September 22, 2025 • 35 mins
This episode features Josh Blum and John Vance.
For Waldorf University Blue Card credit and discounts: https://www.waldorf.edu/lp/blue-card/
For free command and leadership support, check out bshifter.com
Sign up for the B Shifter Buckslip, our free weekly newsletter here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/fmgs92N/Buckslip
Shop B Shifter here: https://bshifter.myshopify.com
All of our links here: https://linktr.ee/BShifter
Please subscribe and share. Thank you for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the B Shifter podcast.
John Vance here along with JoshBloom, and today is the blue
card rundown for September,going into October of 2025.
How are you doing, josh?
Good to see you, man.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm doing great, doing great.
Good to see you, as always.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's been a little bit.
We've been on a silverback runhere on the podcast, so we
haven't had you on for about amonth or so.
So it's good to see you againand we're certainly looking
forward to being in person nextweek in Sharonville, ohio at the
blue card conference.
You all ready for that?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, I mean we're.
I think we're all ready to go.
We got, since some emails outthis morning and followed up
with some presenters and thenanybody who's attending.
Make sure you download the WOVAapp so that you see what the
entire agenda is for the week.
You can make your plans of whatyou're going to do for the
(01:09):
general sessions on Thursday andFriday, and then there's an
agenda on there for those thatare attending the pre-conference
workshop.
Starting on Monday, a week fromtoday, We'll start to start lab
, and then Tuesday and Wednesdaywe got the other four workshops
that we're doing.
I think we about 125 people forthe workshops and 400 and
(01:30):
something, I think, altogetherfor the general session.
So, yeah, looking forward tocatching up with everybody and
rolling out some of the stuffwe've been working on for this
last year, talking about wherewe've been and where we're going
.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
So here we are, the week of September 22nd when this
podcast is coming out.
Can people still register?
Is there still plenty of roomfor folks if they want to get
into the conference this week?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, the general session.
We could well those of youwho've been to Sharonville
Convention Center, we could takeas many as we, as many as could
sign up.
Really we could do for thegeneral session stuff.
And then there's not many seatsleft for the workshops, but
there's a few seats left hereand there.
We actually received someregistrations at the end of last
(02:21):
week for the conference.
So yeah, looking forward to it.
Plenty of opportunity to stillregister if your organization is
looking to send somebody.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Bshiftercom.
You can click on all theinformation there.
There's descriptions ofeverything that we're doing.
I'm really looking forward toit.
There's some great classes.
I've been kind of peeking overthe shoulder helping some of the
other instructors out with someof their material and there is
some great content this year,whether it's the expanded
command class and also TimSchaubel's also doing the
(02:59):
leadership under fire class.
He's got a lot of great stufffor that.
I know Chris and Eric havereally put in, you know, even
more work into their strategicdecision-making class that
they're going to be presentingthis year, and then some of the
other instructors I think wehave, you know are, we have, we
have, we have a lot of new stuff.
I mean, I can't, I can'tremember it all, but on the WOVA
(03:20):
app you can see all of that oryou can can you can check out
the descriptions at our website,bshiftercom yeah, a big thing
is terry and pat will be given.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, uh, where are they with the silverback
leadership stuff?
So a year ago they launchedthat actual online the first one
at the conference and herebefore the conference or right
at the conference and herebefore the conference or right
at the conference.
This year they'll have modulefour will be coming out.
So I've been through every oneof those and gives quite a
(03:54):
different perspective on thatdelivery of service.
When we focus on the work, whenwe face our chair and we face
ourselves towards the work anddon't worry so much about all
the other residual bs, thatreally don't mean anything.
I think it keeps all of usfocused more on why we really
(04:18):
exist, which is to provideservice to the community, not
service to ourself.
I mean, right, they do a nicejob talking about inside out you
know, leadership and all ofthat, but when it all starts,
when it starts, though, withthat work, with us facing the
community and what they want andwhat they need, there's that's
(04:40):
a, there's a huge value in that,and you can tie that all the
way back to blue card.
Right, we do what we do withcommand and decision-making
because it's about providingservice to the community when
they're in that state of need.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
If you're unfamiliar with what Silverback is, that's
really our leadership levelclasses that come from proven
fire chiefs, including the workof Alan Brunicini.
So taking his stuff that he didcustomer service and a lot of
his other writings anatomy andphysiology of leadership melding
it into one program.
So if you want to lead likeAlan Brunicini did, this is
(05:18):
really a program to get involvedin because it distills down all
of his works into these easy todigest modules.
So those guys will be there forthat.
And if you've seen any of ourclips that we talked about on
the podcast last week but I justput a clip out of Terry talking
about uniforms and I've had tosay you know we're not
(05:39):
anti-uniform, nobody'santi-uniform but that's real
low-lying fruit that a lot ofpeople get fixated on and that
was the point of his clip.
But oh my gosh, did it create afirestorm?
I mean it has over 380,000views as of today and hundreds
of comments and people arguingback and forth about you know,
(05:59):
if you're not following auniform policy, it's going to be
the fall of civilization andothers on there saying we
shouldn't have to wear uniformsor adhere to any policy.
And that's not really the pointat all.
The point is a lot of firechiefs focus on that low-lying
fruit and get involved indetails, especially at larger
departments, that they shouldlet their division chiefs and
(06:21):
other folks take care of whilethey're charting the strategy
and keeping us focused on thebig picture.
And we talk a lot about thatwith the Silverback program.
So that it's a great program,because I really tried to follow
what Alan Brunicini did as faras being a fire chief.
But you know it's all over theplace because there's books and
(06:42):
videos and stuff.
Now we're trying to collectthat all into one nice
collection for everybody.
So if, if you want to get theteachings of AVB, you'll be able
to get that through silverback.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, if we, if we would only give as much
attention to the uniforms, ornot as much attention to the to,
to our service delivery andwhat we do with service delivery
, and as we attention to the to,to our service delivery and and
what we do with servicedelivery and as we do to the
uniforms, we would be, we wouldall be so much further ahead.
But it's like, how in the worlddid that get so?
(07:14):
People got so, they're gettingso wrapped around the wheel.
On on that.
On the uniform thing Right, andit's like no, you need to look
like a you.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
the uniform thing right, and it's like no, you
need to look like a, you need tolook in some form or fashion
like a fireman like you're to todeliver service, but on their
worst day they really, theyreally don't care.
No, no, and that's that'sreally the point.
So check that out.
It's good stuff.
So looking forward to seeingeverybody at the 2025 blue card
hazardard Zone Conference inSharonville, ohio Easy to get
there.
Our guys this week are out inConnecticut right, they're at
the RF Working Group Conference.
It's an educational symposium.
(07:53):
What are they doing out there?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah.
So Chris Stewart, sean Glazerand JT, they got a general
session that they're doing there.
Basically they're giving anoverview of the eight functions
of command for ARF response.
So it's similar to what BlueCard is, for all hazards is what
we always call the general BlueCard stuff, and there's been
(08:16):
plenty of organizations that are, you know, aircraft response
that have, you know, tweaked theor that that program to make it
fit what they do on theairfield.
But this is a a very focusedprogram on aircraft and
decision-making with aircraftand having a process and
actually having a command system, whether you're got a single
(08:38):
ARF apparatus or whether you'reyou know command system, whether
you've got a single ARFapparatus or whether you're
running eight or ten ARFapparatus on a single airport
facility.
They've got a general sessionon that.
There's an ARF trainer December16th maybe, but it's in Phoenix
ARF train, the trainer class.
I think there's still plenty ofseats open in that.
(09:02):
So if you were looking to findout or get more information on
that, you can go to the websiteto find information or reach out
to Chris Stewart, chris at Bshiftercom.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
We took the pilot class a few months ago and there
was a lot that I learned that Inever knew.
And I actually worked at astation before adjacent to a
municipal airport and it wasnever in our mission to be the
ARF for that municipal airportalthough it was one of the
busier municipal airports in thestate and about once a year
we'd have a helicopter crash ora Cessna come down on the road
(09:33):
and no one ever really told uswhat to do.
You know, we knew you.
You know foam operations andsome of the stuff that we would
do with the fuels on thataircraft.
But uh, I this is a lot morecomprehensive than than I ever
knew of before.
So I I frankly I kind of geekedout over the, the training that
we did, because it was a lot ofgood stuff and things that I I
(09:55):
never even considered before asfar as command considerations
that are, of incidents.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and they've built some.
You know they got the tacticalconsiderations modules for
different aircraft and then thesimulations that they have
already are, you know, fantasticeverything from a you know
inbound flight emergency with,you know, potential breaks on
fire or breaks on fire to, youknow, an escalated incident
where, you know, plane versusbuilding on the ground.
(10:22):
So, yeah, and they're going tokeep expanding those modules too
, as, as that group continues tocome together and gives focus
to the ARF module, just like,just like all of us that are
working on the all hazards bluecard program continue to refine
it, they're going to do the samewith that.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
So, Well, if you're out at the Mohegan resort for
the blue card working I mean,I'm sorry the our working group
conference focusing on education, look for the blue card guys
Chris, jt and Sean out there andyou'll see them up on the main
stage at some point.
So look them up and say hi ifyou happen to be going to that
conference and definitely checkout our ARF program if you're
(11:03):
interested in that.
The rest of 2025 looks to befilling up here.
Josh, I know we just have a fewseats left in any of our Train,
the.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Trainers.
So how are those looking?
Yeah, I think there's four orfive seats left in the November
Trainer in Phoenix.
Other than that, all of ourPhoenix classes are full or over
full.
But when I say over full we'regoing to accommodate the
students that are in there.
But you know, people registeredthe same time or whatever.
And then we have a trainercoming up in Michigan that's got
(11:35):
four or five seats in it.
We have the Kernersville MaydayManagement class which probably
has six or eight seats left init, and other than that it's
pretty much so filled up throughthe rest of the year.
And we posted the dates for 26about I don't know just a few
(11:56):
weeks ago and we've been seeingquite a few registrations come
in for those train-the-trainerclasses in Phoenix after the
first of the year and then wegot January.
Through April we already havetrainers and workshops scheduled
.
So if you're looking to dosomething locally next year, the
sooner you get with us, themore flexibility we'll have,
(12:18):
obviously, with dates.
But we have three events inJanuary I think, three in
February and then three in Aprilalready on the books, so we can
definitely deliver and do work.
You know multiple classes inthe same week but at some point
we get to the point where we'retaxed with what we can deliver.
(12:43):
So we try to though we did it.
We try to avoid what we'redoing in September and October
this year with, I think, fivetrain-the-trainer classes and a
workshop and two conferences,and then our own conference in
September and then pretty muchthe same thing in October.
So at some point, just likeeverything, you get the capacity
(13:04):
, but we're in a much betterplace than the people building
fire trucks, cause we're, we're,we're still delivering in six
to nine month range, not threeto four sometimes.
Yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
what a brutal testimony to, just as a sidebar
boy, I'm glad I'm not those guys.
Hey, so that looks good.
Go to our our events page.
When you go to bshiftercom youcan look at all those dates and
then if you're interested in aparticular class, click on that
and you can put your form in toget registered for that.
(13:39):
Yeah, about what?
Was it April that we?
We kicked off our AAR modulefor after action reviews and
enabling folks to really have avery objective way of doing
after action reviews with theirdepartments?
How is that turning out rightnow?
What, where, where are we at onthe after action reviews?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, so we we actually turned it on at the
conference last year.
Oh okay, it's like the trialmodules, if you will.
And then, based off somefeedback, we relaunched with
some refinement.
Command function seven wentthrough.
It heard feedback what can wedo?
How can we make it easier?
(14:19):
And then, once we startedgetting data into the system, we
were able to update some thingsto make sure that we were
providing the right questionsand then that the system was
putting out the right feedbackthat the end user wanted.
So, yeah, the ARs I meanorganizations that are using it
(14:40):
are having tons of success.
We're going to be doing apodcast coming up here, probably
in a month or less, with anorganization here just outside
of Cincinnati, ohio, that's hadthree working fires in six
months in the same 1.4 millionsquare foot Amazon distribution
center.
Every one of them, every one ofthem contained by the sprinkler
system.
Two of them were in the higherwell.
Every one of them, every one ofthem contained by the sprinkler
(15:00):
system.
Two of them were in the higherwell.
All three of them were in highrack storage, but two of them
were on the top shelf of thehigh rack storage at 40 feet.
Sprinkler system totallycontained it and and this
organization has since thebeginning of us delivering the
big box workshops and us havingthe big box best practice SOGs
(15:22):
that we collaborate on and builtout based on input from Shane
Ray and others that have been tobeen successful at these
sprinkler control big boxbuildings.
This organization latched ontothat and is using that whole
mind frame of you know, slowdown a little bit.
The sprinkler system's going tolet the sprinkler system do its
job, though it's going to beinteresting in the podcast the
(15:46):
conditions from a top shelf fireat 40 feet versus the last fire
that they had.
That was on the very on groundlevel, the smoke condition that
they encountered.
The sprinkler system totallycontained it.
Their smoke condition was quitedifferent.
The sprinkler system totallycontained it.
Their smoke condition was quitedifferent throughout.
So that just really takes usback to something that we talk
(16:07):
about all the time, that wenever go to the same fire over
and over again.
So it's like, yeah, you'regoing to Amazon again for a fire
, but what's on fire?
What's the location of the fire?
How far into the building isthe fire?
So I mean there's just so manythings that we start with right
that whole decision-making thing.
It starts with the criticalfactors.
(16:28):
So the building isn't changing,the layout isn't changing, but
the location of the fire andwhat's burning is changing,
which impacts.
How long did it burn and howbig did it get before that
sprinkler system went off?
And in this case, the the firewas still just this.
Last case the fire was still,like all three of them, totally
(16:49):
contained by the sprinklersystem.
They had to, you know,obviously, mop it up a little
bit.
But yeah, I'm looking forward tothat, that podcast, because
they were going to talk aboutbig box, but we're also going to
talk about how they use theafter action reporting system
and then share that with theirown personnel as well as other
people that respond mutual aidwith them into that facility, so
(17:10):
that we can all learn fromthose experiences.
So that's really good.
And then I think last time Ilooked at it, we have 24 victim
rescues that have been enteredinto there.
So it's good being able to seethat information and talk to
(17:34):
organizations that have hadrescues.
And then I've had a half adozen of those organizations I
talked to and they said, yeah,we pulled out a victim and if we
didn't have this after actionreporting thing, we would have
said high five, we saved thisperson's life and we put the
fire out, great job.
And they still did that.
They they verified all of thethings that they were doing
(17:58):
correctly and kind of shoredthat up.
But then they had an opportunityto take a deeper look and say,
but what can we still do better?
Because that's what we shouldbe doing every day, like, what
can we do better?
And if you can't find anythingthat you can do better, then
you're probably honestly notlooking too hard, right?
(18:20):
I mean, it doesn't have to be abig thing.
There's always something Ithink that we can consider or
something that we can probablydo better.
And you notice, I'm not sayingthat we did wrong, but something
that we can just do better toprovide the best service that we
can possibly provide with thecapabilities and resources that
(18:42):
we have available to do so.
So that's been reallyinteresting.
And then eric phillips is he'shad many, many, many meetings
now with people who do dataanalysis and all the super smart
science people.
(19:03):
If you, you will not firescience, but science when it
comes to data collection.
And then what does the datareally telling us?
And then how do we display theresults for the end user so that
they have the best opportunityto fix it within their own
organization, without saying no,no, you were wrong.
(19:26):
More of the opportunity of no,we have an opportunity to do
something better.
Not, you did this totally wrongand we're going to.
We have to do something aboutthat.
And there's there's plenty ofcases where you know we do
things I don't think anybodydoes anything intentionally
wrong but where we do thingswrong and it's like no, that's,
that's dead wrong and we'renever going to do that again.
Versus the, we have anopportunity to improve.
(19:50):
So we've been in kind of in astate of refinement of what that
data dashboard fororganizations looks like.
Dashboard for organizationslooks like, and it really just
comes down to what's acceptable,limits and then what's not
acceptable.
And you know, in our world weshould be striving for 100%, not
(20:12):
mediocrity.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right and we always want to be fixing ourselves too.
That's something that we sayall the time.
We're always living within thecommand function where we're
revising and reviewing andtrying to make it better.
That was another one of Bruno'sthings.
So with that on the AAR module,they're adding a couple other
features to that too.
I see that are going to beturned on soon.
What's in the works for AAR inthe future for AAR in the future
(20:38):
.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah, so, instructors , when you look at your
dashboard now, it says there'stwo things on there and it says
coming soon.
They're there because we builtit out and it just hasn't been
turned on.
One of them is the hot washcomponent, so that you can link
a hot wash, you know, rightafter the tailboard talk, right
(20:58):
after an incident, to you knowyour actual AAR program.
So, number part one, hot wash.
Part two, you're, you're,you're entering and doing the
AAR stuff with your audio andyour video and and pre-plans,
and looking at all of thoseparts and pieces.
And then part three of it,which will be down the road,
(21:19):
even a little bit further, islike the full scale getting
input and feedback throughsurvey forms that'll come right
from the system to all thecompanies, or whatever companies
you choose to send the surveyto, to gather you know, what did
you do, what did you think wecould do better, what did you
see, what did you hear, whatworked, what didn't work, all of
(21:41):
those things that really mightcome out at a larger scale
review.
It may be a larger incident,that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Well, I know we've been using it at my departments
and it's working very well forus.
It gives us a really niceplatform to be able to review
those incidents where it's donevery objectively and, I think,
just the format, and not that wehad a huge problem with this
anyway, but it just seems likepeople don't take it personally
when you frame it the right wayand you're doing it in this
(22:12):
format.
Versus Billy, I didn't likewhat you did on this incident,
or you know, jimmy, you couldhave done a better job on that
size up.
We can actually listen to itnow, judge it using the same
criteria as we judge everythingelse and make it just kind of a
nice objective way to learn andimprove.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, the beautiful thing with the AAR is it's it's.
The AAR part is based on theSOGs and best practice and the
training that we provide, so ittakes the emotion out.
It's as long as you're doingthat, as long as you've told
people what to do and thenyou've taught them how to do it,
(22:54):
you know the AAR should be nosurprise and no hurt feelings to
anybody.
Really, what it is is a lot oftimes a reflection of the
organization, as Eric Phillipssays all the time.
Why do I keep going to trainingand training on the same thing
that we do really well, andeverybody says that we do really
(23:15):
well, but meanwhile there's alist of things that we've
identified that we can do better, but we don't address that.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
We'll help you out on that.
Get into our after actionreviews and use that module.
It's available to blue cardinstructors, so it's not on
everyone's dashboard.
You have to have an instructorlicense, but you can share it
then after you do it with thosein your organization.
The other thing I just wantedto mention on there too, because
we only talked about it reallyonce is we added the data
(23:48):
exports that are on there now.
So you know we had reports onthere that you can download into
an Excel spreadsheet ever sincewe relaunched really.
But this is more of a clean wayto get a progress report on on
the various programs you mayhave within your department.
Are people using that?
Is there anything else we wantto say, or just remind people
(24:10):
that you can use that reportfunction on on the toolbar too?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, so I think if you're if you're not looking for
it, you probably don't see it.
So they're on the left side ofyour screen.
If you're not looking for it,you probably don't see it.
So there on the left side ofyour screen, if you're an
instructor, there's a placethere that it's an option where
you can click to export reports.
So if you go there, you're notgoing to hurt a thing.
You can go there and export allkinds of different reports and
(24:35):
it just streamlines reallytracking, for you know, renewal,
eight functions of command, howmany hours people have.
Basically, if the data's in thesystem, you can get a report out
of the system very easily nowthat way, or you can still do
the old school way of droppingit into an Excel sheet and then
you can do whatever you wantwith it.
(24:56):
So, yeah, I think people are.
People are using it More andmore.
People are finding out about itwhen they call the office and
ask Jen, how do you do something?
And then she directs them to itand they're like, oh, like that
, that makes it real easy.
John, I think you said that youknow, once a month, just print
this thing off, give it to thetraining officer, give it to the
three battalion chiefs, give itto whoever and this person's
(25:19):
behind, or whatever it is, sothat it just stays right in your
face and you don't have tospend a ton of time chasing
recertification hours or any ofthose things, because it's
pretty simple.
Right on a report.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So what's coming up?
I mean, I know you've got acouple other plates spinning.
When we get through theconference next week, we're
looking ahead at 2026, and wehave some new things coming
online that our lead instructorsare working on right now and
you're working on Josh.
What's that look like?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
We've been working for about a year on what used to
be called the Blue Card SOPs,which was that 240 something
page document where we've beenin the midst of revamping that,
rewording it, making it a moreusable reference guide.
Basically for blue cardorganizations it's going to be
(26:15):
probably going to be called theblue card model procedures guide
.
So it's going to be.
It'll be on the website, justlike it always was, as a you
know free download, but theninstructors will have access to
it as a word document so youcould tweak it and change it and
update it for what you do atyour own organization.
So that's going to be reallynice because that's going to
(26:36):
line up with the third editionof fire command.
So it's looking like the thirdedition of Fire Command is like
400 to 450 pages, so about thesame size, maybe a little bit
bigger than the second editionof Fire Command.
So this is just going to be alittle bit of a shorter document
, not for an organization toadopt for what you do on the
(27:00):
fire ground but, like I said,more of a reference guide or
more information regarding theeight functions of command and
rapid intervention, response,air management, all those parts
and pieces that were in the bluecard old blue card SOP.
So we're going to be rollingthat out in January and right
(27:22):
there in that same time framewhen the third edition of Fire
Command is rolling out, we'realso in the middle of updating
the 13 SOGs that we've.
I think it was 2022 when wefirst launched those, john, and
put them on the website in thefree download section, and I
know those have gotten hundredsof thousands of downloads from
(27:45):
departments.
You know, everywhereOrganizations doing blue card
and those that don't do bluecard.
So, just like fire departmentsshould be updating and reviewing
their SOGs.
You know we feel the same way.
So we've been refining thoseSOGs.
We're going to push those outalso in January.
(28:06):
This last year we pushed outfour new command CEs and likely
one more still coming out beforethe end of the year.
Then the Silverback leadershipright now, everybody who has
full access has access to all ofthe Silverback leadership stuff
.
So we will have pushed out fourSilverback leadership modules
(28:28):
over this last year.
The new dispatch module so theyrefined, basically and put into
a new platform.
But the dispatch module hasrelaunched this year.
Chris, jt, sean and that wholecadre of instructors that worked
on the ARF module.
(28:48):
They launched that.
The first trainer, I think, wasin June and now they've been
right back at it working on CEmodules because if you're going
to have a certification thenthere has to be CE connected to
it to maintain a certification.
So they've already jumped onthat so that there's continuing
(29:09):
education going to be availablefor the ARF program.
And I'll just back up we're alsoworking on the CE for the
dispatch module.
So when that, when we firstlaunched that, you know every
intention of of having the CE.
But we've been on a, we've beenon a ride wide open for five
(29:31):
years and quite frankly, itdidn't make it to the front
burner.
So now it is on the frontburner and we're we're building
those, building out thosemodules.
And then, like we just talkedabout, with the after action
reporting program, thatcontinues to be refined.
It will continue to be refinedforever.
(29:55):
As long as, anytime anybody'slooking at data, I think there's
always right around the cornerthere's another, better way.
Or if there's not a better wayto collect the data or ask the
question, there's a better wayof what do we do with it.
So, with the after actionreporting piece, our lead
instructors and our staff, youknow, look at where
(30:18):
organizations all blue cardorganizations are falling when
it comes to, you know,performance.
So you know the first thingthat we do is I'll give you an
example where organizations,when you look at every, every
single after action report,we're scoring like low sixties
on declaration of strategy.
And we've we took a hard lookat ourselves in the mirror of
(30:43):
how well do we do delivering,why it's so important that we
declare a strategy and what doesthat really mean.
And so we're revisiting how dowe address that?
If it's indeed a trainingproblem on our end, are we
giving the instructors the toolsthat they need to get their
(31:04):
students and their ownorganization to give the
strategy Not once, but threetimes right Initial radio report
, follow-up report during acommand transfer.
So we're looking at that.
So, with that said, we're inJanuary we will also be pushing
(31:24):
out a bunch of updates to theday one PowerPoint.
We haven't done a lot ofupdates with that in a couple of
years.
So, based off of end usercustomer input feedback, you
know, we're making some updatesand changes to that.
The biggest change is going tobe how we deliver the five-day
(31:46):
train-the-trainer session sothat we, based on feedback from
end-users again, that we makesure that we're covering
everything that we need to coverand then, as we continue to
(32:14):
evolve and add parts and piecesand components, making sure that
we're covering all of thatduring that five-day class and
then continuing to support itafter the instructor leaves
class and goes to deliver.
So I think we do a really goodjob supporting instructors
already.
Good job supporting instructorsalready.
I mean, if you have a question,don't sit there and try to
figure it out yourself.
Pick that phone up and call theoffice or email or call any of
us and we'll help you out withit.
But I know that everybody inthe office does a really nice
job.
On that support piece, jen getsan email this morning and 10
(32:39):
minutes later she was sendingthem an answer and we didn't fix
the problem already, but wealready addressed it for the
person which in today's world Ithink that's unheard of you
don't even get transferred toanother country.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Yeah, and no bots.
We don't have a bot helping youout.
It's actual people that knowwhat they're talking about.
So that's one of the nicethings about our customer
service.
Well, we wanted to hop on todayand just give everybody a bit
of an update on where we're at.
We like to come on with theseblue card rundowns to give
everybody an update on where weare with programs and dates and
(33:14):
what's coming up through, atleast next couple of months.
So I'm sure we'll do one or twomore of these before the end of
the year and get peopletogether.
Did you have anything elsetoday for us, josh, before we go
?
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I don't think, so I'm going to jump back on my
computer and get some otherstuff tied up and wrapped up for
the conference that we'll, yeah, six days away now five, five
days, five days.
You guys will be here.
So, yeah, I'm looking forwardto it.
It's going to be a good time.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
I am too.
Thanks for all your hard workthat you've done out, and I know
that's it's occupied a lot ofyour time, especially since it's
there in your backyard, butyou're the you're the driving
force behind this.
So thanks for all the effortyou put into getting all of us
together and giving us somecontinuing education.
That's going to help developour command skills, so I do
appreciate it.
Well, we'll see you next week,josh.
(34:03):
Thanks, thanks, john.
Welcome to the B Shifter podcast.
John Vance here along with JoshBloom, and today is the blue
card rundown for September,going into October of 2025.
How are you doing, josh?
Good to see you, man.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm doing great, doing great.
Good to see you, as always.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's been a little bit.
We've been on a silverback runhere on the podcast, so we
haven't had you on for about amonth or so.
So it's good to see you againand we're certainly looking
forward to being in person nextweek in Sharonville, ohio at the
blue card conference.
You all ready for that?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, I mean we're.
I think we're all ready to go.
We got, since some emails outthis morning and followed up
with some presenters and thenanybody who's attending.
Make sure you download the WOVAapp so that you see what the
entire agenda is for the week.
You can make your plans of whatyou're going to do for the
(01:09):
general sessions on Thursday andFriday, and then there's an
agenda on there for those thatare attending the pre-conference
workshop.
Starting on Monday, a week fromtoday, We'll start to start lab
, and then Tuesday and Wednesdaywe got the other four workshops
that we're doing.
I think we about 125 people forthe workshops and 400 and
(01:30):
something, I think, altogetherfor the general session.
So, yeah, looking forward tocatching up with everybody and
rolling out some of the stuffwe've been working on for this
last year, talking about wherewe've been and where we're going
.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
So here we are, the week of September 22nd when this
podcast is coming out.
Can people still register?
Is there still plenty of roomfor folks if they want to get
into the conference this week?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, the general session.
We could well those of youwho've been to Sharonville
Convention Center, we could takeas many as we, as many as could
sign up.
Really we could do for thegeneral session stuff.
And then there's not many seatsleft for the workshops, but
there's a few seats left hereand there.
We actually received someregistrations at the end of last
(02:21):
week for the conference.
So yeah, looking forward to it.
Plenty of opportunity to stillregister if your organization is
looking to send somebody.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Bshiftercom.
You can click on all theinformation there.
There's descriptions ofeverything that we're doing.
I'm really looking forward toit.
There's some great classes.
I've been kind of peeking overthe shoulder helping some of the
other instructors out with someof their material and there is
some great content this year,whether it's the expanded
command class and also TimSchaubel's also doing the
(02:59):
leadership under fire class.
He's got a lot of great stufffor that.
I know Chris and Eric havereally put in, you know, even
more work into their strategicdecision-making class that
they're going to be presentingthis year, and then some of the
other instructors I think wehave, you know are, we have, we
have, we have a lot of new stuff.
I mean, I can't, I can'tremember it all, but on the WOVA
(03:20):
app you can see all of that oryou can can you can check out
the descriptions at our website,bshiftercom yeah, a big thing
is terry and pat will be given.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, uh, where are they with the silverback
leadership stuff?
So a year ago they launchedthat actual online the first one
at the conference and herebefore the conference or right
at the conference and herebefore the conference or right
at the conference.
This year they'll have modulefour will be coming out.
So I've been through every oneof those and gives quite a
(03:54):
different perspective on thatdelivery of service.
When we focus on the work, whenwe face our chair and we face
ourselves towards the work anddon't worry so much about all
the other residual bs, thatreally don't mean anything.
I think it keeps all of usfocused more on why we really
(04:18):
exist, which is to provideservice to the community, not
service to ourself.
I mean, right, they do a nicejob talking about inside out you
know, leadership and all ofthat, but when it all starts,
when it starts, though, withthat work, with us facing the
community and what they want andwhat they need, there's that's
(04:40):
a, there's a huge value in that,and you can tie that all the
way back to blue card.
Right, we do what we do withcommand and decision-making
because it's about providingservice to the community when
they're in that state of need.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
If you're unfamiliar with what Silverback is, that's
really our leadership levelclasses that come from proven
fire chiefs, including the workof Alan Brunicini.
So taking his stuff that he didcustomer service and a lot of
his other writings anatomy andphysiology of leadership melding
it into one program.
So if you want to lead likeAlan Brunicini did, this is
(05:18):
really a program to get involvedin because it distills down all
of his works into these easy todigest modules.
So those guys will be there forthat.
And if you've seen any of ourclips that we talked about on
the podcast last week but I justput a clip out of Terry talking
about uniforms and I've had tosay you know we're not
(05:39):
anti-uniform, nobody'santi-uniform but that's real
low-lying fruit that a lot ofpeople get fixated on and that
was the point of his clip.
But oh my gosh, did it create afirestorm?
I mean it has over 380,000views as of today and hundreds
of comments and people arguingback and forth about you know,
(05:59):
if you're not following auniform policy, it's going to be
the fall of civilization andothers on there saying we
shouldn't have to wear uniformsor adhere to any policy.
And that's not really the pointat all.
The point is a lot of firechiefs focus on that low-lying
fruit and get involved indetails, especially at larger
departments, that they shouldlet their division chiefs and
(06:21):
other folks take care of whilethey're charting the strategy
and keeping us focused on thebig picture.
And we talk a lot about thatwith the Silverback program.
So that it's a great program,because I really tried to follow
what Alan Brunicini did as faras being a fire chief.
But you know it's all over theplace because there's books and
(06:42):
videos and stuff.
Now we're trying to collectthat all into one nice
collection for everybody.
So if, if you want to get theteachings of AVB, you'll be able
to get that through silverback.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah, if we, if we would only give as much
attention to the uniforms, ornot as much attention to the to,
to our service delivery andwhat we do with service delivery
, and as we attention to the to,to our service delivery and and
what we do with servicedelivery and as we do to the
uniforms, we would be, we wouldall be so much further ahead.
But it's like, how in the worlddid that get so?
(07:14):
People got so, they're gettingso wrapped around the wheel.
On on that.
On the uniform thing Right, andit's like no, you need to look
like a you.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
the uniform thing right, and it's like no, you
need to look like a, you need tolook in some form or fashion
like a fireman like you're to todeliver service, but on their
worst day they really, theyreally don't care.
No, no, and that's that'sreally the point.
So check that out.
It's good stuff.
So looking forward to seeingeverybody at the 2025 blue card
hazardard Zone Conference inSharonville, ohio Easy to get
there.
Our guys this week are out inConnecticut right, they're at
the RF Working Group Conference.
It's an educational symposium.
(07:53):
What are they doing out there?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah.
So Chris Stewart, sean Glazerand JT, they got a general
session that they're doing there.
Basically they're giving anoverview of the eight functions
of command for ARF response.
So it's similar to what BlueCard is, for all hazards is what
we always call the general BlueCard stuff, and there's been
(08:16):
plenty of organizations that are, you know, aircraft response
that have, you know, tweaked theor that that program to make it
fit what they do on theairfield.
But this is a a very focusedprogram on aircraft and
decision-making with aircraftand having a process and
actually having a command system, whether you're got a single
(08:38):
ARF apparatus or whether you'reyou know command system, whether
you've got a single ARFapparatus or whether you're
running eight or ten ARFapparatus on a single airport
facility.
They've got a general sessionon that.
There's an ARF trainer December16th maybe, but it's in Phoenix
ARF train, the trainer class.
I think there's still plenty ofseats open in that.
(09:02):
So if you were looking to findout or get more information on
that, you can go to the websiteto find information or reach out
to Chris Stewart, chris at Bshiftercom.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
We took the pilot class a few months ago and there
was a lot that I learned that Inever knew.
And I actually worked at astation before adjacent to a
municipal airport and it wasnever in our mission to be the
ARF for that municipal airportalthough it was one of the
busier municipal airports in thestate and about once a year
we'd have a helicopter crash ora Cessna come down on the road
(09:33):
and no one ever really told uswhat to do.
You know, we knew you.
You know foam operations andsome of the stuff that we would
do with the fuels on thataircraft.
But uh, I this is a lot morecomprehensive than than I ever
knew of before.
So I I frankly I kind of geekedout over the, the training that
we did, because it was a lot ofgood stuff and things that I I
(09:55):
never even considered before asfar as command considerations
that are, of incidents.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and they've built some.
You know they got the tacticalconsiderations modules for
different aircraft and then thesimulations that they have
already are, you know, fantasticeverything from a you know
inbound flight emergency with,you know, potential breaks on
fire or breaks on fire to, youknow, an escalated incident
where, you know, plane versusbuilding on the ground.
(10:22):
So, yeah, and they're going tokeep expanding those modules too
, as, as that group continues tocome together and gives focus
to the ARF module, just like,just like all of us that are
working on the all hazards bluecard program continue to refine
it, they're going to do the samewith that.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
So, Well, if you're out at the Mohegan resort for
the blue card working I mean,I'm sorry the our working group
conference focusing on education, look for the blue card guys
Chris, jt and Sean out there andyou'll see them up on the main
stage at some point.
So look them up and say hi ifyou happen to be going to that
conference and definitely checkout our ARF program if you're
(11:03):
interested in that.
The rest of 2025 looks to befilling up here.
Josh, I know we just have a fewseats left in any of our Train,
the.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Trainers.
So how are those looking?
Yeah, I think there's four orfive seats left in the November
Trainer in Phoenix.
Other than that, all of ourPhoenix classes are full or over
full.
But when I say over full we'regoing to accommodate the
students that are in there.
But you know, people registeredthe same time or whatever.
And then we have a trainercoming up in Michigan that's got
(11:35):
four or five seats in it.
We have the Kernersville MaydayManagement class which probably
has six or eight seats left init, and other than that it's
pretty much so filled up throughthe rest of the year.
And we posted the dates for 26about I don't know just a few
(11:56):
weeks ago and we've been seeingquite a few registrations come
in for those train-the-trainerclasses in Phoenix after the
first of the year and then wegot January.
Through April we already havetrainers and workshops scheduled
.
So if you're looking to dosomething locally next year, the
sooner you get with us, themore flexibility we'll have,
(12:18):
obviously, with dates.
But we have three events inJanuary I think, three in
February and then three in Aprilalready on the books, so we can
definitely deliver and do work.
You know multiple classes inthe same week but at some point
we get to the point where we'retaxed with what we can deliver.
(12:43):
So we try to though we did it.
We try to avoid what we'redoing in September and October
this year with, I think, fivetrain-the-trainer classes and a
workshop and two conferences,and then our own conference in
September and then pretty muchthe same thing in October.
So at some point, just likeeverything, you get the capacity
(13:04):
, but we're in a much betterplace than the people building
fire trucks, cause we're, we're,we're still delivering in six
to nine month range, not threeto four sometimes.
Yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
what a brutal testimony to, just as a sidebar
boy, I'm glad I'm not those guys.
Hey, so that looks good.
Go to our our events page.
When you go to bshiftercom youcan look at all those dates and
then if you're interested in aparticular class, click on that
and you can put your form in toget registered for that.
(13:39):
Yeah, about what?
Was it April that we?
We kicked off our AAR modulefor after action reviews and
enabling folks to really have avery objective way of doing
after action reviews with theirdepartments?
How is that turning out rightnow?
What, where, where are we at onthe after action reviews?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah, so we we actually turned it on at the
conference last year.
Oh okay, it's like the trialmodules, if you will.
And then, based off somefeedback, we relaunched with
some refinement.
Command function seven wentthrough.
It heard feedback what can wedo?
How can we make it easier?
(14:19):
And then, once we startedgetting data into the system, we
were able to update some thingsto make sure that we were
providing the right questionsand then that the system was
putting out the right feedbackthat the end user wanted.
So, yeah, the ARs I meanorganizations that are using it
(14:40):
are having tons of success.
We're going to be doing apodcast coming up here, probably
in a month or less, with anorganization here just outside
of Cincinnati, ohio, that's hadthree working fires in six
months in the same 1.4 millionsquare foot Amazon distribution
center.
Every one of them, every one ofthem contained by the sprinkler
system.
Two of them were in the higherwell.
Every one of them, every one ofthem contained by the sprinkler
(15:00):
system.
Two of them were in the higherwell.
All three of them were in highrack storage, but two of them
were on the top shelf of thehigh rack storage at 40 feet.
Sprinkler system totallycontained it and and this
organization has since thebeginning of us delivering the
big box workshops and us havingthe big box best practice SOGs
(15:22):
that we collaborate on and builtout based on input from Shane
Ray and others that have been tobeen successful at these
sprinkler control big boxbuildings.
This organization latched ontothat and is using that whole
mind frame of you know, slowdown a little bit.
The sprinkler system's going tolet the sprinkler system do its
job, though it's going to beinteresting in the podcast the
(15:46):
conditions from a top shelf fireat 40 feet versus the last fire
that they had.
That was on the very on groundlevel, the smoke condition that
they encountered.
The sprinkler system totallycontained it.
Their smoke condition was quitedifferent.
The sprinkler system totallycontained it.
Their smoke condition was quitedifferent throughout.
So that just really takes usback to something that we talk
(16:07):
about all the time, that wenever go to the same fire over
and over again.
So it's like, yeah, you'regoing to Amazon again for a fire
, but what's on fire?
What's the location of the fire?
How far into the building isthe fire?
So I mean there's just so manythings that we start with right
that whole decision-making thing.
It starts with the criticalfactors.
(16:28):
So the building isn't changing,the layout isn't changing, but
the location of the fire andwhat's burning is changing,
which impacts.
How long did it burn and howbig did it get before that
sprinkler system went off?
And in this case, the the firewas still just this.
Last case the fire was still,like all three of them, totally
(16:49):
contained by the sprinklersystem.
They had to, you know,obviously, mop it up a little
bit.
But yeah, I'm looking forward tothat, that podcast, because
they were going to talk aboutbig box, but we're also going to
talk about how they use theafter action reporting system
and then share that with theirown personnel as well as other
people that respond mutual aidwith them into that facility, so
(17:10):
that we can all learn fromthose experiences.
So that's really good.
And then I think last time Ilooked at it, we have 24 victim
rescues that have been enteredinto there.
So it's good being able to seethat information and talk to
(17:34):
organizations that have hadrescues.
And then I've had a half adozen of those organizations I
talked to and they said, yeah,we pulled out a victim and if we
didn't have this after actionreporting thing, we would have
said high five, we saved thisperson's life and we put the
fire out, great job.
And they still did that.
They they verified all of thethings that they were doing
(17:58):
correctly and kind of shoredthat up.
But then they had an opportunityto take a deeper look and say,
but what can we still do better?
Because that's what we shouldbe doing every day, like, what
can we do better?
And if you can't find anythingthat you can do better, then
you're probably honestly notlooking too hard, right?
(18:20):
I mean, it doesn't have to be abig thing.
There's always something Ithink that we can consider or
something that we can probablydo better.
And you notice, I'm not sayingthat we did wrong, but something
that we can just do better toprovide the best service that we
can possibly provide with thecapabilities and resources that
(18:42):
we have available to do so.
So that's been reallyinteresting.
And then eric phillips is he'shad many, many, many meetings
now with people who do dataanalysis and all the super smart
science people.
(19:03):
If you, you will not firescience, but science when it
comes to data collection.
And then what does the datareally telling us?
And then how do we display theresults for the end user so that
they have the best opportunityto fix it within their own
organization, without saying no,no, you were wrong.
(19:26):
More of the opportunity of no,we have an opportunity to do
something better.
Not, you did this totally wrongand we're going to.
We have to do something aboutthat.
And there's there's plenty ofcases where you know we do
things I don't think anybodydoes anything intentionally
wrong but where we do thingswrong and it's like no, that's,
that's dead wrong and we'renever going to do that again.
Versus the, we have anopportunity to improve.
(19:50):
So we've been in kind of in astate of refinement of what that
data dashboard fororganizations looks like.
Dashboard for organizationslooks like, and it really just
comes down to what's acceptable,limits and then what's not
acceptable.
And you know, in our world weshould be striving for 100%, not
(20:12):
mediocrity.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right and we always want to be fixing ourselves too.
That's something that we sayall the time.
We're always living within thecommand function where we're
revising and reviewing andtrying to make it better.
That was another one of Bruno'sthings.
So with that on the AAR module,they're adding a couple other
features to that too.
I see that are going to beturned on soon.
What's in the works for AAR inthe future for AAR in the future
(20:38):
.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah, so, instructors , when you look at your
dashboard now, it says there'stwo things on there and it says
coming soon.
They're there because we builtit out and it just hasn't been
turned on.
One of them is the hot washcomponent, so that you can link
a hot wash, you know, rightafter the tailboard talk, right
(20:58):
after an incident, to you knowyour actual AAR program.
So, number part one, hot wash.
Part two, you're, you're,you're entering and doing the
AAR stuff with your audio andyour video and and pre-plans,
and looking at all of thoseparts and pieces.
And then part three of it,which will be down the road,
(21:19):
even a little bit further, islike the full scale getting
input and feedback throughsurvey forms that'll come right
from the system to all thecompanies, or whatever companies
you choose to send the surveyto, to gather you know, what did
you do, what did you think wecould do better, what did you
see, what did you hear, whatworked, what didn't work, all of
(21:41):
those things that really mightcome out at a larger scale
review.
It may be a larger incident,that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Well, I know we've been using it at my departments
and it's working very well forus.
It gives us a really niceplatform to be able to review
those incidents where it's donevery objectively and, I think,
just the format, and not that wehad a huge problem with this
anyway, but it just seems likepeople don't take it personally
when you frame it the right wayand you're doing it in this
(22:12):
format.
Versus Billy, I didn't likewhat you did on this incident,
or you know, jimmy, you couldhave done a better job on that
size up.
We can actually listen to itnow, judge it using the same
criteria as we judge everythingelse and make it just kind of a
nice objective way to learn andimprove.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, the beautiful thing with the AAR is it's it's.
The AAR part is based on theSOGs and best practice and the
training that we provide, so ittakes the emotion out.
It's as long as you're doingthat, as long as you've told
people what to do and thenyou've taught them how to do it,
(22:54):
you know the AAR should be nosurprise and no hurt feelings to
anybody.
Really, what it is is a lot oftimes a reflection of the
organization, as Eric Phillipssays all the time.
Why do I keep going to trainingand training on the same thing
that we do really well, andeverybody says that we do really
(23:15):
well, but meanwhile there's alist of things that we've
identified that we can do better, but we don't address that.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
We'll help you out on that.
Get into our after actionreviews and use that module.
It's available to blue cardinstructors, so it's not on
everyone's dashboard.
You have to have an instructorlicense, but you can share it
then after you do it with thosein your organization.
The other thing I just wantedto mention on there too, because
we only talked about it reallyonce is we added the data
(23:48):
exports that are on there now.
So you know we had reports onthere that you can download into
an Excel spreadsheet ever sincewe relaunched really.
But this is more of a clean wayto get a progress report on on
the various programs you mayhave within your department.
Are people using that?
Is there anything else we wantto say, or just remind people
(24:10):
that you can use that reportfunction on on the toolbar too?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, so I think if you're if you're not looking for
it, you probably don't see it.
So they're on the left side ofyour screen.
If you're not looking for it,you probably don't see it.
So there on the left side ofyour screen, if you're an
instructor, there's a placethere that it's an option where
you can click to export reports.
So if you go there, you're notgoing to hurt a thing.
You can go there and export allkinds of different reports and
(24:35):
it just streamlines reallytracking, for you know, renewal,
eight functions of command, howmany hours people have.
Basically, if the data's in thesystem, you can get a report out
of the system very easily nowthat way, or you can still do
the old school way of droppingit into an Excel sheet and then
you can do whatever you wantwith it.
(24:56):
So, yeah, I think people are.
People are using it More andmore.
People are finding out about itwhen they call the office and
ask Jen, how do you do something?
And then she directs them to itand they're like, oh, like that
, that makes it real easy.
John, I think you said that youknow, once a month, just print
this thing off, give it to thetraining officer, give it to the
three battalion chiefs, give itto whoever and this person's
(25:19):
behind, or whatever it is, sothat it just stays right in your
face and you don't have tospend a ton of time chasing
recertification hours or any ofthose things, because it's
pretty simple.
Right on a report.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So what's coming up?
I mean, I know you've got acouple other plates spinning.
When we get through theconference next week, we're
looking ahead at 2026, and wehave some new things coming
online that our lead instructorsare working on right now and
you're working on Josh.
What's that look like?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
We've been working for about a year on what used to
be called the Blue Card SOPs,which was that 240 something
page document where we've beenin the midst of revamping that,
rewording it, making it a moreusable reference guide.
Basically for blue cardorganizations it's going to be
(26:15):
probably going to be called theblue card model procedures guide
.
So it's going to be.
It'll be on the website, justlike it always was, as a you
know free download, but theninstructors will have access to
it as a word document so youcould tweak it and change it and
update it for what you do atyour own organization.
So that's going to be reallynice because that's going to
(26:36):
line up with the third editionof fire command.
So it's looking like the thirdedition of Fire Command is like
400 to 450 pages, so about thesame size, maybe a little bit
bigger than the second editionof Fire Command.
So this is just going to be alittle bit of a shorter document
, not for an organization toadopt for what you do on the
(27:00):
fire ground but, like I said,more of a reference guide or
more information regarding theeight functions of command and
rapid intervention, response,air management, all those parts
and pieces that were in the bluecard old blue card SOP.
So we're going to be rollingthat out in January and right
(27:22):
there in that same time framewhen the third edition of Fire
Command is rolling out, we'realso in the middle of updating
the 13 SOGs that we've.
I think it was 2022 when wefirst launched those, john, and
put them on the website in thefree download section, and I
know those have gotten hundredsof thousands of downloads from
(27:45):
departments.
You know, everywhereOrganizations doing blue card
and those that don't do bluecard.
So, just like fire departmentsshould be updating and reviewing
their SOGs.
You know we feel the same way.
So we've been refining thoseSOGs.
We're going to push those outalso in January.
(28:06):
This last year we pushed outfour new command CEs and likely
one more still coming out beforethe end of the year.
Then the Silverback leadershipright now, everybody who has
full access has access to all ofthe Silverback leadership stuff
.
So we will have pushed out fourSilverback leadership modules
(28:28):
over this last year.
The new dispatch module so theyrefined, basically and put into
a new platform.
But the dispatch module hasrelaunched this year.
Chris, jt, sean and that wholecadre of instructors that worked
on the ARF module.
(28:48):
They launched that.
The first trainer, I think, wasin June and now they've been
right back at it working on CEmodules because if you're going
to have a certification thenthere has to be CE connected to
it to maintain a certification.
So they've already jumped onthat so that there's continuing
(29:09):
education going to be availablefor the ARF program.
And I'll just back up we're alsoworking on the CE for the
dispatch module.
So when that, when we firstlaunched that, you know every
intention of of having the CE.
But we've been on a, we've beenon a ride wide open for five
(29:31):
years and quite frankly, itdidn't make it to the front
burner.
So now it is on the frontburner and we're we're building
those, building out thosemodules.
And then, like we just talkedabout, with the after action
reporting program, thatcontinues to be refined.
It will continue to be refinedforever.
(29:55):
As long as, anytime anybody'slooking at data, I think there's
always right around the cornerthere's another, better way.
Or if there's not a better wayto collect the data or ask the
question, there's a better wayof what do we do with it.
So, with the after actionreporting piece, our lead
instructors and our staff, youknow, look at where
(30:18):
organizations all blue cardorganizations are falling when
it comes to, you know,performance.
So you know the first thingthat we do is I'll give you an
example where organizations,when you look at every, every
single after action report,we're scoring like low sixties
on declaration of strategy.
And we've we took a hard lookat ourselves in the mirror of
(30:43):
how well do we do delivering,why it's so important that we
declare a strategy and what doesthat really mean.
And so we're revisiting how dowe address that?
If it's indeed a trainingproblem on our end, are we
giving the instructors the toolsthat they need to get their
(31:04):
students and their ownorganization to give the
strategy Not once, but threetimes right Initial radio report
, follow-up report during acommand transfer.
So we're looking at that.
So, with that said, we're inJanuary we will also be pushing
(31:24):
out a bunch of updates to theday one PowerPoint.
We haven't done a lot ofupdates with that in a couple of
years.
So, based off of end usercustomer input feedback, you
know, we're making some updatesand changes to that.
The biggest change is going tobe how we deliver the five-day
(31:46):
train-the-trainer session sothat we, based on feedback from
end-users again, that we makesure that we're covering
everything that we need to coverand then, as we continue to
(32:14):
evolve and add parts and piecesand components, making sure that
we're covering all of thatduring that five-day class and
then continuing to support itafter the instructor leaves
class and goes to deliver.
So I think we do a really goodjob supporting instructors
already.
Good job supporting instructorsalready.
I mean, if you have a question,don't sit there and try to
figure it out yourself.
Pick that phone up and call theoffice or email or call any of
us and we'll help you out withit.
But I know that everybody inthe office does a really nice
job.
On that support piece, jen getsan email this morning and 10
(32:39):
minutes later she was sendingthem an answer and we didn't fix
the problem already, but wealready addressed it for the
person which in today's world Ithink that's unheard of you
don't even get transferred toanother country.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Yeah, and no bots.
We don't have a bot helping youout.
It's actual people that knowwhat they're talking about.
So that's one of the nicethings about our customer
service.
Well, we wanted to hop on todayand just give everybody a bit
of an update on where we're at.
We like to come on with theseblue card rundowns to give
everybody an update on where weare with programs and dates and
(33:14):
what's coming up through, atleast next couple of months.
So I'm sure we'll do one or twomore of these before the end of
the year and get peopletogether.
Did you have anything elsetoday for us, josh, before we go
?
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I don't think, so I'm going to jump back on my
computer and get some otherstuff tied up and wrapped up for
the conference that we'll, yeah, six days away now five, five
days, five days.
You guys will be here.
So, yeah, I'm looking forwardto it.
It's going to be a good time.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
I am too.
Thanks for all your hard workthat you've done out, and I know
that's it's occupied a lot ofyour time, especially since it's
there in your backyard, butyou're the you're the driving
force behind this.
So thanks for all the effortyou put into getting all of us
together and giving us somecontinuing education.
That's going to help developour command skills, so I do
appreciate it.
Well, we'll see you next week,josh.
(34:03):
Thanks, thanks, john.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.