Page 6 - Volume 20

Blue Card...
Why or Why Not?
Thomas J. O’Brien
Fire Chief- Liberty Twp. Powell, OH
Many of us “old guys” can remember when Brunacini came out with the first Fire Command book. The theory was that the system is intended to be used
by a single commander operating as an individual, perhaps with an aide, but without the large general staff structure used in wildland fire incidents (Carlson 1983). Furthermore, the command post should be established at any given distance from the actual scene to allow for a quiet area to hear radio traffic, plan IAPs, etc. To an older guy who was used to seeing the Incident Commander, if there was one, out in front of the building, this represented a major change. Yes, a command presence was needed, but it was always out in front
A few years later, Fire Command II came out with a few modifications, but the message was still the same: divide the building into geographical sectors, groups, and tasks based upon the original concept taken from Cal Fire and their management scheme for large forest fires. The book also started to emphasize a means by which each fire could be handled in a systematic approach to ensure all necessary fire ground tasks were accomplished with maximum accountability. This was directed
at the officers who, through no fault of their own, were not gaining the needed fire ground experience due to a decrease in fires. Also during this time, Chief Coleman wrote Incident Management for the Street-Smart Fire Officer. While Chief Coleman had some similarities to Brunacini, his style was more similar to that of many of the older officers, who seemed less resistant to changing their ways based upon Coleman versus Brunacini.
Time passed with no real changes in fire command. RIT, Safety Officers, etc. was introduced, but there was not educational change, especially for the younger officers, until Brunacini came up with the idea of reimagining Fire Command, and Blue Card was born. The Incident Command Certification Program is designed to first instruct, train, and then evaluate and certify fire department officers who serve in the role of Incident Commander and supervise and manage emergency and hazard zone opera- tions for local every day NIMS Type 4 and Type 5 events.
The idea behind the Blue Card training program is to provide fire departments with a training and certification system that defines the best Standard Command Practices for common, local, and everyday strategic and tactical emergency operations con- ducted on NIMS Type 4 and Type 5 events. This training and certification program produces Incident Commanders who make better decisions, which will potentially eliminate the lethal and/or costly mistakes that cause injury, death, and unnecessary fire losses in the local response area.
However, there are drawbacks. The cost of the Blue Card program is $385.00 per person plus an additional $125.00 if you would like Continuing Education, which must be renewed in order to continue to remain certified. The program can also be time consuming. You must complete the 40 to 50 hour online training program (the Cognitive portion of the program), the Simulation Evaluation Session (Manipulative portion), and the Continuing Education and 3-year re-certification process (Cognitive and Manipulative skill maintenance).
6 InCommand OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org