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B Shifter
Blue Card Rundown for July 2025
This episode features Josh Blum and John Vance.
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The July 2025 Blue Card Rundown provides a comprehensive update on training opportunities, program developments, and resources for current and prospective Blue Card users. John Vance and Josh Blum deliver news about the upcoming conference, educational partnerships, and support options available to the Blue Card community.
• September 29-October 3 conference in Sharonville, Ohio featuring 23 different classes and pre-conference workshops
• Limited seats remaining in pre-conference workshops, including Mayday Management, Critical Thinking, SAFE-T Trainer, and Engine 1 to the EOC
• New partnership with Waldorf University offering college credits for Blue Card certifications and 10% tuition discount
• Latest Silverback Leadership CE available focusing on the relationship between internal culture and external customer service
• Successful completion of first ARF train-the-trainer program with next session scheduled for December 15-17 in Phoenix
• Multiple upcoming training opportunities including train-the-trainer sessions in Minnesota, Michigan, and Phoenix
• Extensive support resources available through phone consultation, on-site assistance, and online materials at bshifter.com
• Visit the Blue Card booth at FRI in Orlando for in-person conversations and program information
Call us anytime with questions at 513-623-3897 or visit bshifter.com to access free downloads, register for classes, or learn more about the conference.
Hello and welcome to the V-Shifter podcast. John Vance, Josh Bloom with you today for the Blue Card Rundown for July 2025. It's a little later in the month Today is July 16th that we're rolling this out, but we want to bring you up to date on everything that's going on with Blue Card. Of course, we have a little holiday in there. I've got the holiday beard going right now, so I haven't been in a fire station lately, but it'll be shaved off soon so I'll have my credibility back. How are you doing today, Josh?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great Having a good summer In Cincinnati. We're 90 degrees and 80 or 90 percent humidity. That's always. It's lovely, it's. You're very wet when you go outside.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a couple weeks ago I went to New York for my wife's birthday that's where she's from and this week I don't know if you saw the record amount of rainfall they had more rainfall in one hour second most in history and the subways were flooded and everything else. So I was so thankful that I planned my vacation accordingly and I didn't get stuck in that mess. Meanwhile, here in Minnesota it's very pleasant, so we're having a nice Minnesota summer weather and it's cooled off a little bit. Yesterday was a scorcher, but hopefully, wherever you are, you're enjoying your summer, you're able to spend some time with your friends and family, you're getting out doing things and, of course, staying connected with everything that's going on with Blue Card.
Speaker 1:First thing that we want to talk about is the conference. The conference is coming up September 29th through October 3rd. The general conference is October 2nd and 3rd. We listen to everybody, we take the input. So on Friday we start to wrap things up around 3.30, so you can head on out and catch your flight. If you're coming in from out of town, you can go to bshiftercom and look at the entire lineup there. Do you have anything new with the conference this week? Josh, I know you've been working hard on all the details and getting things together for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the pre-conference workshops are are filling up. I think we got maybe 30 or maybe 30 or so seats left between those five classes for a mayday management, critical thinking, safety trainer trainer, maybe two or three seats left in the cert lab and then the engine one to the EOC two day, you know command class. Yeah, between all five of them I think there's maybe 30 seats. So if you're looking to get into any of those classes, jump on that. The closer we get registration's picking up, more and more. We got a big range of classes again this year several, many, many new classes, uh, and and some classes that were repeating. That went over very well last year that I think some people maybe didn't, you know, get to see. So, uh, yeah, that's really good.
Speaker 2:And then, um, we're doing a little bit of like a technology uh piece where, um, we got uh, uh operations manager from a dispatch center and a fire chief going to do a class on you know how do you work together. And you know, john, right before we got on here you mentioned it when we were talking about it of you know, far too often our dispatch center can't do that, or they, you know they refuse to do it or whatever, and you know, sometimes it just takes that push of no, we really need to do this. So let's just talk about how do we do it. How do we get the dispatch center to work with us and help us? And you know, sometimes it's because I think, oftentimes actually it's because they just don't know what we need or how they can help us, and I haven't seldom do you ever run across anybody who doesn't want to help you, right? So, uh, how can we collectively work with the dispatch center? Um, help them to help us? So that's a kind of a technology you know thing.
Speaker 2:Um, the local UAS unit, the drone unit um, ran by Hamilton County USAR, is going to be there. So they're going to do demos, but they're also going to teach a class on you know benefits of drones, how they work, kind of some maybe a little bit of rule stuff with that, but they'll be there and have a booth also where they could answer any questions that you have, and they'll have their new regional drone unit there. They got tons of capabilities with FLIR and hazmat and I just saw last week they were out doing some training with, uh, their drone that that picks up and carry stuff. Uh, the piece that they were working on with the training was like dropping a life jacket or a float like uh over the Ohio river or you know, over a pond or lake or whatever to somebody who's in the water. So that's another good thing. Digital combustion is going to be there again, talking about you know what's going on with them, and they'll have a booth space besides the class. They'll have a booth space so they can answer any questions that you have about digital combustion or building your own you know sets and reps or simulations own, you know sets and reps or simulations, um, and then a wide range of other uh classes really where, how do, how do we, how do we use technology and how does it, you know, benefit us. So that's, that's just a little bit of a. It's not a sidetrack, but you know some other classes that we added, um, happy that we got John Cirillo coming back to the conference sharing his experience with you know flow path and wind-driven fires. Can't wait to hear Dan talk about the latest with all the lithium-ion battery stuff and hopefully by then we might have a little bit more firm answer on you know what's going on with the lithium-ion battery blankets, with all the research they've been doing and looking at the data from all of that, shane, with the sprinkler systems and what's going on with the sprinkler systems and why it's important that not only we understand the sprinkler systems but that push from the local level to make sure things are sprinklered. We look at that fall river Massachusetts class or a fire, and it's like you know, one thing that would have made a difference there likely is that fast water from a sprinkler system. But yeah, so, looking forward to that.
Speaker 2:And then we got Ed Harten's been doing the 10-minute trainings. You know that we've been pushing out every so often in the Buck Slip what do we do that once a month, john, does that come out once a month? Yes, every month, yeah, every month. Ed's been pushing that out. So he's going to be doing a class on like what do you really do with that and what can you do with it? And like really do with that and what can you do with it. And like building some of your own, even 10-minute, trainings from your own experiences at your own fire department.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, we got a bunch of great classes. Dave anderson, uh from olathe doing, uh, really a building out your own company officer class, like within your own organization, like what does that look like? How do you get the firemen ready to be lieutenants and lieutenants ready to be captains and so on? So so yeah, we got a big lineup If you're looking at. If you want to look at the lineup, it's on vshiftercom. You can go to there and see all of the classes that we're offering again this year.
Speaker 1:The EOC or Engine 1 to the EOC class, which we used to call Expanded Command, but that's just the byline, for it should be particularly interesting to fire chiefs that are also emergency managers. And really the crux of the class is everything starts off with engine one. When we start off strong, with a strong command presence, strong IAP, we transmit that we don't start off behind the eight ball. And we always point out that the Oklahoma City bombing literally started with Engine One pulling up and letting everybody know that you know this building has been exploded, We've got multiple victims, etc. Well, that just ramped things up that much quicker. So if you're responsible for getting from Engine 1 to an EOC operation, we'll show you how Blue Card does that and how just changing a couple of titles, such as the Senior Advisor, the IC, that it really becomes a NIMS Type 3 incident. So if you are looking at putting on some kind of exercise for your jurisdiction that Engine 1 to the EOC, expanded command workshop Plus, it just shows you how scalable Blue Card is when we just start off with a few companies.
Speaker 1:But we could go up to hundreds of resources to a long-term 12-hour operational period event, still using Blue Card and the the basics of BlueCard when it comes to the strategic decision-making. So another great workshop there. Then the Certification Lab. It's an opportunity to get certified by lead BlueCard instructors. So if you're new to BlueCard or you can't get into a Cert Lab in your local area, we will be doing that in Sharonville, Ohio, starting September 29th. So just a great group of classes that we have at bshiftercom. There's a tab up on the top. You can read the whole lineup there and get signed up.
Speaker 2:We still have hotels left, right, yeah, I think the Hyatt might be full at the conference center, but the second preferred hotel right across the street there, I think there's plenty. I think there's rooms in there still. So something else I just wanted to mention, john, is we have many good experiences from that engine one to the EOC piece. So Winston-Salem, right with the fertilizer plant fire, that first new company officer gets there, made some decisions and that thing ramped up to I mean, I'm pretty sure it ramped up to a type one event almost like with all the runoff and everything that happened with it. So that only went the way that it did. And because engine one got there and made some decisions right, right from the get-go, everybody didn't get there and just do what they wanted. They evaluated some critical factors, communicated with the people on site, figured out what was going on, had some knowledge and experience of what's going on at a facility like that anyway, from past general responses and pre-planning. So that's one. And then our own instructor, pat Dale, one of the places where he was the fire chief, the urban interface, significant fire, right, engine one gets there, makes some decisions and then I'll remember they lost. They ended up losing a bunch of houses, but that went from, you know, engine one to you know, uh, a pretty large scale like wild line, wild land event where they lost a bunch of homes. That was in an area where it really might not have been identified that it was going to be a problem, but it was. And then coming up on what we just passed, the anniversary of it, the Miami-Dade incident, right, so that first new company officer in Miami-Dade, when that apartment building collapsed, made some unbelievable decisions, right, great size up, evaluated the factors, didn't get sucked in like directly to the event. You know, started calling for resources right from the get-go. You know, set up that strategic IC and the other chiefs that were in route with that mindset of, like, what was really going on. So, yeah, we always say it, but it all starts with engine one and that they're going to make it or break it. So, yeah, that class is going to be really good. Tim Schaubel, you know, longtime fire chief, lots of experience. And then Kevin Alexander, longtime chief at the Houston fire department, with plenty of large scale type events and experience, so that that that that workshop will be really good, like you said, you know, take back and like how can we, how would we do this and why is it important that we do all of these things on the front end if we're going to grow it in the in the backend? So it's a the foundation is very important if you want it to be stabilized later.
Speaker 2:And then the cert lab thing. I just want to throw this out there because I keep getting questions about it. So, yeah, if you sign up for the CertLab and the conference, it's $830. You get a free online when you sign up. So for $830, you get the online. You're going to get certified the first three days and then you're going to get two full days of the conference, your pick of classes from 23 different classes and three different general sessions. So, yeah, yeah, and lunch is provided all week and we're doing the Thursday night gathering again at Third Eye Brewing. That always goes over real well, great place to network and catch up with everybody.
Speaker 1:Well, we are looking forward to it. Cincinnati, ohio, general area, sharonville Convention Center, september 29th through October 3rd. Of course, the general conference is October 2nd and 3rd. Easy to get to, easy to fly into, inexpensive this is probably one of the least expensive conferences that you could go to, especially when you factor in getting that credit for a blue card subscription. Would love to see you get signed up and see you there. We have an announcement to make. Would love to see you get signed up and see you there. We have an announcement to make, starting now.
Speaker 1:We are now officially partnered with Waldorf University and you know we value education. We think it's one of the pillars, along with experience and having great programs within your fire department. But getting that education ahead of time and certainly to move up the ranks, you're going to need to have a bachelor's degree. And Waldorf has partnered with Blue Card and they are now offering credits for you with your Blue Card certification. So if you are a Blue Card IC, you will get three credit hours.
Speaker 1:If you're a Hazmat IC, you will get three credit hours. And if you are a blue card instructor and you've attended a train, the trainer you'll get two additional credit hours and that's all at a 10 percent discount for just being affiliated with blue card. So if you're looking to get a degree in fire service management and further your career and you're looking for that opportunity that's going to be online, although they do do live classes as well, but you're a remote learner Waldorf might be your solution. We're going to include the information to access Waldorf in the show notes. If you're watching right now, here's the link waldorfeducom, with blue card hyphenated and a backslash, but we'll send that link out. But it's a good opportunity, not only to get educated but get a discount, and that discount is extended to family members of blue card users as well. The 10% discount.
Speaker 2:Yeah, john, I think it's important that we say that this is the kickoff right of it, but that you know we're already in conversation about what does it look like with you know adding, if you have the Mayday Workshop and Critical Thinking and Expanded Command Workshop, like what does that do for me towards my fire service management degree, and then you know, know, also looking at a certificate program with them, you know, down the road of you know how does that tie together.
Speaker 2:And then I'd be remissed if I didn't mention the whole solar back leadership piece and how that uh is going to end up being all hooked in and tied together, so kind of a one-stop shop for your fire service education. But then also the blue card side of it giving you the tools to run the fire ground, the silverback leadership side of it. This is how you run your fire department. So, yeah, connecting all those dots. So you know, stay tuned for stay tuned to all of that because, like everything we do, we live in command function seven. We're always how do we do it better, what are we doing now and how do we do it better? So if you've got questions about that, you can reach out to the officer, john or I either one, and we can help you out and connect you with the right people.
Speaker 1:Well, we are very proud and welcome Waldorf as a partner with us, because we think that furthering your education is important, and we're just going to find new ways to make your blue card education work for you, too, with credit hours.
Speaker 2:It brings a whole new meaning to the ABB College of Knowledge.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know it really does. I mean we've been saying it for a while and, speaking of that, there's a brand new Silverback CE that's available. It went live this week for all Blue Card users. You can access that in your download center. And this time around it's focusing on the correlation between the inside-outside customer service customer service. So what the panel of experienced fire chiefs are talking about is, if we're broken on the inside, we're going to be broken on the outside. If we are running very well on the inside, communicating well, treating each other well, that's going to carry out onto the street. And there's a lot of examples and exercises and really discussion when you look at this and we give you some examples of some things that have happened that are good and some things that have happened that are bad in the past with fire department customer service. So if you're a believer in Bruno's philosophy on fire department customer service, you know there's three sets of customers. It's the people that we serve, it's the people within the department and then it's other departments whether it's other city departments and other fire departments that we deal with and we should really treat them all the same.
Speaker 1:Just because we're the inside people, a lot of times that gets dysfunctional, and I've seen it happen, man. I've seen it on the street. I've watched dysfunctional fire departments show up and treat Mrs Smith absolutely horrible because they're having a bad day at the firehouse, so they're going to, they're going to take that out on Mrs Smith. And then I also see the fire departments that they're. They're having a good time at work, they're all on the same page and when they go out they deliver that service in the same exact way. So check that out, go to bshiftercom or Blue Card and go into your download center brand new CE and there's an article this week, also on bshiftercom, that walks you through the CE and talks about how that looks and really what you should be doing with that, along with a great article from Nick this week on fire chiefs and how we can be the equalizer in those relationships within the department too, instead of letting things get dysfunctional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the only thing I got on this overback leadership thing, john, is that there's three modules up and I think four and five are. Are, you know they're, they're, they're ready to probably be posted. But, um, you know the intention is there's going to be eight or nine you know modules and then on the back end of it there'll be a three day in-person class. So we we've been getting that question a lot Like is there going to be, you know an in-person thing, kind of like what Bruno used to do, where he'd go on site and facilitate those conversations and work through, you know, the whole customer service piece and organizational management at your fire department helping you with that?
Speaker 2:So the answer to that is yes. So once all the modules for Silverback leadership are together, it will become a single program and then on the back end of it there'll be a three or four day, you know in-person um class about, uh, really, organizational management, running your fire department, customer service, um, all of those parts and pieces. So it's a, it's a, it's going to be a system much like blue card run the fire ground. This system is uh, how do we, how do we run our fire department?
Speaker 1:All right. Since last time that we got together on the uh rundown, we had the ARF class, the, the inaugural ARF train the trainer using blue card, adapting it to the ARF world. How did that go in Phoenix, and what's next?
Speaker 2:for the ARF program. Yeah, so the that ARF trainer in Phoenix we had 24 students from all across the country east coast, the west coast, uh, the south and a couple folks from Canada. So we got lots of good feedback on the class during the class and we've gotten lots of follow-up feedback, you know, since the class has ended on, you know, organizations connecting to the Blue Card system to manage the hazard zone at an airport when it involves aircraft and even when it doesn't involve aircraft. So again, you know we're we're taking people's input, feedback, always making adjustments.
Speaker 2:One of the biggest takeaways from the presenters was how many organizations actually have responsibility for an airport. But they're the standard structural fire department and they may have an ARF truck but have very limited training. So there was a lot of takeaways for them at that. And then a lot of organizations or I shouldn't say a lot, but several organizations that were in the class that are first due behind. They're due on the initial response to an airport, though there's some kind of response at the airport. So you know, connecting the dots of like what does that look like? And then, on the flip, people who work at the airport installation got them thinking about the outsiders coming on to the airport of. Well, how does that go? How do we organize that?
Speaker 2:And there was a bit of communication and discussion about, you know, you run this drill and you have, you know, 50 ambulances and 50 additional ghost ambulances and you act like you have this mass casualty and you got all these teams there and it's all. You know this staged thing and it's taped off and we set up this big thing and, uh, though, it's a good exercise, it's smoke and mirrors because, uh, everybody just does what they're told to do and they feed them lunch and you know, you go home and it's like, well, there's really no like why connected to it or any of that. So, um, garth trainer was was very successful. We got the dates for the next one in December posted, so we're looking forward to continuing to deliver that program and all the feedback we're getting from those that have taken it and those that are signing up to take it is there's nothing else out there like it.
Speaker 2:So we we joined and we're part of this ARF US ARF working group, which I think every airport international airport anyway in the United States has people who are connected to it and they're like yeah, we there's, there's. There's task level requirements and training, but we don't spend a lot of time talking about this organization and building it out of what it really looks like with our own folks or when that outside response comes on to comes through the gate and onto airport property. So we're looking forward to continuing to deliver that program and continuing to refine it To meet the needs of everybody. Whether you're, you know, the largest airports that take the largest aircraft, or whether you're the municipal airport that takes, you know, personal aircraft, or you know the Learjet-like type, you know private company aircraft, the system still applies aircraft.
Speaker 1:The system still applies.
Speaker 1:So december 15th through 17th at the alan brunicini command training center, phoenix, arizona, that's where the next one will be, and bshiftercom, again your source for signing up and getting more information on that.
Speaker 1:Um, great program. I didn't know anything about arf until I went through it and I learned a lot. I mean, in particular, like you're saying, it's all over the place the way people deploy what their capabilities are, but the emergency remains the same right, the emergency still needs to get mitigated and you're going to still have the same system that you manage it with, no matter if you're showing up with one crash truck or you're getting a full first alarm or you know, we talk about some of the airports that are staffed with 45 daily, with some airports that are staffed with 16, some are with one. But the system again is scalable to make it work, no matter your size, and I think it's good that you said Josh too. It's like you don't have to have, like a major airport, these municipal airports, and I can think of a lot of examples where they have two trucks in the station. One faces the runway, one's a structural engine that comes out the other way and they're responsible for both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a, it's a another piece to the all hazards management and the system you know, still 100% applies. So what's packaged up in there is that group's done a great job with it and the people working on it, you know, have lots of aircraft experience and airport response experience, have lots of aircraft experience and airport response experience. So JT from Hawaii 25 years I think now at airports, the chief at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, who has 25 or more years at the airport and I think maybe 40 years, 35, 40 years at the Phoenix Fire Department, his knowledge and experience and connection as far as the response and standardizing the way that we do things and organize Glazer with his military experience. And then you know Chris Stewart's time that he worked at the airport and now the input from these 24 people who attended the trainer and now the input from these 24 people who attended the trainer, with really not a ton of input on you know things to drastically change it. It's like I told Chris Stewart it's kind of like the first blue card train, the trainer. It's like, yeah, you probably ought to add basements into there, and that's kind of the same kind of thing that happened with this RF classes.
Speaker 2:You know people have things that you know could be changed or whatever, but none of it was relative to the system. It was more about you know, maybe some terminology or other components. So there's, just like the blue card system, there's, you know, simulations, several simulations, and there's going to keep being. We're going to continue to have more and more simulations and there's going to keep being. We're going to continue to have more and more simulations. There's a standardized response SOP that has been through I don't know a hundred or so people's hands now that work at active airports. You know, reviewing. Like what does that response look like? The preloads, an IC tactical worksheet, basically all the parts and moving pieces as they apply to ARF that we have for BlueCard. And then you know all the ARF people get. They get the hazmat IC. You know modules as well, because every airport has that basic hazmat component and majority of them actually probably have significant hazmat component. So, yeah, lots of parts and pieces connected to the ARF program and I'm looking forward to seeing that continue to roll out and grow.
Speaker 1:So if somebody out there is responsible for continuing education, for blue card and other topics within your department, for continuing education for blue card and other topics within your department, we have a lot of trainers and workshops that are still open, with some seats for the rest of 2025. So we've got the ARF open but we also have, you know, some onesies, twosies, you know a few seats here and there and I'm going to go through that rundown and these are all posted as well at bshiftercom. But we are coming back to Florida A number of classes in Florida. I can't believe how much we're in Florida in the next couple of months, especially July 28th through August 1st. Bay County, Florida. Where's Bay County at? What area is that it's?
Speaker 2:the Panama City Beach area the training site is actually. You know they're not going to build a training center on the beach, but it's in that area. It's in the county. Panama City Beach is in Bay.
Speaker 1:County. Well, we have a few seats open there. We're back in Hawaii. We're in Maui September 8th through the 12th. A few seats open there. Nope, that class is over, sold back.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, all right well, that's good to know, that's good that when I looked at it the other day I I made that note. So okay, hawaii's out. You know, and it's funny, we always have a blue card user that sees that we're going to Hawaii and they try to couple that with a vacation. So no, no such luck this time. Minnesota, september 15th, through the 19th Plymouth Minnesota blue card train the trainer. A few seats, two seats, I think available there Is that. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yep, there's still two seats. Yeah yeah, we expanded that class. We're going to go up to 16 students in that class, so excellent that class.
Speaker 1:We're going to go up to 16 students in that class, so excellent. Michigan, sterling heights, detroit metro area, october 13th through the 17th. I think there's six.
Speaker 2:Maybe six seats left, but we're waiting on a couple names.
Speaker 1:So four or six seats in that class and then the big box workshop coming to cottage grove, minnesota, november 20th through the 21st. So is that one full or is that?
Speaker 2:It's full with a giant waiting list Okay.
Speaker 1:I should have checked on that earlier too, so I'm just teasing everybody now with what you didn't get signed up for. Now I do know for a fact we have some openings at the AVB CTC for some Train the Train trainers in September, october, november and December. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think September there might be two seats and then I haven't looked super close at it but there's probably six seats left, maybe in each of those other classes. But OK, they're starting to fill up. We just picked up several registrations for that December trainer. This week All right.
Speaker 1:Well, the best source information bshiftercom. If you're either looking for a train the trainer or workshop or to get signed up for the conference, all of it, you can go there and find your educational opportunities. Anything else on the horizon for 25 that might get added? Or are you working on some things right now and you want to wait to announce?
Speaker 2:So we got some availability in December that we could fit some things in if you were looking to do something still yet in 2025. I will tell everybody that 2026, we already have about 14 workshops that we're working on the dates for. Uh, if you're interested in hosting a big box workshop, uh, send us something, you know as soon as possible that that, um, I guess more than interest. If you're looking for information, we can send you that. But, uh, we're gonna probably start working on that schedule schedule with Shane Ray here soon for the 2026 big box workshops. There's probably only going to be five, maybe six of them again in 2026. And that's, you know, shane, I think Shane's on a plane 300 days a year, so that's based on you know his availability, and so those will be spoken for and they'll fill up, you know really fast.
Speaker 2:And then the critical thinking Mayday workshop you know his availability, and so those will, those will, those will be spoken for and they'll fill up, you know, really fast. And then the critical thinking mayday workshop safety trainer, trainer, expanded command ops, those, those workshops. We got just working on dates for all of those and we'll be posting 2026 Phoenix trainer dates probably coming up here in August for the first six months. But if you're looking for workshops, for train-the-trainer classes or we'll talk more about it, but just IC and Blue Card Command support for 2026, just reach out to us, let us know. Our schedule, usually by September, starts to fill up pretty quickly for that first quarter.
Speaker 1:so, um, if you're looking to do something, we just want to make sure that we can get you on the, on the schedule and on the calendar and when you see the date, sign up because they they feel fast, as, as we just talked about, well, good, uh, hey, coming up, we're going to Orlando. We're going to be there for FRI. We have a booth. What are we looking forward to in Orlando and what are we going to be doing at the booth this year? Yeah, so Orlando's.
Speaker 2:You know we're happy to go there. There's actually fire departments. It's an inside joke. There's actually fire departments in Florida that do blue card. John, did you know that? I did not know that. We say that because there was a fire chief that worked in Florida that moved from Florida to the Midwest and told the fire department he went to that there's no fire departments in Florida that do blue card. And then we sent the map to his people and they were like, oh wow, there's hundreds of fire departments in Florida that do blue card. Many, many, many county fire departments in Florida that do blue card. Many, many, many county fire departments in Florida that do blue card.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, we're looking to happy to be in Orlando looking to catch up with, you know, everybody from Florida and everybody else that comes to the I-Chief Conference, just how they're doing, what's going on, how we can support them. You know, catching up with all the support pieces that we do and talking about the AAR program. We'll have that there. Uh, chris Stewart's going to be there so he can, you know, provide information on on the ARF program and what's going on with that and talk about all of those parts and pieces. So, yeah, we're in the uh tech area at the iChiefs conference again this year so you'll be able to catch up with us in that tech zone. When you're walking around looking at all the booths, if you find the tech area, it'll be easier to find us and catch up.
Speaker 2:We're looking forward to catching up with everybody there. We'll have Bruno's customer service book and anatomy and physiology and fire command and several books there if anybody's looking for any of those books, otherwise we'll be there hanging out. Might even try to get a podcast or two in Love it.
Speaker 1:Well, come see us at FRI. I think that's a good opportunity too. Whether you want to bring somebody by the booth that has some questions about Blue Card. There's a lot of misinformation, really about what the program is. So if you're new to it for whatever reason, or you've got a neighbor that's new to it, bring them by, we can have that conversation. It's so much better to sit and talk about things than to try to blast over social media or even email back and forth. So it's a chance to get those questions answered and to have those discussions on what we're all about. If you're new to it, or you're bringing somebody who is new into the program and then that kind of brings us to support, and then that kind of brings us to support.
Speaker 1:You know we've had some departments lately that you know might be challenged, either challenged by a neighbor, challenged by new staff. You have that backstep firefighter that's making a lot of noise, that doesn't understand why we do what we do, and we're all about explaining the why, and we want you to be able to reach out to us. You know Josh is on the phone almost all day long. I'm surprised it hasn't grown into your head at this point, answering questions, talking to people, giving them the support. We've got an excellent staff of other people that help out with that too, so you know if you're looking to get supported, whether it's questions, you need an answer for something. Some examples please reach out and contact us. We have that information and we've heard probably about every question there has been. So what can we say about ongoing support and what would you like folks to know about that? Josh?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So one thing with ongoing support is if you ever have a question or something comes up, I don't care if you're sitting in a meeting and you want to pick up the phone, call me or email me. I mean, if you need an immediate answer, pick up the phone and call me 513-623-3897. And unless I'm on the phone with somebody or on this podcast, uh, I usually answer. That's, uh, that's that's what I do, because I it's that important to all of us that, uh, we know that. We know that something you pick up right now might be used in two minutes and make a difference. So that's part of it. So I put our customer support, as far as the fire service goes, right up there against anybody. If we don't have an answer, we're going to get you the answer. So, yeah, you can call me, text me, email me, call the office, call John, text John, you know, whatever. If you're having trouble getting a hold of us, you can always call the office. Call John, text John, you know. Whatever. If you're having trouble getting a hold of us, you can always call the office.
Speaker 2:Jen, randy, anybody who's connected to the system knows that. They're the value of those two. They do a ton of work and they sit in the dark back there sometimes in the back end. You know doing support and putting people online and answering questions and you know helping. So, um, you know every, every system has, you know, um, parts and pieces that that you know cause challenges. So, yeah, just just reach out if you need any kind of support, whether it's technical support or you're having some kind of an operational piece. Um, we're, we're here to help you.
Speaker 2:And you know, to kind of go along with that is if you go to bshiftercom, there's in the free download section. There's tons of information in there now and that just keeps on growing. So you know tons of NIOSH reports to reference and other reports as well, as I think we got 14 SOGs in there now, our IC tactical worksheets in there, the IC tutorial video on how do you use the IC worksheet. Yeah, so that B-Shifter website it's just the beginning and we're working to catalog that so it's easier to search and find things whatever. And then all the stuff that gets put up in the buck slip ends up on there. So you know that that's a support piece. That really, the B shiftercom free downloads and all that Everybody has access to, that it's.
Speaker 2:That's not. That's not just for paying paying customers, if you're. If you're a paying customer and you're an instructor, that download center has literally and I'm not exaggerating thousands of hours of training material and curriculum in it and we keep adding to the CE material. So if you're looking within your organization to sharpen up on communication skills, priority traffic, strategic shifts, managing the Mayday, building out an organization, division, ops, hazmat, responding to violent crimes, I mean it's. I could go on and on and on of all the, all the stuff that is in there. So if you're looking for something, we probably we probably have it in there and if you can't find it, just reach out and we can, you know, get you, get you connected to it if you're an instructor. And then the other part of it is how, what we can do to help you as an organization with, like, how you're training, how your training goes with blue card and connecting all the dots.
Speaker 2:So one thing I was just having a conversation with a customer recently about was having their having their students do the accountability. They were having some accountability questions. So having their students do the accountability CE because they have full access, so they they had all of them do the CE module and then that gave them that basic cognitive platform to come in and on shift they were having conversations and going over all the other parts and pieces of accountability, because one of their things was it was the Bay Floor Fire Talk thing of we don't have these passports and we don't use those same passports and all of that. Well, they were missing the whole piece of accountability. Right, it's like that. That that passport is is part of the tools, and if you use another kind of tool to do it, then that's fine. But you know there's task, tactical and strategic level accountability.
Speaker 2:Well, after they went through it, I actually got a phone call back from them and they said, uh, the light bulb came on for them. And they said the light bulb came on for them and they realized that we were missing like half of the accountability besides us using you know, a different kind of tag. And the tag they were using was perfectly fine. It still identified the company and the people on the company and it still was getting put forward to a division boss. But when they talked about accountability at the task level, uh, this, this person told me that the company officer's eyeballs kind of lit up like, oh, yeah, like that. We need to do better with that. And why we communicate status change.
Speaker 2:Well, we communicate a status change because the division boss and the strategic IC is doing and tracking the position and function of the companies, doing and tracking the position and function of the companies, and so everything we have is like tied together. So, on that, if you're coming to the conference you could catch Sean Glazer's class on the whole sets and reps piece. So how do you assign a CE out and then you bring them in and you can use the sets and reps that we have, either in person or you could do it virtually, you know, through a shared platform of getting folks fine-tuned, if you will, on after they do some cognitive learning piece on a CE component. So this whole, this whole customer service piece and connecting with the customers is, I don't know, there's like a million pieces to it, right, I mean pretty much. So everything we do is about that customer service piece and connecting with the customer and helping the customer be able to deliver in their own organizations. You know the product, so that they have a single system and everybody gets on the same page. Everybody gets on the same page. So, besides all of that stuff.
Speaker 2:You know, one thing that we do probably 20 or so times a year, is the onsite support. So if you're running your first cert lab, or you haven't run a cert lab for a while or you just want some outside influence to come to a cert lab that you're doing, you know we do that, uh, pretty regularly. So Eric Phillips, just not too long ago, was in Baton Rouge and spent three days with them at a cert lab and you know the feedback we got from, uh, the people who attended it as well as the instructors there, was like, well, honestly, for us it was priceless because they weren't really getting the straight message from some of the people who they were getting their training from before. So they got the straight blue card message and then now Baton Rouge can make blue card what they want to make it for themselves. They're not getting a third-hand version of the in-person blue card class and then they're still going to make, you know, maybe some kind of a change to it for how they deploy or whatever.
Speaker 2:So, like I said, we usually do 20 or so of those a year supporting. We just send one instructor to, you know, a three-day IC cert lab to help support and really explain the why and talk about you know what blue card is all about. And then we're doing, you know more and more, as we always have, of the uh two day in person, kind of just blue card update pieces or uh attending like operations, uh meetings or workshops. So just a few weeks ago Chris Stewart and I were in Worcester for two days with their command staff, a bunch of their senior officers, senior captains, and it was just a, it was a blue card update and we were there to just answer questions. You know Chief Dyer is making has made the push at that fire department of blue card is the Worcester Fire Department command system and we were there to just help support them and answer any questions that they had.
Speaker 2:So you know, we did a little bit of talk on the, not a little bit, we did a lot of discussion on how do you apply the system to you know your response, your capabilities, your buildings and all of that, and really it's it's the critical factors, right, it all goes back to just starting with a critical factor. So the system is the system. Whether you're going to a 1000 square foot slab on home or you're going to a 50 story high rise. The system is still the system. It's just how much do you grow the system, but, no matter what, it still starts with engine one.
Speaker 2:So, um, we, we, we do quite a few of those um, two day, um in person. You know, day in person. You know why, support, support, support, blue card with the, why you know classes and and helping them continue to move forward and answer questions that they have you know internally. And then you know every day, john, as you're very well aware, the office, you, me, nick, sometimes we're on the phone and emailing of we got a question, or how do we do this, or why do you do that, or why wouldn't you do whatever, and with Chris Stewart coming on board, with him spending more time with us, that's just going to bring it to a whole new level, also with with our connection to all of the best practice things that are out there, from FSRI, nfpa and then the NFSA, all of those, all of those groups that are doing research and putting out things of that. This is, this is how we should be doing business.
Speaker 1:So very good. Well, any final thoughts before we wrap it up today, Josh.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's it. I think we covered quite a bit. I wouldn't have thought we were going to be on here for 45 minutes talking about and giving an update, but we all. It always ends up being that long.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we say that every month. It's like, wow, we have that much going on and not much news. But that is that's what we're doing here. And command function number seven. As you always say, we're always reviewing, revising, making it better and offering new and improved classes and products and ways to learn about command, risk management, accountability all the stuff that we just talked about so well. Thanks, josh. Good talking to you. I'll. I'll see you in Orlando in just a few weeks, at FRI. We'll be hanging out together, so I'm looking forward to that. Sounds good. Thanks, john. See you later. Thanks for listening to B Shifter.