April 17, 2025 • 47 mins
This episode features Josh Blum and John Vance.
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Josh Blum, Blue Card Program Manager, delivers a comprehensive update on Blue Card's expanding universe of command training programs and system enhancements.
• Successful FDIC presence with over 1,000 meaningful visitor conversations, addressing misconceptions about Blue Card being "just a communication system"
• B Shifter website (bshifter.com) offers free weekly training resources, articles, podcasts, and downloadable SOGs
• New Train-the-Trainer classes announced in Central County (MO), Sterling Heights (MI), Volusia County (FL), and Bay County (FL)
• 2025 Blue Card Conference features pre-conference workshops including safety train-the-trainer, mayday, strategic decision-making, and incident expansion courses
• New Dispatcher 2.0 program launches with refreshed interface, updated content, and comprehensive e-book reference
• Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (ARFF) program debuts with first train-the-trainer in June, featuring modules for various aircraft emergencies
• New CE modules cover multifamily buildings, radio communications, strategy shifts, and upcoming Technical Rescue Team awareness-level training
• After Action Review module receiving enthusiastic adoption, helping departments target training to specific improvement areas
• Schedule filling rapidly through end of 2025; departments encouraged to book training slots soon
Visit bshifter.com to access free resources or contact Josh directly to schedule training for your department.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, it's John Vance from the B Shifter Podcast here.
Welcome to this special editionof the B Shifter Podcast.
Today we are going to get JoshBloom on the line here and go
through the Blue Card rundown.
All the events and happeningswith Blue Card, whether it's new
CE, new programs, someadditional dates, the programs,
(00:24):
some additional dates, theconference, everything.
We're going to cover that rightnow with our own Josh Bloom.
So now we say hi to Josh Bloom.
How are you doing, josh?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Doing great, john, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good.
Good, it's been a little bitsince we got on and did some
news and just give everyone astate of what is happening with
blue cards, so we thought thatwould be a good idea to do that
today to go over some of theblue card news and some of the
programs coming up and what wereally have for the rest of 2025
.
We had a great FDIC visit.
(00:59):
How many people, would you say,came by the booth and talked to
us?
I mean, it was incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, I was incredible, yeah, I would
estimate.
I mean, we were really set upsince we were in that hallway,
you know, tuesday throughSaturday, and I would say a
thousand plus people came bythat actually wanted to actually
talk blue card and talk command, and you know what we do and
what we could do, what we do andwhat we could do.
And then you know obviously allthe other folks that came by
(01:25):
looking for challenge coins orfree handouts or pens or
whatever but that's good too.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's good too.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, it was great having it was it was.
It was a lot of fun having Nickthere because, uh, seeing him
engage, uh like he did, with somany people and you know talking
to, you know current customersand you know future customers
and maybe some could becustomers.
(01:54):
And then you know some of thefolks that were able to connect
back with him.
You know from long ago, causeit's been quite a while since
he's been there, and then, yeah,so that was really good.
And then you know from long ago, cause it's been quite a while
since he's been there, and then,uh, yeah, so that was really
good.
And then you know some of thenetworking and partnerships and
the people stopping by.
You know Shane Ray stopping byand getting to talk to.
You know Cirillo stopping byjust talking about the
(02:15):
conference a little bit, and youknow what he's going to be
doing there and uh, yeah, I meanit was, it was excellent.
And then I just like anytimethat we're on the road, or I'm
on the road, or you know we, westop, just like being at the
fire department If you're gonefor a week playing catch up.
So this week has been the weekof catch up, and then you know
(02:35):
following up on so many thingsfrom last week of fire
departments that are gettingstarted or wanting to engage or
you know, so on.
So we've uh booking classes,classes filling up, you know,
trying to get people informationon uh workshops, and uh, then
we've been busy, you know, justwith so many of the other things
(02:56):
we're going to talk about thatare, you know, new and coming
out and that we've posted andgetting ready to come out.
So it's, it's all good.
Yeah, it was a good week, superhappy that the weather's
breaking.
It's gonna be 80 and sunny herein cincinnati tomorrow.
So that's uh, that's nicebecause we've we, we got the
beat down for an unusual winterfor us and uh, so that'll,
(03:18):
that'll be nice.
Get, uh, a little sunshineevery day.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It always helps it's's 76 degrees tomorrow in
Phoenix, believe it or not.
It's pretty nice, though, heretoo, yeah, so thanks to
everybody who came by FDIC.
We really appreciate everyonevisiting and we had a lot of
great questions.
As you said, you know somepeople would come by and kind of
challenge what blue card is,and to be able to have Nick
(03:44):
there talking about the originsof Blue Card and how it works.
A lot of people are misinformedon what the system is really
all about.
They're existing on rumors, soto be able to actually talk to
folks and tell them what thesystem is, how it works, why
they should do it, was certainlyhelpful for us at FDIC this
(04:05):
year.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well, yeah, it's funny when some of the people
come by, some of the people thatdid come by and you know
talking about it's just acommunication system, right, and
it's like you're missing it.
And then you know 45 minuteslater they were still standing
there after you know, nick orEric or Chris or you or me,
whoever you know, spent timewith them and showed them, you
know, from A to Z, from the firecommand book to showing them
(04:29):
the online to you know, showingthem, uh, the bshiftercom
website.
And then you know, eric,spending some time maybe with
them on the after action report,and they're like, oh, this is,
this is like a whole program tohelp you make better decisions
and to actually help to run thefire ground and help us to have
better outcomes.
And it's like, yeah, and theywere like, oh well, you know, we
(04:51):
were always just told it was acommunications program, it's
just what you say.
And it's like, no, that'sbecause you listen to somebody
out there who doesn't know whatit is either.
And they just, you know, try todefine it as that, and I always
throw it out there.
And they just, you know, try todefine it as that, and I always
throw it out there.
Communications is just one ofthe eight functions of command,
and communications part is veryimportant, but it's just really
(05:12):
where we're acting out all thoseother command functions that we
went through, you know,including the strategic
decision-making model component.
So, yeah, that was really goodand that that those
conversations engaged a lot ofpeople to contact us and look at
what they can do and to try toget started with the system.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So you brought up B shiftercom.
You know this.
This uh, last few months we'vebeen really pushing that.
If you go to B shiftercom, thatis where you can find our
training.
That is for free, I mean.
Every week there's an articlethere, most weeks there's a
podcast, most weeks we're addingsomething to the download
center.
(05:52):
So there's always something newat bshiftercom and we invite you
, if you haven't spent some timetooling around that website, to
get on and check it out,because there is something for
your department there and I sendout articles from it all the
time.
If somebody has a question onARF or whatever, you can
probably find it at bshiftercom.
(06:13):
So every week we send out the BShifter Buck Slip that comes to
your email and if you have notsigned up for the B Shifter Buck
Slip and you're interested indoing that, you can get into the
show notes and there'll be alink there to sign up for it.
But that really just links youback to be shiftercom.
So we're letting you know whatis new that week and then you
can get in there and justexplore for hours on on free
(06:35):
training content that you canuse for your department.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, that'd be shiftedcom.
I send somebody to that everysingle day.
The free downloads, the freeSOG downloads.
I get that at least once a dayfrom somebody.
Hey, we're revamping, we'reworking on our SOGs.
I had two people today reachout to me.
Hey, we have Lexapole and wewant to put you know, we want to
have blue card SOGs andLexapole.
Where do we get that?
(07:00):
And it's like.
So I walked them through it.
I said are you at your computer?
And they logged in, took themto the free downloads, said hey,
just click on the last folderthere, 10.
I said and then, if you just goto 10987, those last four
folders there's 13 or 14 SOGs inthere, everything from fire
command and managing the fireground to division ops, to the
(07:20):
air management and so on, andnot to mention all the other
stuff that's in there.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
We just added one.
Today, the state of Illinois uh, put out a sample SOG for
structural firefighting.
What do you know about that?
What?
What was the epitaphs of that?
Or is uh, and you said thatit's about 80% blue card.
So if somebody wanted to take alook at that and try to align
it to their department, they can.
If not, you can just get therest of the SOGs from us and
(07:48):
that's a.
You know, we give you the freecommand SOG so you can get in
there and get that.
But that just an example ofwe've.
We find some information.
We're going to put it out forour users.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's three or four pages and
it's a kind of a overview glossover maybe of of a what a
command SOG could look like.
And then looks like they triedto pull out some 1700 you know
stuff maybe and put some big boxinformation, multi-family
information and fires, and uh,balloon frame buildings and uh,
(08:22):
there's some, there's somepieces in there about tilt, slab
and roof reports and so on.
And then, uh, I laugh becausethe sog uh has, it has an
acronym in there and it'sbuilding occupancy height
arrangement, all these thingsand it's like huh, that's,
that's, uh, that's the criticalfire ground factors right there,
(08:43):
and and they've just called itsomething different.
So, yeah, it's a decentdocument.
It doesn't line up all with theblue card.
It doesn't line up with evenwhat the industry is really
saying, with best practice whenit comes to fires and sprinkler
buildings.
But some of it does, but it's aplace to start, but some of it
does, but it's a place to startand I would just you know, if
(09:06):
you wanted to look at that, I'dlook at that and then look at
all the other blue card ones tofigure out what works best for
you and then look at thestandard, of what is the
standard and which really takesyou to the best practice piece.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Another thing we wanted to mention that's now on
the blue card site.
If you go to events, there'ssome new trainers that have been
announced.
Train the Trainer for Blue Card.
Where are we going to next?
What's been announced this week?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, so we just this week well, within the last week
or two, we added a trainerCentral County, missouri.
I think there's going to be acouple seats maybe open in that
class, which that's that StLouis area, sterling Heights,
michigan.
There might be one or two seatsthat end up being available in
that class.
(09:54):
Volusia County, florida.
New fire, new new countydepartment in Florida that's
coming online.
Uh, they, they actually aregoing to fill 16 seats in that
train and trainer, so it is full.
But uh, we'll be headed therein August.
And then just announced, uh,today, bay County, florida, so
(10:15):
Panama city beach.
Uh, train toiner July 28ththrough August 1st, so we're
actually going to be in Floridatwo weeks in a row.
So we'll be in Bay County thatweek, on the 28th, and then the
following week we'll be inVolusia County.
So, with that said, I think Igot seven or eight departments
and I'm just waiting and workingon dates to try to get them
(10:38):
classes scheduled and we'rebooking October, november,
december.
And when I say that we're notopen in October, november and
December, I think we have threetrainers in October, three in
November and I think two inDecember, and then we got like
seven workshops scheduled inthat same time frame.
So our schedule's filling up uhthrough the end of the year.
(10:59):
So if you're wanting to getsomething on the books, uh a
trainer or workshops, reach outto me and we can at least look
at some dates and get it on theradar of of uh, trying to get it
in uh before before 2026, causeit's definitely filling up.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, a few seats open in June in Phoenix.
Then in the fall there's someseats open in Phoenix, but we
don't generally do train thetrainers in Phoenix in July or
August, so you don't look forthem.
Then You're going to eitherwant to book in the fall or book
in that June train the trainer.
If you are interested inattending courses at the Allen
(11:38):
uh Alan V Brunicini commandtraining center in Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And it comes up, so I'll just we'll put it out there
.
So, like, what's therequirement for a regional train
to trainer?
So we have to have a minimum ofeight people for us to come on
site.
So eight students to come onsite, um, and then, uh, we say a
max, we'll go with a max of 16,as long as your facility can do
that, and we'll just send fourinstructors if you have that
many students.
(12:04):
So we maintain that four to oneinstructor ratio for the
train-the-trainer class.
Otherwise there's no way youget through all the material.
So if you're interested inhosting a regional
train-the-trainer class, if youcan come up with a minimum of
eight students, um, we will comeon site in your region and
deliver that.
So just something to keep onthe radar.
(12:26):
We get that, uh, we get thatseveral times a week.
What's the what's therequirement for that?
Speaker 1 (12:30):
awesome well, what's going on with the conference?
I know we're uh a few monthsaway.
We're.
We're continuing to getregistrations.
We've got some workshops thatare uh pre-conference.
Uh, what, what do we have goingon there right now?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah.
So the conference, uh, what arewe?
Five and a half, six monthsaway, I guess we're about, yeah,
six months away, I think, fromthe conference.
So, uh, not, not, not too toofar away.
Um, we're getting lots ofregistrations for the
pre-conference stuff becausethat's the.
Those classes are limited to acertain seat count.
So the pre-conference classeswe're doing the safety train the
(13:06):
trainer, so that is theclassroom component, and you end
up getting the curriculumpackage that goes with that size
up fire extinguishment tactics.
Uh, train the trainer, so it'stwo days and you'll, they'll
burn the prop there and then youpart of that deal is is you,
you'll get the prop at a reducedprice.
So, uh, if we come on site atyour organization and do it,
(13:27):
it's $9,500 for that two day.
Safety train a trainer, whereyou get the prop, the, you know
the hallway, seven fuel packages, two instructors come on site
and then you get the entirecurriculum, PowerPoint,
instructor guide, uh, the how topackage, Um, so at the
conference we're doing it forsix, 50, where you get the
curriculum.
I think it's six, 50.
(13:48):
Don't, don't quote me on that,Um, I might.
Uh, I'm not sure why thatnumber was coming to my mind,
but it, it's a much reducedprice.
So you get the two day safetytrain, the trainer and that
curriculum package and then youbuy the prop at a much reduced
price.
So you get the two day safetytrain, the trainer and that
curriculum package and then youbuy the prop at a much reduced
price because we're nottraveling and sending
instructors to to yourorganization.
So we're offering that.
(14:09):
We got the mayday workshop whichlast year was I don't know.
We ended up with a hundred andsomething people in that mayday
workshop.
It's filling up again this year.
We have it posted for 40 seatsright now and if we had to we
may expand it, but I don't know,We'll see how that goes.
The much sought after strategicdecision making model, critical
(14:34):
thinking class that ChrisStewart and Eric Phillips
deliver, that class is beingdelivered.
Two-day workshop at theconference that's also filling
up.
A new class I shouldn't say new,I guess a re-envisioned class
Tim Schaubel is working onputting together of really, from
(14:55):
you pull up as the first newcompany officer on a fire truck
and you expand it all the way toa type three incident working
with uh, working with emergencymanagement, maybe working with
an eoc, and then like where doesit go from there, which really
takes you right to the type twoor type one incident, because
you know the boots on the groundperson probably isn't talking
(15:16):
to you, know the federalgovernment, that that's going to
happen through the EOC and allof that.
So it's a how do you, how doesblue card grow, uh, and evolve
into one of those biggerincidents?
And then we've got a cert labposted.
So last year we ended up with20 people, I think, for the cert
lab and it was a lot oforganizations just getting
started or somebody who, uh,when you maybe was getting ready
(15:38):
to get promoted or whatever,that came to the CERT lab.
So that's being taught by, youknow, blue card lead instructors
as well.
So the CERT lab will be Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, so September
29th, 30th and the 1st, andthen the other workshops
pre-conference workshops are the30th and the 1st, and then the
(16:03):
conference is the 2nd and the3rd and we got, I think there's,
22 different breakouts thatwe're going to be doing at the
conference this year.
So our general session is Dan,again with FSRI, and he's got
some new material that he'sgoing to be pushing out with
some of the stuff that they'vebeen working on and some of the
(16:25):
stuff that's going to happenactually between now and then.
Shane Ray, so they're going tohave the sprinkler trailer there
again.
They're going to do some ofthat.
But he's got a lot of reallygood information from the last
six months of sprinkler systemsand technology and you know some
of the new technology that'scoming about with how fire
(16:45):
departments can betterunderstand and connect with
what's going on with these giantbuildings and the computers are
sending out data and you cansee how much water is flowing,
and maybe even cameras and allkinds of stuff.
So that'll be really good.
And then John Cirillo from FDNYtalking about what he's that
(17:12):
subject matter expert on justone of the many things he's
subject matter expert on, butwind-driven fires, and it
doesn't have to be a high-risefire, and what happens at the
ground level, on just one of themany things he's, you know,
social matter expert on, but, uh, when driven fires and it
doesn't have to be a high risefire and what happens at the
ground level.
And then, um, a bit on you know, just fire growth and like why,
why are these conditionsdifferent and why are we seeing
people uh get caught up uh muchquicker inside of burning
(17:37):
buildings now than we were inthe past.
And then again all the, all thebreakout sessions and, as
always with with all of ourconferences, there'll be
beverages within the within theconference registration
beverages all day, snacks, allday lunch provided both days.
Thursday night we're going todo that get-together again at
(18:00):
the Third Eye Brewing, which isalways good, Fire department's
networking, new organizationscoming online, talking to people
who've been using the systemfor a while.
So yeah, looking forward to it.
We got great room rates againat the Preferred Hotel at the
Hyatt and then across the streetat that Delta Marriott.
(18:22):
I think our room rate thehighest room rate again, is like
$169, but I think you can get aroom for like $129.
So, besides getting there,registration, getting there and
maybe your dinner, all the restof it's, you know, covered with
your registration fee.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And to clarify on the prices, it's $345 for all the
workshops with the exception ofthe safety workshop, which is
$750.
So you're just a little bit offon that.
Or you can bundle them alltogether with the exception of
the safety, and that's $830 forthe whole conference.
So it's a great training deal.
You know, when you, when youlook at how much training,
(19:03):
especially for the generalconference with 23 unique
sessions that you can go to, youreally won't find anything like
that especially that addressesfire command and leadership
anywhere in the american fireservice yeah, yeah, and the
conference, just as we've doneat every conference you know,
when it was in South bend, whenit was in Phoenix, uh, back to
(19:24):
South bend, and then now inCincinnati, uh, every single
registration gets a free,transferable online account.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
So you're paying four 85 to come to the conference.
You get a voucher basicallythat's worth $385 that you can
put somebody in yourorganization through the online
program.
So I always tell people ifyou're looking to put people
online, really you can come tothe conference.
Two-day conferenceregistrations, really $100.
(19:52):
So it's a really good deal.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So go to bshiftercom.
There's a tab there for the2025 Blue Card Hazard Zone
Conference.
Click on that.
All the info is there.
You can also sign up throughthe B Shifter website.
So enter your information andwe'll get you hooked up.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I was looking, it looked like we picked up
probably, I think, a dozen or soregistrations today, which is
pretty typical.
You know, we're like in thatsix-month window and then you
know FDIC is over, so people areoff to the next.
You know the next thing?
So yeah, the workshops willdefinitely fill up.
So if you have any interest inthat, you know, get on getting
(20:34):
registered to attend those.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Exciting day today.
This is telecommunicators week,so we salute our dispatchers
and to coincide with that, we'verolled out dispatcher 2.0.
What is that all about and whydid we go to 2.0?
And what does that get us withthe dispatcher program?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah.
So the second version of thedispatch program really just
says everything about B-Shifterand BlueCard that we're always
in a state of fixing ourselves.
So version one came out.
It was really good, tons ofgood feedback.
But with anything you alwaysget some hey, what about this?
Can we change that?
All of that?
(21:13):
So in the 2.0 program there'sbeen some updates and
modifications, you know to itand you know, meeting the
current needs today compared towhen the program was really
developed.
You know, even though it wasjust a few years ago, things
change, you know, very rapidly.
And then with our new system,everything is being built on a
(21:34):
new platform.
So it has a much refreshed lookright on a new platform.
So it has a much refreshed, uh,look right.
So it's, uh, somewhat it justmore appeasing to the eye.
Maybe I guess you could say um,so, um, two reasons that it was
that it was rebuilt one, uh,functionality and and what is
(21:59):
what all is really in there, andmaking sure that we get the
updates.
And since it was being rebuilt,it was rebuilt in this new
platform, which is just so muchmore user-friendly and looks
better and keeps your attentiona bit better.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
What is the e-book that the participants get?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, so the e-book that's connected to it.
So when you register, there'san e-book.
That's really's really thereference book, no different
than so blue people who arefamiliar with blue card.
Um, second edition of firecommand is the reference book.
So you get the ebook for firecommand and command safety.
Well, with the dispatch program, uh, the developers of the
program put together a referencebook, so it's it's a disease,
(22:36):
uh, literally a book fordispatchers that the program is
written around.
So it's really the referenceguide.
So you have access to that aslong as you have an active
account as a dispatcher.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
What does that look like?
If somebody wants to put adispatcher through, what kind of
time commitment is it and whatare the steps for them to become
a certified blue carddispatcher?
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, so there's online cognitive learning.
So step one would be sign themup for the online cognitive
learning piece.
So that's a, you know,self-paced, for the most part
program.
It's about 20 to 25 hours, youknow, and that's kind of how
long do they sit there and howengaged are they with it, and
you know.
So 20 to 25 hours for them toget through that cognitive
(23:25):
learning component piece andthen, once they go through that,
they actually attend.
We suggest that they attend thefirst two days of a simulation
lab One.
During that first day, duringthe classroom, they uh, they
pick up a whole lot of otherthings and they're networking
with the people who they'retalking to on the other end.
So it's, I think it's reallyimportant to have and build that
(23:48):
relationship and that weunderstand what they do and they
understand a little bit moreabout what we do, and then that
just helps, it helps us, helpthem and, more importantly, it
helps them help us.
Because for most of my career,we we stuck them in the basement
of a building or, uh, on thefirst floor of a building with a
(24:09):
zero windows for security, andthen, uh, nobody talked to them,
like it was, like they were,they were just there and it's
like the, the, these voices justcome from that place and we
didn't give them the attentionthat they need and deserve.
And then the fire service getsmad when the dispatchers maybe
(24:30):
don't do what we want them to doand it's like, well, the only
thing you told them is answer911 calls and push the button
and send us, and it's likethere's so many other things
that they can do.
So that's, this dispatchprogram goes through all of that
, right?
So on the worst day, when youhave a mayday, what can they do
to help you?
And then everything leading upto that.
If they're engaged with us allthe time, then they can help us
(24:53):
with with other things.
Right, they can kind of listento the traffic in here.
This isn't going.
Oh, am I still on?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah, there you go.
Maybe we should pull up iswhere you cut off.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So are you ready.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So when, when the dispatchers are listening to
what's going on and maybe it'snot going so well, maybe they
can pull up the next alarmassignment or they can give us
some information.
So oftentimes they can look atmaps and with all the technology
that's coming around, they canlook at cameras, they can reach
out to people.
There's so many things thatthey can do.
(25:43):
So the program kind of goesthrough some of those parts and
pieces of what they can do.
So they're in the classroom,they're some of those parts and
pieces of what they can do.
So they're in the classroom,they're hearing all those parts
and pieces and then theyactually play the role of
dispatcher for two scenariosthat don't have emergency
traffic and then they play thedispatcher for two scenarios
that have emergency traffic.
So in the simulation lab thatwould be the strategic shift
(26:08):
scenarios.
But you could also get throughthose a little bit potentially,
depending on how many peopleyou're trying to do with using
sets and reps, the sets from Ato Z, from you know dispatch to
listening to all the trafficthat's going on.
(26:30):
You know, maybe tracking what'sgoing on, communicating with
the initial IC, communicatingwith IC2 when they establish
their command position and it'stransferred, and announce what
they're doing and then when theymake that, you know, strategic
shift or if they're calling fora second alarm or whatever it
(26:50):
may be.
So the in-person part is reallylike eight to 10 hours
initially.
So you know, when you put itall together it's 30 hours of
training where they're gettingthe cognitive part and then
they're getting that in-personcomponent piece with the people
who they're talking to on theother end of the radio, which is
(27:10):
fantastic.
And the people who we've workedwith and talked to that went
through version one of this havealready had excellent results
because we actually told themwhat we wanted them to do and
gave them some information andin some cases they they hear
things because they are they areactive listeners, right,
(27:33):
they're most often in acontrolled atmosphere in a quiet
space wearing a headset andthey may hear something that the
IC, for whatever reason, shouldhave heard but didn't hear, and
then they could engage that.
That you hear engine sevens,priority traffic or whatever it
is, and then they could engagethat Did you hear engine sevens,
priority traffic or whatever itis?
And then you know we've, we'veheard plenty of transmissions
(27:54):
over over the years of thedispatcher here in a Mayday that
command didn't hear, or thedispatcher hearing other very
pertinent traffic of uh, did youhear that they're?
You hear that they're burningup in the basement and they need
their hand line charged andit's like, well, if we don't
engage with them and tell themthat we want to hear this and we
(28:16):
treat them like you, justdispatch us and then just shut
up.
They might not say a word, butthey can make a difference.
They can make our job so mucheasier.
But they can make a difference.
They can make our job so mucheasier.
It's just another component tothe whole command system, just
like the strategic IC havingthat support officer in the car
with them.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
The dispatcher can provide so much support also, so
they can sign up for thisonline.
They can just go to our websiteand, under the registration, go
to the registration section andthat'll be one of the options
to sign up for the dispatcherprogram.
Here's what I like about it isit really orients that new
dispatcher.
(29:00):
And I came from a system thatoriginally we had a lot of
firefighters that also worked indispatch part-time, so that
helped a lot.
But then going into anothersystem where they were police
dispatchers that had noorientation to the fire service
at all.
So this even starts off withhey, this is what an engine does
, this is what a truck does Ifwe're calling for tankers or
(29:20):
tenders, this is why, if we'recharging a hose line, this is
what it looks like.
So there's some very basicfirefighting stuff in there that
orients your new dispatcher towhat we're doing out in the
field yeah, and the terminology,terminology a big deal, right.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, I mean, if they hear priority traffic, it's
like oh, that's important, right, and it's a common sense thing.
But really maybe it's not acommon sense thing gotta train
them, yeah, just just yeahwhat's going on ARF?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We've got the ARF program, the first inaugural
train, the trainer, coming toPhoenix in June.
Are we getting a lot ofinterest in that?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah.
So we opened that up for 24seats for that first one and I
think a half or a little overhalf of those seats are full and
spoken for.
We've posted that up in a fewother places.
We got lots of interest in it.
I think at FDIC we talked to Idon't know 50 or so airports
(30:27):
alone and then many, manymilitary installations that deal
with you know airplanes,helicopters, you know some sort
of an ARF component.
So that first one will be justlike Blue Card when Blue Card
rolled out, you know, officiallywith the first trainer in 2009.
We think we have a solid program.
It's got the group that put ittogether pretty diverse when it
(30:52):
comes to their background andexperience.
So you know chiefs that workedat you know very, very busy
international airports, chiefsthat worked at military
installations.
Some input from you know thesmaller municipal you smaller
municipal airport piece.
And then we've had many peoplealready complete the online
(31:13):
component and give a little bitof feedback about what they deal
with at their basicallyregional airport and how can we
fix that.
And then already looking at,does this module fit or can we
build a module for everymunicipal fire department that
(31:35):
any given day an airplane isgoing to fall down or could fall
down in their community.
And then, what does that looklike and how do you manage it?
And obviously it wouldn't be.
It'd be more like our firstresponder module, but for ARF.
So we're looking at that.
So, like, what does that reallylook like?
Because they're not going tohave an ARF truck necessarily
pulling up.
But where do you get that?
How long is it going to takethem to get there?
(31:55):
What can you do, or what shouldyou do, what should you avoid,
when that Learjet or Cessna orprop plane or whatever still
successfully know, stillsuccessfully lands on, you know,
your interstate or roadway orin a field?
But but you need to engage, uh,because it's on fire, fuel leak
, people trapped, whatever it is.
(32:16):
So, um, yeah, we're superexcited about it.
It's been, uh, it's been in theworks for a while.
Um, the, the online launched awhile ago and we've got quite a
few people going through that.
The train-the-trainer is comingup here in June.
That's the first one of thoseand then there'll be many, many
more.
We've had organizationsreaching out that are we ready
(32:38):
to deliver the train-the-traineron the road and we want to get
one or two of these initialtrain-the-trainer classes.
You know get through thosefirst and, like we always talk
about, utilize command functionseven a little bit on it and
hear the input and feedback andwhat do we need to change and
update and what needs to beaddressed with the program
(33:01):
before we, you know, startdelivering it in the field.
But it will be available youknow regionally as well to be.
You know to go to anyinstallation anywhere.
Be available.
You know regionally as well.
You know to go to anyinstallation anywhere or any you
know fixed facility or airportanywhere, so super excited about
it.
So that program has the initialonline and then the CERT lab
(33:25):
component piece probably ends upbeing one and a half or two
days for an actual cert lab andit depends on whether you're
already doing BlueCard or not.
So if you're an organization,if you're a level in Colorado,
already doing BlueCard and theydecide they're going to do ARF,
they could probably run a certlab for 10 or 12 people in like
a day and a half because they'realready familiar with the
(33:47):
system and terminology and allof that.
And if you're going to the ARFmodule certification program and
you don't already do Blue Card,it's probably a two, maybe
three day.
You know, cert Lab to get to itbecause of getting everybody
acquainted a little bit morewith those command functions and
the process.
(34:08):
With those command functions andthe process, so with that
there'll be multiple simulationsfor multiple different types of
risk.
So all the different alertlevels of a plane coming in,
from a major emergency-like typeincident to a hot break
(34:30):
incident maybe, or a potentialof maybe they maybe smelled
something or or or whatever.
And then what does it look likewhen the plane is, you know,
into a building, because that'sa whole, whole, nother component
.
So you have an ARF piece butyou also got a building
component part of it.
So there's simulations, setsand reps and tactical templates
(34:56):
for multiple different aircrafttypes and it's a certification.
So there's going to be athree-year cycle for that.
So, building out all of the CEthat's going to go along with it
, and then the refresher moduleand then that the testing
component piece.
So, yeah, we're super excitedabout it.
We've talked to, like I said,tons of, tons of people about it
(35:18):
.
A lot of people are a lot ofpeople are engaging with it
already.
So we're looking forward tothat rolling out in June and, uh
, making a difference at a, atanother, another place and
another part of uh all hazardsincident management.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And what's going on with our continuing education?
I know there's uh we?
We continue to add new modules.
That's been our commitment toour folks that are doing Blue
Card.
What do we have new on the CEmenu?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, so this first quarter we put out two CEs, so
both of them around multifamilybuildings, but initial radio
reports and follow-up reports.
We put that CE out in Januaryand then in February, march, we
put out the CE on assigningunits.
(36:14):
And then we have someSilverback leadership.
You know modules that have comeout and then on the horizon
here in the near future we haveanother Silverback leadership
module that's going to launchand then another CE that's going
to launch which is going to bea communications piece of really
(36:37):
a focus on the four tickets toget on the radio.
So priority traffic statuschange, roof report, mayday.
And then talking about CANreports, so IC-driven
communications, when you givesomebody an assignment, when you
get there, give me a CAN reportbecause the ticket to get on
(36:57):
the radio is the IC told youthat was part of your assignment
.
Give me a CAN report when youget to that location.
So we've got a CE coming withthat and then behind that one
will be strategic CE, talkingabout strategic shifts,
transfers of command and thenassigning division bosses.
(37:18):
So that's all stuff on thehorizon, all stuff that's in the
works.
I've reviewed now the longtalked about and maybe long
awaited uh, eight functions ofcommand for TRT.
So it is.
(37:38):
It's built, uh, we're we'rerefining it.
We got, uh, some SMEs goingthrough it, you know, giving us
feedback.
Um, kind of like when we builtthe hazmat eight functions of
command for hazmat.
It's like we it's easy to getinto the weeds and start talking
too much task and tacticalstuff, and with TRT we want to
(38:04):
really stay away from that.
It's going to be more aboutdon't get yourself into trouble
and really some, I guess, trtawareness, if you will, for
multiple different, you knowrescue type incidents, with a
bit of a focus on if there's norescue to be made, then it's not
(38:24):
a rescue, right.
So you know, the trenchincident where the guy's buried
in liquid sloth it's not arescue anymore, right?
Or the liquid sloth it's not arescue anymore, right?
Or the person's been missingfor three hours in the flat
water and they call you for awater incident.
It's like, no, this is going tobe a recovery.
(38:48):
So a lot of focus on, you know,don't would-be rescuers don't
become victims.
So I spent quite a bit of timegoing through that.
Chris Stewart and Grant lightyou know they vast experience in
that arena of rescue incidentsthat you know, chris, working at
(39:09):
both of them, working at Metrofire departments, being very
engaged in you know what they doin their own organization, and
then both of them have anengagement with you know federal
, at the federal level,deploying to you know very large
scale incidents and then, uh so, really talking about keeping
yourself out of trouble, andwhat do you do when you get
there?
What can you do when you getthere?
(39:30):
Who do you call?
So if you've been through theeight functions of command for
hazmat, uh, this is going tolook much like it.
The difference is this is notgoing to be a certification, so
there will not be acertification piece, but it
likely will meet therequirements for awareness level
for multiple differentdisciplines, that's good, yeah
(39:52):
and needed.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I mean, I know in my organization we could use that,
so that's great.
I'd be remiss if we didn't talkabout.
You know, we spent the firstfour months of 2025 going
through our after action reviewmodule that has been launched.
You guys continue to add tothat.
We just finished up the seriesof webinars four parts.
(40:13):
You can go back on YouTube andwatch all four parts if you'd
like to and get a good educationon how to utilize the After
Action Review module and how toenter information onto it.
There's a lot of tutorials, butanything you want to say about
wrapping that whole process upand where do we go from here
with the AARs?
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah.
So the biggest thing I want tosay is if you have a current
instructor license, blue cardinstructor license, then you
have access to the after actionreporting system.
So it's not an add-on piece,it's not something else you have
to activate.
If you are an active instructor, it is already in your profile
on the left side.
(40:54):
You can go there, drop down tothe bottom left and you'll see
where the after action reportingprogram is.
And, like John said, there's afour part series webinar series
where it goes through.
You know one and two go throughthe system.
How do I build the after actionreport?
What is it all about?
Why did we build it?
What's it aligned to?
(41:14):
What is it all about?
Why did we build it?
What's it aligned to?
Where did the standard?
You know pieces of it come fromand then you know the webinar
that we just wrapped up thislast week was now.
I know the data, I know wherewe, I know where we're doing
good and I know where we mayhave some areas that we need to
improve upon.
So how do I do that and whattraining can I do and what tools
(41:37):
are available through Blue Card, you know, to help do better in
specific areas, that afteraction thing.
It's proven that it's been longawaited and that it's needed
because organizations are usingit.
Once they start using it,they're using it all the time,
they're using it like crazy.
(41:58):
So we got quite a feworganizations that have come
online over this last severalmonths and, because they're
brand new to the system, they'redoing an after action report
and just doing the initial radioreport on every single fire
incident that they go to andthey're using it as a tool to
(42:24):
show you know where are we atand what do we need to continue
to refine and work on.
And then we've gotorganizations, like you know,
lincoln, nebraska, that havebeen with Blue Card for a while,
but I don't know.
They got a couple dozen, Ithink, maybe, after action
reports in there now one of uhmulti-alarm fire that we did the
podcast on, you know, a fewweeks ago, and it's just a
really good, good tool that youcan evaluate where, how did this
(42:46):
incident go and um, what, where, where are we doing good and
where can we improve upon andthen focus our training there
and, like Eric Phillips alwayssays, the days of having the
same training calendar everysingle year, that we do the same
thing over and over again.
You know it's kind of bullshit.
It really just needs to go away.
I mean, I get it, we need to do, we need to check some boxes
(43:09):
that are minimum requirementsfor driver's training and some
of those things that we, youknow, absolutely have to do.
But don't bring me down to doblue card training on initial
radio reports and follow-upreports if we're getting 100%
but we never preface our radiotraffic for a CAN report.
So then let's focus on that.
(43:30):
Let's talk about prioritytraffic and status changes, or
we're not doing good.
Declaring strategy, which we've,we recognize, is there's a
shortfall there and I think alot of it has to do with
people's belief that well, Isaid I was stretching a hand
line through the alpha side forprimary search fire control.
You should assume I'm offensiveand it's like the strategy.
(43:52):
Declaring a strategy is adecision and if there's a
process that you went through toget there, saying you're
stretching through the frontdoor might just be, yeah, you're
the fire department and youbelieve that's just what you
should do.
So we're going to be doing apodcast on that subject coming
up here pretty soon on strategyand why it's so important and
(44:13):
what it means, because that'sanother one of those things we
hear a lot like blue cars, justa communications program.
Well, why do I have to saystrategy?
Because I said I was goinginside and it's like, yeah, well
, it's a, it's a mindset.
Strategy actually meanssomething, and why we say it and
why we say it three times.
So, um, yeah, the after actionreporting system is, uh, we're
super happy with it.
(44:33):
We do continue to refine it.
We, when we get input from endusers, we, uh, it's, it's built
in a way that is very currentand that we can continue to
refine it.
So, um, like so many things,like when you call the office
and talk to Jen and sheoftentimes can fix whatever
you're doing right at this verymoment Same thing with this.
(44:54):
I mean, just last week, a firechief called Eric said hey, uh,
there's this basement, the wholebasement thing.
I think you need to change alittle piece of it because, uh,
my guys aren't scoring very well, but you know they couldn't
identify a basement and there'sreally not a way to say that.
And five minutes later it wasfixed.
And Eric called the chief backand was like that's been fixed.
(45:21):
And they're like you're kiddingme.
And it's like well, no, becauseI'm back at it Command function
seven.
That's where we live, like we,we are okay.
We know we don't have all theanswers, but with us having the
ability to build systems in ourSMEs and then our customer base
that's growing closer and closerevery day to, I'm going to say
it, 100,000.
We're not there yet, but ourcustomer base is growing every
day and getting closer andcloser to 100,000.
(45:43):
And feedback from all of thosepeople.
We have a system that no oneelse has and that we know it
makes a difference every singleday.
So the After Action Reportingprogram is absolutely fantastic
and I think once people startusing it, they they can't get
away from it.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Well, thanks for bringing us up to date on the
blue card rundown everythingthat we're doing.
Is there anything else you'dlike to add that we may have
overlooked?
Speaker 2 (46:13):
If you want to, you want to think I'll circle back
around on, if you want to, theonly thing I'll circle back
around on, if you want to booksomething for 2025, I mean, you
can look at our schedule, ourschedule, yourself, uh, what's
going on and see that, uh, nowthrough December, there's not a
ton of space.
Um, I mean, we, we can do plentyof work and we can, we can
double up weeks here and there,but, uh, there, but if you want
(46:33):
to book a train to trainer oryour workshop or you're looking
for, you know, just an update,you need to get it on the
schedule, you know, sooner thanlater, Cause, like I said, I got
seven fire departments that I'mjust waiting on dates for to
book trainers and that's justgoing to fill up that much more
space.
So reach out to me, josh, at Bshifter or, you know, call me
(46:54):
anytime.
All my information is at thebottom of my email, so if I'm
not standing in front of a groupor doing a webinar or talking
to somebody else, I'll answer.
No matter what, I'll get backto you that same day, without
question.
Speaker 1 (47:08):
Josh is on the phone all day, so he'll take your call
.
We'll put that information inthe show notes too.
Your call.
We'll put that information inthe show notes too.
Thanks, josh Bloom, programmanager for Blue Card, for
giving us all the newinformation that we have in the
Blue Card program.
We'll come back and keep peopleupdated on this as we get more
information, and we appreciateyou being here today.
(47:28):
Thanks, josh.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Thanks, john, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Thanks for joining us on this special edition of the
B Shifter podcast for the BlueCard Rundown.
For all the information, againgo to bshiftercom or check the
show notes.
We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for being here.
Hey, it's John Vance from the B Shifter Podcast here.
Welcome to this special editionof the B Shifter Podcast.
Today we are going to get JoshBloom on the line here and go
through the Blue Card rundown.
All the events and happeningswith Blue Card, whether it's new
CE, new programs, someadditional dates, the programs,
(00:24):
some additional dates, theconference, everything.
We're going to cover that rightnow with our own Josh Bloom.
So now we say hi to Josh Bloom.
How are you doing, josh?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Doing great, john, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good.
Good, it's been a little bitsince we got on and did some
news and just give everyone astate of what is happening with
blue cards, so we thought thatwould be a good idea to do that
today to go over some of theblue card news and some of the
programs coming up and what wereally have for the rest of 2025
.
We had a great FDIC visit.
(00:59):
How many people, would you say,came by the booth and talked to
us?
I mean, it was incredible.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, I was incredible, yeah, I would
estimate.
I mean, we were really set upsince we were in that hallway,
you know, tuesday throughSaturday, and I would say a
thousand plus people came bythat actually wanted to actually
talk blue card and talk command, and you know what we do and
what we could do, what we do andwhat we could do.
And then you know obviously allthe other folks that came by
(01:25):
looking for challenge coins orfree handouts or pens or
whatever but that's good too.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
That's good too.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, it was great having it was it was.
It was a lot of fun having Nickthere because, uh, seeing him
engage, uh like he did, with somany people and you know talking
to, you know current customersand you know future customers
and maybe some could becustomers.
(01:54):
And then you know some of thefolks that were able to connect
back with him.
You know from long ago, causeit's been quite a while since
he's been there, and then, yeah,so that was really good.
And then you know from long ago, cause it's been quite a while
since he's been there, and then,uh, yeah, so that was really
good.
And then you know some of thenetworking and partnerships and
the people stopping by.
You know Shane Ray stopping byand getting to talk to.
You know Cirillo stopping byjust talking about the
(02:15):
conference a little bit, and youknow what he's going to be
doing there and uh, yeah, I meanit was, it was excellent.
And then I just like anytimethat we're on the road, or I'm
on the road, or you know we, westop, just like being at the
fire department If you're gonefor a week playing catch up.
So this week has been the weekof catch up, and then you know
(02:35):
following up on so many thingsfrom last week of fire
departments that are gettingstarted or wanting to engage or
you know, so on.
So we've uh booking classes,classes filling up, you know,
trying to get people informationon uh workshops, and uh, then
we've been busy, you know, justwith so many of the other things
(02:56):
we're going to talk about thatare, you know, new and coming
out and that we've posted andgetting ready to come out.
So it's, it's all good.
Yeah, it was a good week, superhappy that the weather's
breaking.
It's gonna be 80 and sunny herein cincinnati tomorrow.
So that's uh, that's nicebecause we've we, we got the
beat down for an unusual winterfor us and uh, so that'll,
(03:18):
that'll be nice.
Get, uh, a little sunshineevery day.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It always helps it's's 76 degrees tomorrow in
Phoenix, believe it or not.
It's pretty nice, though, heretoo, yeah, so thanks to
everybody who came by FDIC.
We really appreciate everyonevisiting and we had a lot of
great questions.
As you said, you know somepeople would come by and kind of
challenge what blue card is,and to be able to have Nick
(03:44):
there talking about the originsof Blue Card and how it works.
A lot of people are misinformedon what the system is really
all about.
They're existing on rumors, soto be able to actually talk to
folks and tell them what thesystem is, how it works, why
they should do it, was certainlyhelpful for us at FDIC this
(04:05):
year.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well, yeah, it's funny when some of the people
come by, some of the people thatdid come by and you know
talking about it's just acommunication system, right, and
it's like you're missing it.
And then you know 45 minuteslater they were still standing
there after you know, nick orEric or Chris or you or me,
whoever you know, spent timewith them and showed them, you
know, from A to Z, from the firecommand book to showing them
(04:29):
the online to you know, showingthem, uh, the bshiftercom
website.
And then you know, eric,spending some time maybe with
them on the after action report,and they're like, oh, this is,
this is like a whole program tohelp you make better decisions
and to actually help to run thefire ground and help us to have
better outcomes.
And it's like, yeah, and theywere like, oh well, you know, we
(04:51):
were always just told it was acommunications program, it's
just what you say.
And it's like, no, that'sbecause you listen to somebody
out there who doesn't know whatit is either.
And they just, you know, try todefine it as that, and I always
throw it out there.
And they just, you know, try todefine it as that, and I always
throw it out there.
Communications is just one ofthe eight functions of command,
and communications part is veryimportant, but it's just really
(05:12):
where we're acting out all thoseother command functions that we
went through, you know,including the strategic
decision-making model component.
So, yeah, that was really goodand that that those
conversations engaged a lot ofpeople to contact us and look at
what they can do and to try toget started with the system.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So you brought up B shiftercom.
You know this.
This uh, last few months we'vebeen really pushing that.
If you go to B shiftercom, thatis where you can find our
training.
That is for free, I mean.
Every week there's an articlethere, most weeks there's a
podcast, most weeks we're addingsomething to the download
center.
(05:52):
So there's always something newat bshiftercom and we invite you
, if you haven't spent some timetooling around that website, to
get on and check it out,because there is something for
your department there and I sendout articles from it all the
time.
If somebody has a question onARF or whatever, you can
probably find it at bshiftercom.
(06:13):
So every week we send out the BShifter Buck Slip that comes to
your email and if you have notsigned up for the B Shifter Buck
Slip and you're interested indoing that, you can get into the
show notes and there'll be alink there to sign up for it.
But that really just links youback to be shiftercom.
So we're letting you know whatis new that week and then you
can get in there and justexplore for hours on on free
(06:35):
training content that you canuse for your department.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, that'd be shiftedcom.
I send somebody to that everysingle day.
The free downloads, the freeSOG downloads.
I get that at least once a dayfrom somebody.
Hey, we're revamping, we'reworking on our SOGs.
I had two people today reachout to me.
Hey, we have Lexapole and wewant to put you know, we want to
have blue card SOGs andLexapole.
Where do we get that?
(07:00):
And it's like.
So I walked them through it.
I said are you at your computer?
And they logged in, took themto the free downloads, said hey,
just click on the last folderthere, 10.
I said and then, if you just goto 10987, those last four
folders there's 13 or 14 SOGs inthere, everything from fire
command and managing the fireground to division ops, to the
(07:20):
air management and so on, andnot to mention all the other
stuff that's in there.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
We just added one.
Today, the state of Illinois uh, put out a sample SOG for
structural firefighting.
What do you know about that?
What?
What was the epitaphs of that?
Or is uh, and you said thatit's about 80% blue card.
So if somebody wanted to take alook at that and try to align
it to their department, they can.
If not, you can just get therest of the SOGs from us and
(07:48):
that's a.
You know, we give you the freecommand SOG so you can get in
there and get that.
But that just an example ofwe've.
We find some information.
We're going to put it out forour users.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's three or four pages and
it's a kind of a overview glossover maybe of of a what a
command SOG could look like.
And then looks like they triedto pull out some 1700 you know
stuff maybe and put some big boxinformation, multi-family
information and fires, and uh,balloon frame buildings and uh,
(08:22):
there's some, there's somepieces in there about tilt, slab
and roof reports and so on.
And then, uh, I laugh becausethe sog uh has, it has an
acronym in there and it'sbuilding occupancy height
arrangement, all these thingsand it's like huh, that's,
that's, uh, that's the criticalfire ground factors right there,
(08:43):
and and they've just called itsomething different.
So, yeah, it's a decentdocument.
It doesn't line up all with theblue card.
It doesn't line up with evenwhat the industry is really
saying, with best practice whenit comes to fires and sprinkler
buildings.
But some of it does, but it's aplace to start, but some of it
does, but it's a place to startand I would just you know, if
(09:06):
you wanted to look at that, I'dlook at that and then look at
all the other blue card ones tofigure out what works best for
you and then look at thestandard, of what is the
standard and which really takesyou to the best practice piece.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Another thing we wanted to mention that's now on
the blue card site.
If you go to events, there'ssome new trainers that have been
announced.
Train the Trainer for Blue Card.
Where are we going to next?
What's been announced this week?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, so we just this week well, within the last week
or two, we added a trainerCentral County, missouri.
I think there's going to be acouple seats maybe open in that
class, which that's that StLouis area, sterling Heights,
michigan.
There might be one or two seatsthat end up being available in
that class.
(09:54):
Volusia County, florida.
New fire, new new countydepartment in Florida that's
coming online.
Uh, they, they actually aregoing to fill 16 seats in that
train and trainer, so it is full.
But uh, we'll be headed therein August.
And then just announced, uh,today, bay County, florida, so
(10:15):
Panama city beach.
Uh, train toiner July 28ththrough August 1st, so we're
actually going to be in Floridatwo weeks in a row.
So we'll be in Bay County thatweek, on the 28th, and then the
following week we'll be inVolusia County.
So, with that said, I think Igot seven or eight departments
and I'm just waiting and workingon dates to try to get them
(10:38):
classes scheduled and we'rebooking October, november,
december.
And when I say that we're notopen in October, november and
December, I think we have threetrainers in October, three in
November and I think two inDecember, and then we got like
seven workshops scheduled inthat same time frame.
So our schedule's filling up uhthrough the end of the year.
(10:59):
So if you're wanting to getsomething on the books, uh a
trainer or workshops, reach outto me and we can at least look
at some dates and get it on theradar of of uh, trying to get it
in uh before before 2026, causeit's definitely filling up.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, a few seats open in June in Phoenix.
Then in the fall there's someseats open in Phoenix, but we
don't generally do train thetrainers in Phoenix in July or
August, so you don't look forthem.
Then You're going to eitherwant to book in the fall or book
in that June train the trainer.
If you are interested inattending courses at the Allen
(11:38):
uh Alan V Brunicini commandtraining center in Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And it comes up, so I'll just we'll put it out there
.
So, like, what's therequirement for a regional train
to trainer?
So we have to have a minimum ofeight people for us to come on
site.
So eight students to come onsite, um, and then, uh, we say a
max, we'll go with a max of 16,as long as your facility can do
that, and we'll just send fourinstructors if you have that
many students.
(12:04):
So we maintain that four to oneinstructor ratio for the
train-the-trainer class.
Otherwise there's no way youget through all the material.
So if you're interested inhosting a regional
train-the-trainer class, if youcan come up with a minimum of
eight students, um, we will comeon site in your region and
deliver that.
So just something to keep onthe radar.
(12:26):
We get that, uh, we get thatseveral times a week.
What's the what's therequirement for that?
Speaker 1 (12:30):
awesome well, what's going on with the conference?
I know we're uh a few monthsaway.
We're.
We're continuing to getregistrations.
We've got some workshops thatare uh pre-conference.
Uh, what, what do we have goingon there right now?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah.
So the conference, uh, what arewe?
Five and a half, six monthsaway, I guess we're about, yeah,
six months away, I think, fromthe conference.
So, uh, not, not, not too toofar away.
Um, we're getting lots ofregistrations for the
pre-conference stuff becausethat's the.
Those classes are limited to acertain seat count.
So the pre-conference classeswe're doing the safety train the
(13:06):
trainer, so that is theclassroom component, and you end
up getting the curriculumpackage that goes with that size
up fire extinguishment tactics.
Uh, train the trainer, so it'stwo days and you'll, they'll
burn the prop there and then youpart of that deal is is you,
you'll get the prop at a reducedprice.
So, uh, if we come on site atyour organization and do it,
(13:27):
it's $9,500 for that two day.
Safety train a trainer, whereyou get the prop, the, you know
the hallway, seven fuel packages, two instructors come on site
and then you get the entirecurriculum, PowerPoint,
instructor guide, uh, the how topackage, Um, so at the
conference we're doing it forsix, 50, where you get the
curriculum.
I think it's six, 50.
(13:48):
Don't, don't quote me on that,Um, I might.
Uh, I'm not sure why thatnumber was coming to my mind,
but it, it's a much reducedprice.
So you get the two day safetytrain, the trainer and that
curriculum package and then youbuy the prop at a much reduced
price.
So you get the two day safetytrain, the trainer and that
curriculum package and then youbuy the prop at a much reduced
price because we're nottraveling and sending
instructors to to yourorganization.
So we're offering that.
(14:09):
We got the mayday workshop whichlast year was I don't know.
We ended up with a hundred andsomething people in that mayday
workshop.
It's filling up again this year.
We have it posted for 40 seatsright now and if we had to we
may expand it, but I don't know,We'll see how that goes.
The much sought after strategicdecision making model, critical
(14:34):
thinking class that ChrisStewart and Eric Phillips
deliver, that class is beingdelivered.
Two-day workshop at theconference that's also filling
up.
A new class I shouldn't say new,I guess a re-envisioned class
Tim Schaubel is working onputting together of really, from
(14:55):
you pull up as the first newcompany officer on a fire truck
and you expand it all the way toa type three incident working
with uh, working with emergencymanagement, maybe working with
an eoc, and then like where doesit go from there, which really
takes you right to the type twoor type one incident, because
you know the boots on the groundperson probably isn't talking
(15:16):
to you, know the federalgovernment, that that's going to
happen through the EOC and allof that.
So it's a how do you, how doesblue card grow, uh, and evolve
into one of those biggerincidents?
And then we've got a cert labposted.
So last year we ended up with20 people, I think, for the cert
lab and it was a lot oforganizations just getting
started or somebody who, uh,when you maybe was getting ready
(15:38):
to get promoted or whatever,that came to the CERT lab.
So that's being taught by, youknow, blue card lead instructors
as well.
So the CERT lab will be Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, so September
29th, 30th and the 1st, andthen the other workshops
pre-conference workshops are the30th and the 1st, and then the
(16:03):
conference is the 2nd and the3rd and we got, I think there's,
22 different breakouts thatwe're going to be doing at the
conference this year.
So our general session is Dan,again with FSRI, and he's got
some new material that he'sgoing to be pushing out with
some of the stuff that they'vebeen working on and some of the
(16:25):
stuff that's going to happenactually between now and then.
Shane Ray, so they're going tohave the sprinkler trailer there
again.
They're going to do some ofthat.
But he's got a lot of reallygood information from the last
six months of sprinkler systemsand technology and you know some
of the new technology that'scoming about with how fire
(16:45):
departments can betterunderstand and connect with
what's going on with these giantbuildings and the computers are
sending out data and you cansee how much water is flowing,
and maybe even cameras and allkinds of stuff.
So that'll be really good.
And then John Cirillo from FDNYtalking about what he's that
(17:12):
subject matter expert on justone of the many things he's
subject matter expert on, butwind-driven fires, and it
doesn't have to be a high-risefire, and what happens at the
ground level, on just one of themany things he's, you know,
social matter expert on, but, uh, when driven fires and it
doesn't have to be a high risefire and what happens at the
ground level.
And then, um, a bit on you know, just fire growth and like why,
why are these conditionsdifferent and why are we seeing
people uh get caught up uh muchquicker inside of burning
(17:37):
buildings now than we were inthe past.
And then again all the, all thebreakout sessions and, as
always with with all of ourconferences, there'll be
beverages within the within theconference registration
beverages all day, snacks, allday lunch provided both days.
Thursday night we're going todo that get-together again at
(18:00):
the Third Eye Brewing, which isalways good, Fire department's
networking, new organizationscoming online, talking to people
who've been using the systemfor a while.
So yeah, looking forward to it.
We got great room rates againat the Preferred Hotel at the
Hyatt and then across the streetat that Delta Marriott.
(18:22):
I think our room rate thehighest room rate again, is like
$169, but I think you can get aroom for like $129.
So, besides getting there,registration, getting there and
maybe your dinner, all the restof it's, you know, covered with
your registration fee.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And to clarify on the prices, it's $345 for all the
workshops with the exception ofthe safety workshop, which is
$750.
So you're just a little bit offon that.
Or you can bundle them alltogether with the exception of
the safety, and that's $830 forthe whole conference.
So it's a great training deal.
You know, when you, when youlook at how much training,
(19:03):
especially for the generalconference with 23 unique
sessions that you can go to, youreally won't find anything like
that especially that addressesfire command and leadership
anywhere in the american fireservice yeah, yeah, and the
conference, just as we've doneat every conference you know,
when it was in South bend, whenit was in Phoenix, uh, back to
(19:24):
South bend, and then now inCincinnati, uh, every single
registration gets a free,transferable online account.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
So you're paying four 85 to come to the conference.
You get a voucher basicallythat's worth $385 that you can
put somebody in yourorganization through the online
program.
So I always tell people ifyou're looking to put people
online, really you can come tothe conference.
Two-day conferenceregistrations, really $100.
(19:52):
So it's a really good deal.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So go to bshiftercom.
There's a tab there for the2025 Blue Card Hazard Zone
Conference.
Click on that.
All the info is there.
You can also sign up throughthe B Shifter website.
So enter your information andwe'll get you hooked up.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I was looking, it looked like we picked up
probably, I think, a dozen or soregistrations today, which is
pretty typical.
You know, we're like in thatsix-month window and then you
know FDIC is over, so people areoff to the next.
You know the next thing?
So yeah, the workshops willdefinitely fill up.
So if you have any interest inthat, you know, get on getting
(20:34):
registered to attend those.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Exciting day today.
This is telecommunicators week,so we salute our dispatchers
and to coincide with that, we'verolled out dispatcher 2.0.
What is that all about and whydid we go to 2.0?
And what does that get us withthe dispatcher program?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah.
So the second version of thedispatch program really just
says everything about B-Shifterand BlueCard that we're always
in a state of fixing ourselves.
So version one came out.
It was really good, tons ofgood feedback.
But with anything you alwaysget some hey, what about this?
Can we change that?
All of that?
(21:13):
So in the 2.0 program there'sbeen some updates and
modifications, you know to itand you know, meeting the
current needs today compared towhen the program was really
developed.
You know, even though it wasjust a few years ago, things
change, you know, very rapidly.
And then with our new system,everything is being built on a
(21:34):
new platform.
So it has a much refreshed lookright on a new platform.
So it has a much refreshed, uh,look right.
So it's, uh, somewhat it justmore appeasing to the eye.
Maybe I guess you could say um,so, um, two reasons that it was
that it was rebuilt one, uh,functionality and and what is
(21:59):
what all is really in there, andmaking sure that we get the
updates.
And since it was being rebuilt,it was rebuilt in this new
platform, which is just so muchmore user-friendly and looks
better and keeps your attentiona bit better.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
What is the e-book that the participants get?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, so the e-book that's connected to it.
So when you register, there'san e-book.
That's really's really thereference book, no different
than so blue people who arefamiliar with blue card.
Um, second edition of firecommand is the reference book.
So you get the ebook for firecommand and command safety.
Well, with the dispatch program, uh, the developers of the
program put together a referencebook, so it's it's a disease,
(22:36):
uh, literally a book fordispatchers that the program is
written around.
So it's really the referenceguide.
So you have access to that aslong as you have an active
account as a dispatcher.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
What does that look like?
If somebody wants to put adispatcher through, what kind of
time commitment is it and whatare the steps for them to become
a certified blue carddispatcher?
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, so there's online cognitive learning.
So step one would be sign themup for the online cognitive
learning piece.
So that's a, you know,self-paced, for the most part
program.
It's about 20 to 25 hours, youknow, and that's kind of how
long do they sit there and howengaged are they with it, and
you know.
So 20 to 25 hours for them toget through that cognitive
(23:25):
learning component piece andthen, once they go through that,
they actually attend.
We suggest that they attend thefirst two days of a simulation
lab One.
During that first day, duringthe classroom, they uh, they
pick up a whole lot of otherthings and they're networking
with the people who they'retalking to on the other end.
So it's, I think it's reallyimportant to have and build that
(23:48):
relationship and that weunderstand what they do and they
understand a little bit moreabout what we do, and then that
just helps, it helps us, helpthem and, more importantly, it
helps them help us.
Because for most of my career,we we stuck them in the basement
of a building or, uh, on thefirst floor of a building with a
(24:09):
zero windows for security, andthen, uh, nobody talked to them,
like it was, like they were,they were just there and it's
like the, the, these voices justcome from that place and we
didn't give them the attentionthat they need and deserve.
And then the fire service getsmad when the dispatchers maybe
(24:30):
don't do what we want them to doand it's like, well, the only
thing you told them is answer911 calls and push the button
and send us, and it's likethere's so many other things
that they can do.
So that's, this dispatchprogram goes through all of that
, right?
So on the worst day, when youhave a mayday, what can they do
to help you?
And then everything leading upto that.
If they're engaged with us allthe time, then they can help us
(24:53):
with with other things.
Right, they can kind of listento the traffic in here.
This isn't going.
Oh, am I still on?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah, there you go.
Maybe we should pull up iswhere you cut off.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So are you ready.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So when, when the dispatchers are listening to
what's going on and maybe it'snot going so well, maybe they
can pull up the next alarmassignment or they can give us
some information.
So oftentimes they can look atmaps and with all the technology
that's coming around, they canlook at cameras, they can reach
out to people.
There's so many things thatthey can do.
(25:43):
So the program kind of goesthrough some of those parts and
pieces of what they can do.
So they're in the classroom,they're some of those parts and
pieces of what they can do.
So they're in the classroom,they're hearing all those parts
and pieces and then theyactually play the role of
dispatcher for two scenariosthat don't have emergency
traffic and then they play thedispatcher for two scenarios
that have emergency traffic.
So in the simulation lab thatwould be the strategic shift
(26:08):
scenarios.
But you could also get throughthose a little bit potentially,
depending on how many peopleyou're trying to do with using
sets and reps, the sets from Ato Z, from you know dispatch to
listening to all the trafficthat's going on.
(26:30):
You know, maybe tracking what'sgoing on, communicating with
the initial IC, communicatingwith IC2 when they establish
their command position and it'stransferred, and announce what
they're doing and then when theymake that, you know, strategic
shift or if they're calling fora second alarm or whatever it
(26:50):
may be.
So the in-person part is reallylike eight to 10 hours
initially.
So you know, when you put itall together it's 30 hours of
training where they're gettingthe cognitive part and then
they're getting that in-personcomponent piece with the people
who they're talking to on theother end of the radio, which is
(27:10):
fantastic.
And the people who we've workedwith and talked to that went
through version one of this havealready had excellent results
because we actually told themwhat we wanted them to do and
gave them some information andin some cases they they hear
things because they are they areactive listeners, right,
(27:33):
they're most often in acontrolled atmosphere in a quiet
space wearing a headset andthey may hear something that the
IC, for whatever reason, shouldhave heard but didn't hear, and
then they could engage that.
That you hear engine sevens,priority traffic or whatever it
is, and then they could engagethat Did you hear engine sevens,
priority traffic or whatever itis?
And then you know we've, we'veheard plenty of transmissions
(27:54):
over over the years of thedispatcher here in a Mayday that
command didn't hear, or thedispatcher hearing other very
pertinent traffic of uh, did youhear that they're?
You hear that they're burningup in the basement and they need
their hand line charged andit's like, well, if we don't
engage with them and tell themthat we want to hear this and we
(28:16):
treat them like you, justdispatch us and then just shut
up.
They might not say a word, butthey can make a difference.
They can make our job so mucheasier.
But they can make a difference.
They can make our job so mucheasier.
It's just another component tothe whole command system, just
like the strategic IC havingthat support officer in the car
with them.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
The dispatcher can provide so much support also, so
they can sign up for thisonline.
They can just go to our websiteand, under the registration, go
to the registration section andthat'll be one of the options
to sign up for the dispatcherprogram.
Here's what I like about it isit really orients that new
dispatcher.
(29:00):
And I came from a system thatoriginally we had a lot of
firefighters that also worked indispatch part-time, so that
helped a lot.
But then going into anothersystem where they were police
dispatchers that had noorientation to the fire service
at all.
So this even starts off withhey, this is what an engine does
, this is what a truck does Ifwe're calling for tankers or
(29:20):
tenders, this is why, if we'recharging a hose line, this is
what it looks like.
So there's some very basicfirefighting stuff in there that
orients your new dispatcher towhat we're doing out in the
field yeah, and the terminology,terminology a big deal, right.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, I mean, if they hear priority traffic, it's
like oh, that's important, right, and it's a common sense thing.
But really maybe it's not acommon sense thing gotta train
them, yeah, just just yeahwhat's going on ARF?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We've got the ARF program, the first inaugural
train, the trainer, coming toPhoenix in June.
Are we getting a lot ofinterest in that?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah.
So we opened that up for 24seats for that first one and I
think a half or a little overhalf of those seats are full and
spoken for.
We've posted that up in a fewother places.
We got lots of interest in it.
I think at FDIC we talked to Idon't know 50 or so airports
(30:27):
alone and then many, manymilitary installations that deal
with you know airplanes,helicopters, you know some sort
of an ARF component.
So that first one will be justlike Blue Card when Blue Card
rolled out, you know, officiallywith the first trainer in 2009.
We think we have a solid program.
It's got the group that put ittogether pretty diverse when it
(30:52):
comes to their background andexperience.
So you know chiefs that workedat you know very, very busy
international airports, chiefsthat worked at military
installations.
Some input from you know thesmaller municipal you smaller
municipal airport piece.
And then we've had many peoplealready complete the online
(31:13):
component and give a little bitof feedback about what they deal
with at their basicallyregional airport and how can we
fix that.
And then already looking at,does this module fit or can we
build a module for everymunicipal fire department that
(31:35):
any given day an airplane isgoing to fall down or could fall
down in their community.
And then, what does that looklike and how do you manage it?
And obviously it wouldn't be.
It'd be more like our firstresponder module, but for ARF.
So we're looking at that.
So, like, what does that reallylook like?
Because they're not going tohave an ARF truck necessarily
pulling up.
But where do you get that?
How long is it going to takethem to get there?
(31:55):
What can you do, or what shouldyou do, what should you avoid,
when that Learjet or Cessna orprop plane or whatever still
successfully know, stillsuccessfully lands on, you know,
your interstate or roadway orin a field?
But but you need to engage, uh,because it's on fire, fuel leak
, people trapped, whatever it is.
(32:16):
So, um, yeah, we're superexcited about it.
It's been, uh, it's been in theworks for a while.
Um, the, the online launched awhile ago and we've got quite a
few people going through that.
The train-the-trainer is comingup here in June.
That's the first one of thoseand then there'll be many, many
more.
We've had organizationsreaching out that are we ready
(32:38):
to deliver the train-the-traineron the road and we want to get
one or two of these initialtrain-the-trainer classes.
You know get through thosefirst and, like we always talk
about, utilize command functionseven a little bit on it and
hear the input and feedback andwhat do we need to change and
update and what needs to beaddressed with the program
(33:01):
before we, you know, startdelivering it in the field.
But it will be available youknow regionally as well to be.
You know to go to anyinstallation anywhere.
Be available.
You know regionally as well.
You know to go to anyinstallation anywhere or any you
know fixed facility or airportanywhere, so super excited about
it.
So that program has the initialonline and then the CERT lab
(33:25):
component piece probably ends upbeing one and a half or two
days for an actual cert lab andit depends on whether you're
already doing BlueCard or not.
So if you're an organization,if you're a level in Colorado,
already doing BlueCard and theydecide they're going to do ARF,
they could probably run a certlab for 10 or 12 people in like
a day and a half because they'realready familiar with the
(33:47):
system and terminology and allof that.
And if you're going to the ARFmodule certification program and
you don't already do Blue Card,it's probably a two, maybe
three day.
You know, cert Lab to get to itbecause of getting everybody
acquainted a little bit morewith those command functions and
the process.
(34:08):
With those command functions andthe process, so with that
there'll be multiple simulationsfor multiple different types of
risk.
So all the different alertlevels of a plane coming in,
from a major emergency-like typeincident to a hot break
(34:30):
incident maybe, or a potentialof maybe they maybe smelled
something or or or whatever.
And then what does it look likewhen the plane is, you know,
into a building, because that'sa whole, whole, nother component
.
So you have an ARF piece butyou also got a building
component part of it.
So there's simulations, setsand reps and tactical templates
(34:56):
for multiple different aircrafttypes and it's a certification.
So there's going to be athree-year cycle for that.
So, building out all of the CEthat's going to go along with it
, and then the refresher moduleand then that the testing
component piece.
So, yeah, we're super excitedabout it.
We've talked to, like I said,tons of, tons of people about it
(35:18):
.
A lot of people are a lot ofpeople are engaging with it
already.
So we're looking forward tothat rolling out in June and, uh
, making a difference at a, atanother, another place and
another part of uh all hazardsincident management.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
And what's going on with our continuing education?
I know there's uh we?
We continue to add new modules.
That's been our commitment toour folks that are doing Blue
Card.
What do we have new on the CEmenu?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, so this first quarter we put out two CEs, so
both of them around multifamilybuildings, but initial radio
reports and follow-up reports.
We put that CE out in Januaryand then in February, march, we
put out the CE on assigningunits.
(36:14):
And then we have someSilverback leadership.
You know modules that have comeout and then on the horizon
here in the near future we haveanother Silverback leadership
module that's going to launchand then another CE that's going
to launch which is going to bea communications piece of really
(36:37):
a focus on the four tickets toget on the radio.
So priority traffic statuschange, roof report, mayday.
And then talking about CANreports, so IC-driven
communications, when you givesomebody an assignment, when you
get there, give me a CAN reportbecause the ticket to get on
(36:57):
the radio is the IC told youthat was part of your assignment
.
Give me a CAN report when youget to that location.
So we've got a CE coming withthat and then behind that one
will be strategic CE, talkingabout strategic shifts,
transfers of command and thenassigning division bosses.
(37:18):
So that's all stuff on thehorizon, all stuff that's in the
works.
I've reviewed now the longtalked about and maybe long
awaited uh, eight functions ofcommand for TRT.
So it is.
(37:38):
It's built, uh, we're we'rerefining it.
We got, uh, some SMEs goingthrough it, you know, giving us
feedback.
Um, kind of like when we builtthe hazmat eight functions of
command for hazmat.
It's like we it's easy to getinto the weeds and start talking
too much task and tacticalstuff, and with TRT we want to
(38:04):
really stay away from that.
It's going to be more aboutdon't get yourself into trouble
and really some, I guess, trtawareness, if you will, for
multiple different, you knowrescue type incidents, with a
bit of a focus on if there's norescue to be made, then it's not
(38:24):
a rescue, right.
So you know, the trenchincident where the guy's buried
in liquid sloth it's not arescue anymore, right?
Or the liquid sloth it's not arescue anymore, right?
Or the person's been missingfor three hours in the flat
water and they call you for awater incident.
It's like, no, this is going tobe a recovery.
(38:48):
So a lot of focus on, you know,don't would-be rescuers don't
become victims.
So I spent quite a bit of timegoing through that.
Chris Stewart and Grant lightyou know they vast experience in
that arena of rescue incidentsthat you know, chris, working at
(39:09):
both of them, working at Metrofire departments, being very
engaged in you know what they doin their own organization, and
then both of them have anengagement with you know federal
, at the federal level,deploying to you know very large
scale incidents and then, uh so, really talking about keeping
yourself out of trouble, andwhat do you do when you get
there?
What can you do when you getthere?
(39:30):
Who do you call?
So if you've been through theeight functions of command for
hazmat, uh, this is going tolook much like it.
The difference is this is notgoing to be a certification, so
there will not be acertification piece, but it
likely will meet therequirements for awareness level
for multiple differentdisciplines, that's good, yeah
(39:52):
and needed.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I mean, I know in my organization we could use that,
so that's great.
I'd be remiss if we didn't talkabout.
You know, we spent the firstfour months of 2025 going
through our after action reviewmodule that has been launched.
You guys continue to add tothat.
We just finished up the seriesof webinars four parts.
(40:13):
You can go back on YouTube andwatch all four parts if you'd
like to and get a good educationon how to utilize the After
Action Review module and how toenter information onto it.
There's a lot of tutorials, butanything you want to say about
wrapping that whole process upand where do we go from here
with the AARs?
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah.
So the biggest thing I want tosay is if you have a current
instructor license, blue cardinstructor license, then you
have access to the after actionreporting system.
So it's not an add-on piece,it's not something else you have
to activate.
If you are an active instructor, it is already in your profile
on the left side.
(40:54):
You can go there, drop down tothe bottom left and you'll see
where the after action reportingprogram is.
And, like John said, there's afour part series webinar series
where it goes through.
You know one and two go throughthe system.
How do I build the after actionreport?
What is it all about?
Why did we build it?
What's it aligned to?
(41:14):
What is it all about?
Why did we build it?
What's it aligned to?
Where did the standard?
You know pieces of it come fromand then you know the webinar
that we just wrapped up thislast week was now.
I know the data, I know wherewe, I know where we're doing
good and I know where we mayhave some areas that we need to
improve upon.
So how do I do that and whattraining can I do and what tools
(41:37):
are available through Blue Card, you know, to help do better in
specific areas, that afteraction thing.
It's proven that it's been longawaited and that it's needed
because organizations are usingit.
Once they start using it,they're using it all the time,
they're using it like crazy.
(41:58):
So we got quite a feworganizations that have come
online over this last severalmonths and, because they're
brand new to the system, they'redoing an after action report
and just doing the initial radioreport on every single fire
incident that they go to andthey're using it as a tool to
(42:24):
show you know where are we atand what do we need to continue
to refine and work on.
And then we've gotorganizations, like you know,
lincoln, nebraska, that havebeen with Blue Card for a while,
but I don't know.
They got a couple dozen, Ithink, maybe, after action
reports in there now one of uhmulti-alarm fire that we did the
podcast on, you know, a fewweeks ago, and it's just a
really good, good tool that youcan evaluate where, how did this
(42:46):
incident go and um, what, where, where are we doing good and
where can we improve upon andthen focus our training there
and, like Eric Phillips alwayssays, the days of having the
same training calendar everysingle year, that we do the same
thing over and over again.
You know it's kind of bullshit.
It really just needs to go away.
I mean, I get it, we need to do, we need to check some boxes
(43:09):
that are minimum requirementsfor driver's training and some
of those things that we, youknow, absolutely have to do.
But don't bring me down to doblue card training on initial
radio reports and follow-upreports if we're getting 100%
but we never preface our radiotraffic for a CAN report.
So then let's focus on that.
(43:30):
Let's talk about prioritytraffic and status changes, or
we're not doing good.
Declaring strategy, which we've,we recognize, is there's a
shortfall there and I think alot of it has to do with
people's belief that well, Isaid I was stretching a hand
line through the alpha side forprimary search fire control.
You should assume I'm offensiveand it's like the strategy.
(43:52):
Declaring a strategy is adecision and if there's a
process that you went through toget there, saying you're
stretching through the frontdoor might just be, yeah, you're
the fire department and youbelieve that's just what you
should do.
So we're going to be doing apodcast on that subject coming
up here pretty soon on strategyand why it's so important and
(44:13):
what it means, because that'sanother one of those things we
hear a lot like blue cars, justa communications program.
Well, why do I have to saystrategy?
Because I said I was goinginside and it's like, yeah, well
, it's a, it's a mindset.
Strategy actually meanssomething, and why we say it and
why we say it three times.
So, um, yeah, the after actionreporting system is, uh, we're
super happy with it.
(44:33):
We do continue to refine it.
We, when we get input from endusers, we, uh, it's, it's built
in a way that is very currentand that we can continue to
refine it.
So, um, like so many things,like when you call the office
and talk to Jen and sheoftentimes can fix whatever
you're doing right at this verymoment Same thing with this.
(44:54):
I mean, just last week, a firechief called Eric said hey, uh,
there's this basement, the wholebasement thing.
I think you need to change alittle piece of it because, uh,
my guys aren't scoring very well, but you know they couldn't
identify a basement and there'sreally not a way to say that.
And five minutes later it wasfixed.
And Eric called the chief backand was like that's been fixed.
(45:21):
And they're like you're kiddingme.
And it's like well, no, becauseI'm back at it Command function
seven.
That's where we live, like we,we are okay.
We know we don't have all theanswers, but with us having the
ability to build systems in ourSMEs and then our customer base
that's growing closer and closerevery day to, I'm going to say
it, 100,000.
We're not there yet, but ourcustomer base is growing every
day and getting closer andcloser to 100,000.
(45:43):
And feedback from all of thosepeople.
We have a system that no oneelse has and that we know it
makes a difference every singleday.
So the After Action Reportingprogram is absolutely fantastic
and I think once people startusing it, they they can't get
away from it.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Well, thanks for bringing us up to date on the
blue card rundown everythingthat we're doing.
Is there anything else you'dlike to add that we may have
overlooked?
Speaker 2 (46:13):
If you want to, you want to think I'll circle back
around on, if you want to, theonly thing I'll circle back
around on, if you want to booksomething for 2025, I mean, you
can look at our schedule, ourschedule, yourself, uh, what's
going on and see that, uh, nowthrough December, there's not a
ton of space.
Um, I mean, we, we can do plentyof work and we can, we can
double up weeks here and there,but, uh, there, but if you want
(46:33):
to book a train to trainer oryour workshop or you're looking
for, you know, just an update,you need to get it on the
schedule, you know, sooner thanlater, Cause, like I said, I got
seven fire departments that I'mjust waiting on dates for to
book trainers and that's justgoing to fill up that much more
space.
So reach out to me, josh, at Bshifter or, you know, call me
(46:54):
anytime.
All my information is at thebottom of my email, so if I'm
not standing in front of a groupor doing a webinar or talking
to somebody else, I'll answer.
No matter what, I'll get backto you that same day, without
question.
Speaker 1 (47:08):
Josh is on the phone all day, so he'll take your call
.
We'll put that information inthe show notes too.
Your call.
We'll put that information inthe show notes too.
Thanks, josh Bloom, programmanager for Blue Card, for
giving us all the newinformation that we have in the
Blue Card program.
We'll come back and keep peopleupdated on this as we get more
information, and we appreciateyou being here today.
(47:28):
Thanks, josh.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Thanks, john, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Thanks for joining us on this special edition of the
B Shifter podcast for the BlueCard Rundown.
For all the information, againgo to bshiftercom or check the
show notes.
We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for being here.
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