of the screen (above the Power Tools). This will toggle the Power Tools with the (new) Worksheets buttons.

Elite Worksheets button

 

 

Find and click the green Downgrade button, located on the right side of the screen where the Power Tools were a moment ago.

Elite Downgrade button

 

 

Note that a new screen has appeared. There is a menu on the left side with six headings. Clicking any of the headings takes you down the page to that particular section.

Elite downgrade page menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer the questions.

Elite - ALS to BLS Downgrade Form Graphic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elite - ALS to BLS Downgrade Form GraphicElite - ALS to BLS Downgrade Form GraphicElite - ALS to BLS Downgrade Form GraphicSign the bottom (both the ALS provider and BLS provider must sign).

Understanding the Billing Tab in Elite

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Are you at a loss with the Billing tab in Elite when you’re working on a patient report? Here is a TechTip that might help.

Elite Billing Tab

 

 

 

Specifically, let’s talk about the CMS Service Level field.

CMS Service Level Elite Field

 

 

When you see this field, ask yourself: What is the level of service provided to the patient during transport? (Because of how we assemble resources, it is not always obvious if a patient was transported ALS or BLS.  We need to identify if the paramedic upgraded a call or if it was downgraded to BLS.)

  • If the patient received ALS service during transport, pick any option that contains ALS (ALS1, ALS1 Emergency or ALS Level 2 – it doesn’t matter which).
  • If the patient received BLS service during transport, pick any option that contains BLS (BLS or BLS Emergency – it doesn’t matter which).
  • Disregard other choices.

Note: The choices in this field are driven at the national level but not all of the choices apply to how we do business.  We have adapted what you enter to get the information we need locally, which is why you can choose any ALS, any BLS and disregard the rest.

Viewing a Patient’s Previous 12-Lead EKGs

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

ImageTrend (ELITE) recently added the functionality to view a patient’s previous 12-lead EKGs and other vitals.  Here are the steps you need to take:

  • Begin entering demographic information for you patient:
    • Use as much personally identifying information as possible (minimum of 2 pieces) to identify the correct patient including Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Home Address.
    • Note that, if the system finds a matching record, a yellow bar with a blue Find a Repeat Patient link will appear at the top and the Find a Repeat Patient button will turn blue — Use this button whenever possible to keep multiple patient encounters grouped together.
      Repeat PT Button

 

 

 

  • Click the Find a Repeat Patient button.
  • Select the proper patient from the list of possible matches.
  • Click on the Timeline power tool at the right of the screen. (This allows you to view information from previous incidents, such as vitals, EKGs, previous dispatch reasons, and provider impression.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Select the Medical Devices in the filter criteria to view a list of EKGs, and click the eye icon to view the EKG, itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions about how to use this function may be directed to Captain Tim Burns or FF Benjamin Brighton.

Finding the Pub Ed Report Form (Wufoo)

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

As of July 2019, the MCFRS public education section (now called Community Risk Reduction) has moved from the Vol and Community Ed Services Division to the Office of the Fire Chief. With that move, the links for public education documentation and Wufoo form have moved on Quicklinks. Here are directions to find the new location.

Go to Quicklinks.

Quicklinks Fire Chief Menu

 

 

 

 

 

Click to expand the Fire Chief menu and choose Pub Ed Report Form.

CRR section of FC Menu

 

 

 

Enter the password (as shown below) and click the Submit button.

Enter the Password

 

 

 

 

 

Use the form.

SION Form

 

Documenting Details off the Floor in MCtime (Manager Version)

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Scenario: Your employee was detailed off the floor for part of a shift. You are now reviewing the timecard in MCtime.

Background: The department is now tracking details off the floor in MCtime, so that we can associate a dollar figure with the overtime required to backfill the detail. Also, any request for details will now be entered in a separate form and approved (or not) by a division chief. The approval form includes a specific reason code, as noted in the following process. See the bottom of this TechTip for a sample approval Click here to view the employee side of this TechTip.

The Timecard:

Timecard with Code for Detail and OT

 

 

 

The Explanation:

  • The first line (Hours Worked with a Transfer code) was originally 24 hours on Monday and was the employee’s normal shift.
  • The employee was detailed off the floor (dayside) to EMS at PSHQ and told to use FRS060EA as the Reason Code.
  • The second line, on Monday, shows ten hours for the detail toward the Reason Code.
  • The second line, on Wednesday, shows five hours in which the employee worked overtime using the same Reason Code.

Notes:

  • Do not assume that anything with a Reason Code is overtime; moving forward, that is no longer a safe assumption.
  • Take note of the Totals & Schedule tab in MCtime. As noted in the two screenshots below, Total Hrs Toward Schedule will be broken up by code. The first screenshot is for the daily view (10 hours and 14 hours) and the second screenshot is for the entire pay period (10 hours and 86 hours).

    Daily View:
    Totals & Schedule Tab

    All:

    Totals & Schedule Tab

Documenting Details off the Floor in MCtime (Employee Version)

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Scenario: You have been detailed off the floor for part of your shift and need to record those hours in MCtime.

Background: The department is now tracking details off the floor in MCtime, so that we can associate a dollar figure with the overtime required to backfill the detail. Also, any request for the detail will now be entered in a separate form and approved (or not) by a division chief. The approval form will include a specific reason code, to be used in the following process. See the bottom of this TechTip for a sample approval message.

The Process for the Employee Showing the Detail in MCtime:

  • Wait until after 0830 hours the day after the detail (to allow for any leave taken to import from TeleStaff).
  • Open MCtime.
  • Add a row.
  • Input the time spent on the detail for the date of your shift.
  • Add a reason code in the Transfer column (using a search, as you would to look up the code for overtime) for the detail. When the officer originally filled out the form to request your detail, (s)he provided a reason code and it would have been included in the approval e-mail message (s)he received (and hopefully forwarded to you). If you do not know what reason code to use, ask your officer.
  • Change the standard hours worked from 24.0 to whatever the difference is after you subtract your detail time. In the example screen shot below, the firefighter was detailed to work on EMS activities at PSHQ for 10 hours and so the new time spent on shift is 14.Reason Code and Time for a Detail

 

 

 

Notes:

  • Remember that any change you make to purple text (your default schedule) will change from purple to black and move to a different line. If you take any leave during the remaining time on your shift, TeleStaff data will import (the next day at 0800 hours) but the time on leave will not deduct from the hours worked automatically. You will need to subtract it on your own and edit the time card. TeleStaff data only makes automatic changes to time reflected in purple. If you wait until after 0800 on the day after the detail, though, the TeleStaff import works smoothly.
  • Note that overtime spent on different days in the same week with the same code will occur on the same row. There is currently no way to distinguish detailed time from overtime, except that the rest of your time spent on shift will appear as Hours Worked.

Sample Approval E-Mail Message:

Sample Authorization Message