The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol.3 Issue 3 (repost)

The end of February I attended the Colorado Emergency Management Association Conference this week as a representative for The Blue Cell, LLC. This conference not only proved to be a great learning experience and a wonderful opportunity to meet key players in the field of emergency management here in Colorado but also helped me identify areas where the Blue Cell can be effective in helping organizations to mitigate their challenges and meet their goals. Some topics covered at the conference included; an Incident Roundtable covering the Waldo Canyon and High Park fires, Cultural and Historic Issues during Disasters, a discussion on the Colorado Information Analysis Center and how emergency managers partner with the fusion center, a presentation by the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab, Lessons Learned and Recovery Collaboration from last year's devastating fire season, and a presentation on how one Colorado County uses their EOC Exercise Plan to empower and educate others.

Some resounding similarities I discovered in each of these presentations are the importance of multi-organization coordination, leadership, team building, exercising before an incident occurs, synchronizing efforts and plans, sharing information, needing the right tools to successfully respond to an incident, and that frequently one hazard will become a multi hazard event.

The first step in improving your organization's ability to successfully prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and emergencies is to determine areas that need improvement and then identify the appropriate means of making those improvements. 

 

 

The Blue Cell, LLC

Ashley Cox, Acquisitions Lead

ashleycox@thebluecell.com

800-866-0840 Ext 3 

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol.3 Issue 2

The Blue Cell, LLC Responds to the Recent Rise in School Violence with The Comprehensive Emergency Management Program for Educational Institutions

With the expansion of The Blue Cell, LLC through the recent acquisition of Command School TTX, the number of products and services The Blue Cell, LLC offers has notably increased.  In an effort to simplify the process of choosing the products and services that are most suitable for your organization, The Blue Cell, LLC has created package options which can be modified to fit the specific training, exercise, and consulting needs of your organization. The Blue Cell, LLC offers courses in the following categories: Incident Command System, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Emergency Management Series, Leadership Series, and Advanced Planning Concepts (The Blue Cell’s flagship training course).  In order for your organization to receive the specific training, exercise, and consulting services you need, The Blue Cell will feature package options highlighting courses available within the categories listed above.  The featured package for the month of February is The Comprehensive Emergency Management Program (CEMP) for Educational Institutions.

In light of recent terrorism events at our nation’s schools, as well as historical criminal acts against our students that date to the mid 1990’s, The Blue Cell, LLC and Command School TTX have created a number of individual product sets that specifically address educational institutions’ safety and security.

As a potential solution, The Blue Cell, LLC has established The Comprehensive Emergency Management Program for Educational Institutions. As we all search for answers to protect our students, the only approach in our experience is risk based ideas and actions to reduce vulnerabilities.

While our package options will be modifiable, The Blue Cell, LLC encourages educators to embrace this package in its entirety versus selecting portions of the program.  This approach will ensure the greatest reduction of risk and harden the institution’s vulnerabilities while ultimately increasing student and staff safety and security.  The Planning components of the program include a Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, a Security Assessment, Plan Review, and Plan Synchronization.  The Training components include courses in Incident Command System, Protecting Soft Targets, Understanding and Planning for School Bomb Incidents, and Multi-Hazard Planning for Schools.  Two exercises are suggested for this package, a table top exercise for school staff personnel and a functional exercise for both school staff personnel and outside agencies.  The program then ties each component together by conducting a plan review, making any necessary adjustments discovered throughout the process, and then implementing the plan.

The Blue Cell, LLC is compelled to use their expertise in the field of planning, training, and exercising for disasters and emergencies to help reduce and ultimately eliminate the violence occurring in our nation’s educational institutions. 

Contact Ashley Cox at ashleycox@thebluecell.com to learn more about The Comprehensive Emergency Management Program for Educational Institutions and start the process of protecting your school today.

Ashley Cox, Acquisitions 
The Blue Cell, LLC and Command School TTX

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol. 3 Issue 1

2013 is officially underway. The Blue Cell, LLC would like to start the first issue of our 3^rd volume of The Blue Cell Intel Summary by welcoming Ashley Cox to our staff. Ashley is a graduate of the University of Idaho, where she received a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Crime and Justice Studies. She also holds a Certificate in Homeland Defense from The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and a Master degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver, School of Public Affairs.  In addition to her strong educational background, Ashley has previous work experience at the federal , state, and county levels in both the criminal justice and emergency management fields. On a personal note, she was an accomplished soccer player at the collegiate level, Division I. 

Ashley will be assigned to The Blue Cells Contract and Acquisitions element focusing on client contracting in support of our Texas based Consulting Services. In addition to client contracting, like all Blue Cell personnel, Ashley will be supporting efforts in the Blue Cell’s training, exercise and deployment services activities.

We are particularly excited about Ashley coming on board and the specific expansion of our contractual relationship with the University of Nebraska’s public policy center. Signed in July of 2012, the purpose of the collaboration with UNL is to deliver effective planning and consulting service that combines the real world planning experience of The Blue Cell with the appropriate academic and intellectual foundation in policy to institutions, agencies and governments across the United States.

All too often in this newly emerging vocation that we call Emergency Management, the adherence to the rule of law or policy is ignored or not fully comprehended due to a variety of motivations or simple ignorance.  There are countless examples from major incidents in the past decade that illustrate this. The goal of this effort is to assist jurisdictions in the preparedness phase (consulting and planning) to be more effectively and efficient in the response phase.

Ashley will be working out of the Denver metro area and can be reached via email: ashleycox@thebluecell.com or by phone 1-800-866-0840 extension 3

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol.2 Issue 12

Needless to say 2012 has been quite a year for The Blue Cell and its varied interests. The company closes out December with clients in 38 states and territories; we have three international clients; Blue Cell and Command School TTX contractors participated in five incidents around the country including the historic wild fires in the west and Hurricane Sandy in the east. Last month’s blog illustrated changes that are underway with regard to deployments services from lessons learned this year. As a company we are now also involved in the future of the emergency management profession with our volunteer affiliation with Warren Techs Emergency Management Program in Lakewood, Colorado.

Looking forward to 2013, the following initiatives are underway. All of the web presences of the Blue Cell, fourteen in total, are being consolidated and linked through one web portal. Additions to The Blue Cell web presences will include Calamity City (the tactical side of Chelsea County USA), Studio BC (our online live training room), The Blue Cell Planning Forum (an online community for emergency planners to share information) and new products in the Blue Cell store.

To better serve our growing customer base, a greater emphasis will be placed on our cellular business model. Today, this concept is used by both the good guys and the bad guys in the terrorism / anti-terrorism world. From its inception over three years ago, The Blue Cell, for a variety of reasons, used this approach in its basic day to day actions. In addition to operational security and improved specialized effectiveness, the other benefit that we have experienced is that all clients still have direct access to the owner. Different cells are then brought to bear on the issue as needed. The cellular approach also increases overall effectiveness since differing entities have skill sets that, when combined, enhance the product being delivered. The ability to customize training, exercises, consulting, technical and even deployment services is made easier since the vision is shared from the beginning by a small group. In the event that for any reason a client is not completely satisfied, the client has only one place to go to get answers and solutions. No bureaucracy, no rules inhibiting fixing the problem, no excuses, just pure accountability and renewed customer satisfaction.

I want to thank all of the clients, students, exercise participants and especially my contractors for another great year, and I can’t wait to get started in 2013. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 Todd Manns, Owner

The Blue Cell, LLC and Command School TTX

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol.2 Issue 11

Blue Cell Formalizes Deployments Services Group Processes and Capabilities

The Blue Cell, LLC is proud to announce the operational timeline for the official launch of its Deployment Services Group (DSG). Under conceptual development for the past year, the official launch was delayed by the acquisition of Command School TTX. However, that particular delay created the catalyst; in the development process, the decision was made to add logistic and planning support capabilities to the deployment packages. The packages are designed in 2 to 6 person elements to support incident command posts, emergency operations centers and private industry locations in real world incidents.

From a system perspective, the state-to-state mutual aid agreement that would be used is called the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. This national system has been ratified by Congress in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Unfortunately, because the sending state makes the decision as to whom to offer up and send to the requesting state, the wrong tool has often been sent to do the job. States lacking credentialing systems or with other leadership and or management flaws have had a tendency to make incorrect decisions on whom they deploy.

To best serve our customers from a deployment services perspective, The Blue Cell, LLC has taken the following steps. All Blue Cell, LLC contracts and agreements from its other service groups (training, exercise, consulting and technical) now automatically includes a clause allowing customers to access the Blue Cells deployments services in a real world emergency. The Blue Cell, LLC now carries its own errors and omission, liability and workman compensation insurance package specific to deployment situations. The Blue Cells updated website will include, on its deployment services page, short dossiers on its deployment personnel. Those personnel effective January 1^st will carry a Blue Cell issued credential that is QR bar coded. That bar code can be read by any smart phone and takes the reader to a password protected long dossier page for the resource. This page will include additional information on the resource and a scanned pdf copy of every certification and credential the resource has that can be downloaded and printed.

To enhance the DSG capabilities The Blue Cell is pursuing “Pro”contracts with an independent communications company, several companies with private jets to support getting the DSG to disaster areas, additional aerial photography capabilities and the top tactical gear supplier to keep the DSG outfitted.

The last step the DSG will employ is called check down. The process is how The Blue Cell, LLC will quickly assess the readiness status of DSG members, make direct contact with specific clients and, in event of a deployment, decide whether the direct contract clause is appropriate, a secondary contract is needed or if EMAC is the route to take to get the DSG moving to the client. In support of this new capability, the technical services group is making upgrades to The Blue Cell app. The company is working with the leading custom trailer manufacturers and Reeves ICP on a 35 foot deployment trailer to support its specific operational needs. The trailer will adorn a new DSG logo upon completion.

Like many things, the public sector needs private enterprise to enhance its efforts. The world of incident command and emergency management is no different. This endeavour for the company is a huge step in making our other service groups stronger, because there is no substitute for real world experience.     

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol. 2 Issue 10

Command School TTX Exercise for the Kansas NE IMT's and Hazmat Team at KDEM

            I had the recent pleasure to work for Todd Manns, owner of The Blue Cell LLC, at a table top exercise held at the Kansas Department Emergency Management in Topeka, Kansas.  I have not known Todd very long, but I know his passion for emergency management.  I first met him at training in Manhattan, Kansas at resource unit leader class.  I sat in this class and was amazed at how little I actually knew. I found Todd’s teaching style was perfect for me; he kept my interest and I learned.  I was worried about how I would pass the test and told then “Mr. Manns” my fears.  He reassured me that it would not be as hard as what I had begun to fear.  He helped me and, surprisingly enough, he was right.  I found Todd’s teaching style was perfect for me. 

            Since then, I have attended eight additional classes with Todd and The Blue Cell’s team of instructors and have learned something new every time. Even while watching the Planning P video, almost every time I have taken something new away.  The class in Topeka on Tuesday was a new opportunity for me as Todd had asked me to assist him with the class.  It was mostly grunt work on my end, but I was able to observe the scenario and the Chelsea County/Tyler Town set up. This observation still increased my knowledge of incident management.

            The Blue Cell set up of Chelsea County/Tyler Town allowed IMT’s, hazmat teams and search and rescue teams an opportunity to work together and to work through the scenario in an as realistic situation as possible without having put people in harm’s way.  The scenario was a tornado struck Tyler Town’s industrial park, airport and town.  The town is a metropolis of 1 million people and encompassing 85,000 square miles.  Now, of course, you cannot set up a diorama that reflects that actual size or you would need several buildings to accomplish that feat.  However, with The Blue Cell’s recent purchase of Command School TTX, a company specializing in Table Top exercises, the exercise was very realistic. 

             The day started out with setting up cars in the model town.  This was like a dream come true for a big kid like myself.  Playing with Matchbox© cars and scale version buildings on giant canvases allowed the teams to see a situation, lay hands on it, and own it.  A cadre of radios was utilized to give realistic communications problems between too many people with radios, dead batteries and people walking over the top of each other.  COML's had to work hard to rectify some of these issues.  I heard one of the team members grumbling about having to waste his time “driving to another part of town” because no one was listening to the radio.  There were several command trailers set up in the parking lot of KDEM and, realistically, the worker had to leave the command center and respond inside the building to find the team leader to get the information he needed, but in a real life situation he would have been driving a long distance to check on the welfare of the team leader and his team.

            Lunch was served in so the groups could have a working lunch.  Even though there may not have been a lot work going on over lunch, there certainly was a large amount of conversation going on.  After lunch, the exercise continued on a little longer.

            At the conclusion of the day, the group was brought back together as a whole.  The discussion was directed towards what was learned.  There were several positives discussed, but the main topic of discussion was the weaknesses.  These were pointed out and a plan was put in place to address them.  This was one of the more important things that happened in this day as we grow and learn from addressing our weaknesses constructively.

             These events are helpful of course for the exercises, but more importantly, is the team building and rapport that goes on.  From my first class, I have met so many different people from different communities and disciplines.  These bonds are built through exercises of turmoil, bonds become strong and long lasting.  When real life disasters do occur, the periods of forming and norming do not take as long and the teams can begin performing as we are familiar with each other.  The communities in north east Kansas are being served well by these dedicated and committed men and women. 

Great job Blue Cell and thanks for the opportunity Todd!!!

 

Steve Taylor

Exercise Specialist

The Blue Cell, LLC

The Blue Cell Intel Summary Vol. 2 Issue 9

A TIMELY TRIP NORTH, AND I MEAN NORTH

The Blue Cell took a monumental step this week with its first classes in the great and very big state of Alaska. In a year of milestones, the achievements this week in Fairbanks may top the list. The acquisition of Command School TTX on paper and on the balance sheet will probably be remembered in future years, but here are a few things about the Alaska adventure.

The initial conversations with the Fairbanks North Star Borough (the county) were generated solely off of The Blue Cell website; this was a first for the company The Blue Cell has grown in each of its three previous years by referral and customer retention, volume pricing and great customized deliveries. In the case of obtaining this new customer, they plugged something into Google and we popped up. They then simply called the 800 number. Interestingly enough, I was the Midwest at the time teaching and happened to be on a break when our 800 service found my phone and rang me. The 907 area code didn’t throw me off because I quickly miss read it as a 970 area (a common area code in Colorado). The lady on the phone simply wanted a price quote for two FEMA G level classes. I was able to send her to our web store and immediately give her a number to work with. In subsequent conversations, she requested information on our past performance with FEMA classes. I was able to provide her with the emails of 7 state training officers we regularly do business with. In the email to her, I actually copied all of the STO’s. From that point on it was contract time and we were off and running.

During the deliveries this week of Community Mass Care Management and Evacuation and Re-Entry Planning, Hurricane Isaac was pounding the Gulf Coast providing me the opportunity to use contemporary issues in the classroom, create discussion questions, and real mission topics and even assign a little homework. The challenges of isolation, extreme weather conditions and unique governmental structures and laws made for great interactions in the two classes, allowing enhanced think-tanking and planning strategies.

The class also had a University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student in attendance who has been working on an evacuation / GIS project in conjunction with the Borough that is the most comprehensive and well put together data set I have ever seen. Kate Schaefer’s short presentation on the final day of the week was very impressive and demonstrated what can be done with a clear mission, direction and talented people that are motivated and hard working. Thank you Kate. I also have to thank Randy Pommenville, Emergency Management Coordinator for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, the participants from the Red Cross and the strategic partners from Fort Wainwright. Lastly I have especially thanks to Stephanie Reynolds and Emergency Manager Craig Malloy for this opportunity, and to all of my new friends in the 49^th state. Quyana. I hope to see you all again soon.

 

Todd Manns

Owner, The Blue Cell, LLC