WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.540 This episode is sponsored by yet another incredible 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:05.419 company that I stand behind fully, and that is 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:09.259 Bubs Naturals. Now, I've not only used Bubz products 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:12.439 for four years now, but I've also had the founder, 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.039 Sean Lake, on the show twice. And they are offering 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:18.160 you, the audience of the Behind the Shield podcast, 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:21.660 20 % off your entire order, and I will give you 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.300 that code in a moment. Now, Bubz has a very powerful 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:28.980 backstory. Glenn Bub Doherty is one of the two 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:32.520 Navy SEALs killed protecting the CIA facility 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.560 in Benghazi. And wanting to honor his best friend, 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.969 Sean stood up this company. Now, it began with 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:42.289 their flagship product, which is their collagen. 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:45.329 And I have to say, as a Brit with really dry 00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:49.369 skin who's now 51, I cannot underline the importance 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:52.549 of collagen in your diet. I have seen a huge 00:00:52.549 --> 00:00:56.350 positive impact on my skin, nails, hair, and 00:00:56.350 --> 00:00:59.859 most importantly, digestive system. Another thing 00:00:59.859 --> 00:01:02.899 that I use religiously is their MCT creamers. 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:05.140 That's the part of coconut oil that is good for 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:08.299 our brain. And they come in dairy and non -dairy, 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.120 depending on your diet. Now, most recently, I've 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:13.719 started adding in creatine to my diet. Another 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.239 thing that I've been told is good for our brain 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:18.579 health. And with so many of us being exposed 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:21.819 to TBIs, concussions, and sleep deprivation, 00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:25.319 the positive brain health element of creatine 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:29.510 is essential. Now in addition, Bubz makes apple 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:34.069 cider vinegar gummies, vitamin C, and their hydration 00:01:34.069 --> 00:01:37.670 product, Hydrate or Die. And several of these 00:01:37.670 --> 00:01:40.670 products are also NSF certified, which is the 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:43.409 highest level of certification as far as efficacy 00:01:43.409 --> 00:01:46.700 and cleanliness. Now, one of the most important 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.140 elements of this company, in my opinion, is that 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:52.540 they are a social business, meaning 10 % of their 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:55.239 profits go to charity. And in this case, that 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:58.579 is the Glenn Doherty Foundation. Now, as I mentioned 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:01.420 before, they are offering you, the audience of 00:02:01.420 --> 00:02:04.280 the Behind the Shield podcast, 20 % off your 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:10.599 entire order if you use the code BTS at bubsnaturals 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.219 .com. And if you want to hear more about the 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:17.680 products, the backstory and how Sean used Glenn's 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.879 story to help other veterans, listen to episodes 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:25.659 558 and 1055 of the Behind the Shield podcast. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.379 This episode is sponsored by StationWise, the 00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:33.479 first staffing software to be truly firefighter 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:36.830 proof. Now, you may be wondering why I have software 00:02:36.830 --> 00:02:39.389 as a sponsor when I focus usually on physical 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:42.590 and mental health of the first responders, and 00:02:42.590 --> 00:02:46.030 I will tell you exactly why. For the first time, 00:02:46.110 --> 00:02:49.270 this is a staffing platform that also is able 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:52.729 to integrate wellness information through core 00:02:52.729 --> 00:02:56.590 load tracking, exposures, and wearables integration. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.680 Now, of course, StationWise focuses on staffing 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:03.979 and allows you to manage staffing, choose vacation 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:08.259 picks, put in rules for leave and trades, and 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:11.180 even deploying strike teams. But through the 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:14.340 latest programming in AI automation, they have 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:17.280 streamlined this process to free up battalion 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:19.719 chiefs so they can focus on what they're supposed 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.479 to be doing on the operational side and the fire 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.590 ground. Now, StationWise is also able to monitor 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:28.050 not only how many calls we've responded to in 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:30.789 a shift, but the duration of the call, therefore 00:03:30.789 --> 00:03:34.110 the rest and recovery in between, thus monitoring 00:03:34.110 --> 00:03:36.710 the sleep deprivation that degrades our health 00:03:36.710 --> 00:03:39.650 and performance. It's accessible not only through 00:03:39.650 --> 00:03:42.629 the computer, but also on Apple and Android devices, 00:03:42.930 --> 00:03:45.569 meaning that you can access it not only within 00:03:45.569 --> 00:03:49.039 the station itself, but outside as well. Now, 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:51.319 one of the most powerful features of StationWise, 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.180 in my opinion, is the ability to run reports. 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:58.180 Therefore, for example, be able to see just how 00:03:58.180 --> 00:04:01.199 much money is being used on overtime that could 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.159 actually be front -loaded for proactive staffing, 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.500 as well as setting alarms knowing when you are 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:10.659 hitting overtime parameters. And another important 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:13.719 feature is the integration of other programs 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:16.800 and software for payroll, training, reports, 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:20.500 etc. Now, StationWise is trusted by numerous 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:25.040 agencies in California, Texas, and Idaho. And 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:27.639 if you want to hear the full story from the founder, 00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:31.019 who he himself is a son of a firefighter, listen 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:36.259 to episode 1163 with Marcus Edwards. And if you 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:39.560 want to book a demo or learn more, go to stationwise 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:44.069 .com. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. 00:04:44.209 --> 00:04:46.110 As always, my name is James Gearing and this 00:04:46.110 --> 00:04:49.629 week I have an incredible episode for you. Andrew 00:04:49.629 --> 00:04:51.970 Douglas is one of my previous guests on episode 00:04:51.970 --> 00:04:56.550 989. He is a former firefighter paramedic and 00:04:56.550 --> 00:05:00.490 the founder of Ciento. Blake Richardson is the 00:05:00.490 --> 00:05:03.550 son of a firefighter and co -founder of the alert 00:05:03.550 --> 00:05:07.319 system EaseAlert. So in this conversation, we 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:10.060 take a deep dive into Blake's early life as a 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:13.220 son of a firefighter, how he decided to develop 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:15.740 a technology that would help his father's profession, 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:19.480 how Siento is not only a mental health app, but 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:22.959 uses AI to actually help peer support members 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.579 become better at these conversations, and so 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:29.639 much more. Now, before we get to this incredible 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:32.500 conversation, as I say every week, please just 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:35.399 take a moment. Go to whichever app you listen 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:39.019 to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:43.139 and leave a rating. Every single five star rating 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:46.399 truly does elevate this podcast, therefore making 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.100 it easier for others to find. And this is a free 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:53.639 library of almost twelve hundred episodes now. 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:57.620 So all I ask in return is that you help share 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:01.139 these incredible men and women stories so I can 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:04.399 get them to every single person on planet Earth 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.699 who needs to hear them. So with that being said, 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:11.930 I introduce to you. Andrew Douglas and Blake 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:34.550 Richardson. Enjoy. Andrew, I want to start by 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:36.970 saying welcome back onto the Behind the Shield 00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:39.110 podcast, and Blake, I want to welcome you onto 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:41.790 the show for the first time today. Thank you, 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:44.410 James. It's a pleasure to be part of it. Yeah, 00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:45.889 glad to be here, James. Good to see your face 00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:48.750 again. Likewise. Well, Andrew, where are we finding 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:51.410 you on planet Earth this afternoon? Well, I'm 00:06:51.410 --> 00:06:53.149 not in Costa Rica. It'd be a lot better if I 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:55.709 was there, but I'm here in Washington State. 00:06:55.850 --> 00:07:00.110 It's a nice gloomy day, and it's hopefully going 00:07:00.110 --> 00:07:02.370 to get sunny out later, but we'll see what happens. 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.139 Yeah, I hope you get there. What about you, Blake? 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:07.160 You're closer to me, aren't you? Yeah, that's 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:09.220 right. I'm over in Tampa Bay, Florida. A little 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:11.620 bit sunnier, a little bit muggier. Not quite 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:14.480 the seasons that you get up there, Andrew, but 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.560 it's nice down here. Absolutely. It's cooling 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:22.860 down now, thank God, a little bit. Yeah. All 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:24.800 right. Well, let's start with you, Blake. Andrew 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:27.819 and I did an episode a while ago now. I want 00:07:27.819 --> 00:07:29.300 to kind of get your backstory. I know you've 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:31.860 got an interesting first responder family dynamic. 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:34.670 and then we'll get to the technology that we're 00:07:34.670 --> 00:07:36.009 going to talk about today and then obviously 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:39.829 how what brings you two together so tell me where 00:07:39.829 --> 00:07:41.569 you were born and tell me a little bit about 00:07:41.569 --> 00:07:43.970 your family dynamic what your parents did how 00:07:43.970 --> 00:07:46.610 many siblings so i was actually born in the state 00:07:46.610 --> 00:07:49.709 of washington and my family is from there originally 00:07:49.709 --> 00:07:52.949 and so i have one younger brother he's two years 00:07:52.949 --> 00:07:56.870 younger than i am kyle and my parents grew up 00:07:56.870 --> 00:08:02.990 in the state of washington got their we've counted 00:08:02.990 --> 00:08:05.170 it many times the number keeps adding and adding 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:07.910 but i think there's maybe 11 or 12 teachers in 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:12.050 my first first immediate family um you know extended 00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:14.470 with cousins and aunts and uncles and so that 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:16.870 was part of the family heritage and then both 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:19.430 my parents decided to move to florida and it 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:22.269 was actually just let's go visit my uncle my 00:08:22.269 --> 00:08:25.670 mom's brother for six months and then that six 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:29.689 months turned into a full -time relocation and 00:08:29.689 --> 00:08:32.769 we've loved it so i grew up in florida We moved 00:08:32.769 --> 00:08:35.490 when I was four. And after moving to Florida, 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:37.129 my parents were kind of looking for what they 00:08:37.129 --> 00:08:40.250 could do for a profession. Teaching was kind 00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:42.830 of more difficult to come by, and maybe it wasn't 00:08:42.830 --> 00:08:44.350 something that they wanted to do for their whole 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:46.909 lives. And so my dad was doing some substitute 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:49.629 teaching up in Georgia. We moved to Florida, 00:08:49.750 --> 00:08:51.990 northeast tip of Florida. It's called Fernandina 00:08:51.990 --> 00:08:54.549 Beach, and it's right there on the border of 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:56.049 Florida and Georgia, the Florida -Georgia line. 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:59.820 Many know it as. And he was teaching substitute 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:02.720 for a little while. And then one day in Fernandina, 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:05.139 we went to the Kmart back when Kmarts were a 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:07.980 thing. And the local fire department was there 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.259 with the ladder truck. And so we went up, talked 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.279 to them and the guys there said, hey, you should 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:14.539 check this out as a career. You get every day 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:16.460 is a Friday. So you can kind of do whatever you 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:18.899 want on those other three days, those other two 00:09:18.899 --> 00:09:20.740 days, which I'm sure we'll talk about, James. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.299 But for him, it was pretty great because he wanted 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:25.659 to be around my brother and I. growing up. And 00:09:25.659 --> 00:09:27.879 we played baseball. So he got to come to all 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:29.519 of our baseball games. He'd drive the engine 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.779 over to the field and hang out. But it was a 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:33.940 great profession. So I got to grow up around 00:09:33.940 --> 00:09:37.159 it in the firehouse with the guys and gals who 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.659 were working there. And that was my first exposure 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:43.820 to the fire service. Every day should be a Friday, 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.279 not a Monday. And we will get to that. That's 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.120 right. Well done. All right. Well, what about 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.860 sports and exercise? What were you playing and 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:55.100 doing back then? I was a baseball player. My 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:58.379 lifelong dream was to be the shortstop for the 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:02.799 Texas Rangers. And there was a very narrow opportunity 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.620 of success there. And it didn't work out that 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:09.940 way. But I'm really grateful for the turns in 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:11.659 life that I've gotten me to this point. On the 00:10:11.659 --> 00:10:13.820 call with you two today. But it was all about 00:10:13.820 --> 00:10:16.960 baseball. I loved every sport, basketball, football. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:20.419 Football wasn't as good to me. I dislocated my 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:23.200 hip after about four weeks playing football when 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.860 I was 13. And so that wasn't the longest career, 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:28.740 but I ended up getting back into baseball and 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:32.960 that was it for me. I won't take too deep a dive 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.179 into it, but this is one of the kind of aha moments 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:37.559 I have when I came to the States is I kept meeting 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:41.259 guys in there, you know, like. mid to late 20s, 00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:44.059 early 30s, very deconditioned by that point. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.379 And they'd always have the same Uncle Rico story. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.399 I could have, would have, should have, if it 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.059 wasn't for my ACL, my whatever. And I was like, 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:52.779 what the fuck are they doing to their kids in 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:56.019 this country? And this is it. In some places, 00:10:56.019 --> 00:10:59.840 there's a very thin line between performance 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.259 and the longevity of the child. And a lot of 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:05.379 institutions cross that line and use the child 00:11:05.379 --> 00:11:06.799 to win a game. And then they're like, all right, 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.409 bye, thanks. And they forget that now you've 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:11.929 just either burnt a kid out on a sport and exercise, 00:11:12.289 --> 00:11:15.409 or you've given actual injuries where that's 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:17.490 why I think some of the reasons why we struggle 00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:20.330 with obesity in this country is we don't forge 00:11:20.330 --> 00:11:24.190 a love of movement. We create high level of performance 00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:27.990 and then kind of discard the athlete after. That's 00:11:27.990 --> 00:11:30.389 a really interesting perspective. And it's true, 00:11:30.429 --> 00:11:32.450 I think, in a lot of ways. But yeah, I will say 00:11:32.450 --> 00:11:34.129 I used to be able to throw a football a quarter 00:11:34.129 --> 00:11:36.590 mile, James. I promise you, just like a couple 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:40.019 of weeks ago. But it's true. I think that's an 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.679 interesting perspective. Yeah. I mean, it's just, 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.539 I mean, when are you talking to high level coaches 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:46.679 and they agree, then you're like, okay, it's 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:48.899 not just, you know, this bizarre perspective 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:50.679 that I have, this is actually a thing. And then 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:53.500 you get into the whole travel ball and these 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:55.679 sports clinics and, you know, kind of living 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.019 vicariously through your child instead of just 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:00.360 allowing them to play a load of sports. And then 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:02.980 obviously if they're just very, very good at 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:04.779 one, then yeah, then you can kind of help steer 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:07.850 them into. high level performance but you know 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:09.990 when you see in europe you know there's there's 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:12.669 more of just play in school and then you still 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:14.549 have these elite athletes that come out you know 00:12:14.549 --> 00:12:17.070 in the olympics and um you know soccer and all 00:12:17.070 --> 00:12:20.629 these other games so i think if you know if if 00:12:20.629 --> 00:12:23.029 we were if that system was the right way of doing 00:12:23.029 --> 00:12:25.409 it then america would win every sport but we 00:12:25.409 --> 00:12:30.539 don't so there's that right All right. What about 00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:33.159 career aspirations? So you mentioned about ride 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.879 -alongs, station visits, et cetera. Were you 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:37.840 dreaming of the fire service when you were younger 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:39.379 or was there already something else in your mind? 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.299 No, it was baseball. That was it. That was my 00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.279 profession, my dream. Day and night, that's what 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:50.139 it was. And I think the fire service was always 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.740 interesting to me. It was great for my family. 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.720 My dad was home whenever he could be. I also 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.629 saw the tolls that it took on him. And we can 00:12:58.629 --> 00:13:00.509 get into that in a little bit. But that was something 00:13:00.509 --> 00:13:02.669 that I definitely picked up on at a young age. 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:05.269 Like, it's not an easy job. It's never painted 00:13:05.269 --> 00:13:08.289 to be an easy job. It's not, period. It never 00:13:08.289 --> 00:13:11.429 will be. But that always kind of stood out in 00:13:11.429 --> 00:13:14.210 terms of the toll that it takes on you and hearing 00:13:14.210 --> 00:13:16.169 the tones and knowing what they have to do when 00:13:16.169 --> 00:13:19.450 they respond. But I was interested in it. I went 00:13:19.450 --> 00:13:22.769 to college and kind of in high school, early 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:25.029 college, I was thinking maybe that's something 00:13:25.029 --> 00:13:28.220 I do. I held on to the baseball dream way longer 00:13:28.220 --> 00:13:31.120 than I should have. But it was kind of, I guess, 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:32.659 mid -college, I realized, well, I don't really 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:34.700 have baseball as a professional route anymore. 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:38.259 What might it be? Fire service was on that list. 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:41.080 But it wasn't the only thing. For me, it was 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:44.200 kind of eyes open. Who can I meet? What kind 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:47.500 of relationships do I have? Can I build? And 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:49.259 where will that take me? And so I was just really 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:53.490 eyes open, seeing what was in front of me. Go 00:13:53.490 --> 00:13:57.070 reflecting back then to being the son of a firefighter, 00:13:57.070 --> 00:14:00.110 you know, what were the pros? What were the beautiful 00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:02.230 parts of your father's career that you enjoyed 00:14:02.230 --> 00:14:04.750 as a child? And then what was the other side 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:08.210 as well? Well, it's the coolest thing to be a 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:10.309 firefighter. You know, everybody looks at the 00:14:10.309 --> 00:14:12.629 firefighters and the engine driving down the 00:14:12.629 --> 00:14:14.850 street with the lights and sirens. That's that's 00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:18.830 really cool for anybody at any age. It definitely 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:21.080 catches your attention. and so i always looked 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.700 up to that and just the knowledge that you have 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:26.059 as a firefighter he's a paramedic so firefighter 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:27.639 paramedic now he's a battalion chief but at the 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.000 time firefighter paramedic you know a lot and 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.419 you're really capable as a person and you're 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.440 there for people when they need you to be when 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:38.500 when anybody raises a hand you can likely answer 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:40.779 that question because you get called to figure 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:43.559 anything and everything out and so i i always 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:45.720 looked up to that and still do i think it's a 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.980 really impressive skill set um Kind of the characteristics 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:52.799 that it takes to be that kind of person, I think 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.220 are awesome characteristics to embody. And the 00:14:56.220 --> 00:14:58.480 ability for him to come to the baseball games 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:01.620 and come home for a lunch or a dinner every once 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:03.940 in a while. You know, that's pretty cool to bring 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:06.299 the fire engine by. We had some incidents where 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.059 one time we had a fire in the house going and 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:12.539 forgot to open the flue. And so we had, you know, 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.240 smoke billowing and all that stuff. And he came 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.100 by with the fire engine. took the fan, blew it 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:20.000 all out, that sort of thing. That's cool to have 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.100 that ability to be there. We were in his first 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:27.299 due territory. And so I really enjoyed and appreciated, 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:31.700 revered all of those things about his job. And 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:33.240 the things that I kind of referred to earlier 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:37.320 were he'd come off work 8 a .m. every third day 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:42.179 or more often with overtime. And you could tell 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:44.659 it's been a long night. He's been out three or 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:48.750 four times. you know, dangerous calls, you know, 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:51.809 taxing calls. And you can see the toll that it 00:15:51.809 --> 00:15:54.409 takes on him as a person and it would on anybody. 00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:55.889 So those are the things that kind of stood out 00:15:55.889 --> 00:15:57.789 to me. And then being at the firehouse, hearing 00:15:57.789 --> 00:16:00.090 the tones drop and just thinking like, man, I 00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:02.690 feel that. And I'm not even going on this call. 00:16:03.269 --> 00:16:05.490 You have to listen to that all day, every day. 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:07.730 And you don't know when it's coming. And it could 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:09.429 happen 10 times. It could happen zero times. 00:16:10.129 --> 00:16:11.830 That to me, those are the things that kind of 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:14.250 stood out as that's a challenging profession. 00:16:16.449 --> 00:16:18.370 It's funny you made the comment earlier about, 00:16:18.509 --> 00:16:20.590 you know, people think it's an easy job. It's 00:16:20.590 --> 00:16:23.169 not an easy job. For some reason, it popped in 00:16:23.169 --> 00:16:26.870 my head. I don't know what it is about our profession, 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:29.929 but everyone focuses on when we're not running 00:16:29.929 --> 00:16:32.610 a call. So like, oh, they sit on the lazy boy. 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:34.529 Oh, they have lunch together. Oh, they get to 00:16:34.529 --> 00:16:36.830 work out. And I'm like, well, where's that in 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:38.950 the deadliest catch? Where's everyone go? Oh, 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:40.889 yeah, but they got to have tea and in the boat. 00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:43.370 They're lucky. It must be easy to be a crab fisherman. 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:46.259 No other profession does that. But in the fire 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:48.419 service, for some reason, they always focus on 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:50.960 the little moments we have between calls rather 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:55.279 than 24 hours in a meat grinder. Yeah, I don't 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.840 get it. And it might have to do with the local 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.360 community feeling like they're owed taxpayer 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.220 dollars. We're giving you a job. Well, yeah, 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:04.680 your taxpayer dollars are going to make sure 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:06.460 your house doesn't burn down. They're going to 00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:08.319 make sure that when you have a double compound 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.059 fracture that the fire department is there or 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:14.230 whatever it is. They're there. And I think people 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:16.170 don't think about that because what's the, I 00:17:16.170 --> 00:17:17.950 mean, I don't know the exact percentage, but 00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:19.470 do you know off the top of your head kind of 00:17:19.470 --> 00:17:21.809 how often or what percentage of people actually 00:17:21.809 --> 00:17:24.630 call 911? I mean, it's not much of the population. 00:17:25.710 --> 00:17:28.170 No, no. I mean, if you go over their entire lifetime, 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:30.390 obviously it's going to be more, but I forget, 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:32.990 you know, in a year it is, I think, single digits. 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:35.650 So, you know, it's like that, you know, 80 -20 00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:38.089 rule kind of thing. Sure. Yeah. Call it 80 % 00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:40.329 conservatively. We'll never see the fire department, 00:17:40.509 --> 00:17:42.490 which is a good thing. But they're like, well, 00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:44.049 what am I paying for? Well, you're paying for 00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:46.190 the fact that they will be there in five minutes 00:17:46.190 --> 00:17:48.990 or less, no matter what is happening, no matter 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:51.789 what time it is. So yeah, people overlook that 00:17:51.789 --> 00:17:55.210 if things go on well for them. Yeah. But also 00:17:55.210 --> 00:17:59.450 the fact that when those people arrive, the level 00:17:59.450 --> 00:18:01.009 of training that they've had to put themselves 00:18:01.009 --> 00:18:03.109 through, arguably many of them taking vacation 00:18:03.109 --> 00:18:05.789 days and paid out of their own pocket for a lot 00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:07.589 of those classes, you know, which you don't see 00:18:07.589 --> 00:18:10.190 in many other professions. Well, before we kind 00:18:10.190 --> 00:18:12.589 of take a dive into the turn that your career 00:18:12.589 --> 00:18:15.849 took, Andrew, let's kind of go back and do kind 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:18.210 of overview. So for people listening that haven't 00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:20.750 heard the first conversation yet, give us an 00:18:20.750 --> 00:18:23.789 overview of your career in this profession, in 00:18:23.789 --> 00:18:27.690 the first responder profession. Yeah, I started 00:18:27.690 --> 00:18:30.299 my. career out in Washington State, similar to 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:33.980 where Blake comes from. And, you know, I always 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:36.420 wanted to be a firefighter ever since I was in 00:18:36.420 --> 00:18:38.420 kindergarten, going to the fire station and putting 00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:40.259 on gear. I was like, this is what I'm going to 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:44.660 do with my life. And so I kind of, I guess you 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:48.599 could say, went into a period of what am I going 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.640 to do with my life? And I, in ninth grade, had 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.700 the opportunity to do a ride along for, you know, 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:58.220 career day. and i instantly fell in love with 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:01.500 the fire service because i'll be open and vulnerable 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:04.400 about this but i was seeking um father figure 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.799 and family in the fire service and that gave 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:09.819 what i was looking for and so i was like this 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:13.640 is amazing but unlike any toxic relationship 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:17.980 right the chaos is not does doesn't need to be 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:21.960 there right so you know got my career as a firefighter 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.829 and a paramedic and ultimately you know I didn't 00:19:25.829 --> 00:19:28.130 take care of myself. I suppressed all my feelings 00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:31.130 and my emotions. And ultimately, it led to a 00:19:31.130 --> 00:19:38.490 suicide attempt and a complete change of my life, 00:19:38.549 --> 00:19:42.609 complete direction of my life. And I'm really 00:19:42.609 --> 00:19:44.509 grateful that I'm here today. I miss the job. 00:19:45.069 --> 00:19:47.829 Actually, I don't miss the job. I miss the people 00:19:47.829 --> 00:19:53.710 in the coffee table. the competition and playing 00:19:53.710 --> 00:19:56.109 pickleball and those kinds of things. Like that's 00:19:56.109 --> 00:19:59.650 what I miss the most about the job. I definitely 00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:01.910 don't miss working in Lakewood and being up all 00:20:01.910 --> 00:20:05.049 night. And I know we're probably going to talk 00:20:05.049 --> 00:20:06.950 about sleep, but that was a huge thing for me 00:20:06.950 --> 00:20:09.930 too. Once I left the fire service, like I didn't 00:20:09.930 --> 00:20:12.410 realize how sleep deprived I was and how sick 00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:16.730 I truly was. And, you know, it's been a journey 00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:21.150 and here we are today. So how many years did 00:20:21.150 --> 00:20:25.369 you have total actually on the line? On career, 00:20:25.509 --> 00:20:28.430 I had nine years. And then I started as a volunteer 00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:32.829 in 2005. And then I went to medic school in 2011. 00:20:34.549 --> 00:20:37.369 Brilliant. So when you were in these stations, 00:20:37.450 --> 00:20:40.190 plural, what kind of alerting systems did they 00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:43.589 have back then? Yeah, well, that's I mean, shoot, 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:45.690 that's when I when I saw what Blake was doing, 00:20:45.750 --> 00:20:48.640 I got I got excited because. you know we had 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.880 the old school red lights come on the you know 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:56.220 the truck is running another call in the middle 00:20:56.220 --> 00:20:59.079 of the night and i'm getting woken up right it 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:06.019 was brutal you know being at my station you know 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:08.660 we typically didn't it seemed like every night 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:10.539 we started running calls at 6 p .m and i slept 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:17.119 all day um it just got exhausting because either 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.799 you're going to hear it in the next room or it's 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:21.680 going to come on in your room, you know, these 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:23.759 calls and it just, it just totally drains you. 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.279 Was it one of those as well, where even, even 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:30.059 if it's a different rig, it's waking up the whole 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:33.759 station every time. Yep. And in my first apartment, 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:36.259 it was the whole fucking County. It was a small, 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:37.940 it was a small department. I'm like, why are 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:41.000 we, why are we listening? I don't care what Shelton's 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.220 doing, you know, like I want to sleep. So it 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:45.740 was just like our policy that, you know, you 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:48.579 had, um the alerting system we did change systems 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:53.019 though um but it was still you got woke up by 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:55.200 your department so instead of being woken up 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.500 by the county you now got woken up by your department 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:01.599 but it was still pretty crap when i went to my 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.200 first department hire leah it was the old you 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:06.039 know wake everyone up scare the hell out of you 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:10.619 and then when i went to anaheim The first station 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.440 I was assigned to, they had not individual dorms, 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.440 but they had the little cubbies, the little compartments 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:19.880 within the communal dorm. But they had that alerting 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:22.000 system where you could actually punch in what 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.059 rig you were in. And you sat kind of rig appropriate. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.799 And after a while, you got used to it. You really 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:29.599 did. There was an LED strip that would kind of 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.779 give you the visual stimulus. And then you had 00:22:31.779 --> 00:22:35.880 a tone that you could set higher or lower. the 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:37.680 rest of the you know the the bunk room if they 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.980 didn't have a call if they had a call you know 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:42.140 they'd be pretty good the next morning and they'd 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:44.279 say you know how'd you guys do and then you know 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:46.180 whichever rig got murdered that night would look 00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:48.619 at them with this disdain and be like we had 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:52.319 four you guys slept through so i saw you know 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.119 an element of oh you can actually you know be 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.539 intelligent with alerting systems so that you're 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:01.180 not waking everyone up well then i next the next 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:04.240 two i went to again It was back to the old way 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.980 on the East Coast. And one, the last one I worked 00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:09.680 for, I even brought to them the Anaheim system. 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:14.420 And their communications chief at the time was 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:16.180 like, this is a really good idea. Let's do this. 00:23:16.539 --> 00:23:19.019 And then they fired him. And then the administration 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:21.539 said, actually, no, we're going to wake up the 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:24.519 whole bunk room and put a monitor in the bunk 00:23:24.519 --> 00:23:27.180 room so they can see where the call is. So now 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:29.619 you've got everyone woken up and an LED screen 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:33.259 that's now. illuminating the whole dorm. So I've 00:23:33.259 --> 00:23:36.779 seen this to and fro. And really, I mean, if 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:38.420 we're being completely blunt and honest, it's 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:41.660 about egos and administration to actually want 00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:46.339 to change. So with Andrew's perspective and mine 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.599 now in four fire departments, let's go back to 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:53.759 you, Blake. So what made you even kind of think 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.339 about firefighter alerting systems? And then 00:23:56.339 --> 00:23:58.480 let's talk about the wearables that you've developed. 00:23:59.659 --> 00:24:02.279 Yeah, I mean, the first thoughts were around 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:04.420 hearing those tones. So you're out there for 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:06.880 Thanksgiving meal or just hanging out for breakfast 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.599 and you hear the tones. And like I described, 00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:12.259 I'd feel that in my heart where it's like, oh, 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:14.799 OK, there's something going on here. And it might 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.779 even be the other station or the other department 00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:20.509 in the same county, to Andrew's point. It really 00:24:20.509 --> 00:24:22.329 doesn't matter what the call is. You're going 00:24:22.329 --> 00:24:24.470 to feel that alert. And so that was the initial 00:24:24.470 --> 00:24:26.349 reasoning around like, man, there's got to be 00:24:26.349 --> 00:24:28.769 a better way to do this. I see my dad coming 00:24:28.769 --> 00:24:32.089 off a shift and he's beat down. And I see or 00:24:32.089 --> 00:24:34.650 I feel the tones when I'm there at the firehouse. 00:24:34.670 --> 00:24:36.650 And that doesn't feel good. Like, what if we 00:24:36.650 --> 00:24:40.269 didn't have to have a blast, an audible blast 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:42.730 that scares the hell out of you? And so that 00:24:42.730 --> 00:24:44.910 was the initial idea is replace that audible 00:24:44.910 --> 00:24:48.599 blast with a tactile or vibration alert. And 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.839 that was back a long time ago, way before I started 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:53.339 the company. I was just mentioning that to my 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.519 mom in the living room before school one day 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:59.319 and didn't do anything with it at that time. 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:02.140 But then later in college, I pitched that idea 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:04.700 again. And it was an entrepreneurship course. 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:06.859 I pitched several ideas. All the ideas were bad, 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:09.579 real bad, except for this one. And fortunately, 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.500 they gave me a third try. I was the only student 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:14.299 they let get multiple trials. I was like, give 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:16.240 me one more, give me one more. And I was afraid 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.880 to share this. idea because I didn't want someone 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:21.160 to steal the idea. It was naive of me to think, 00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:23.019 oh, if I tell this idea, everybody's going to 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:24.900 know it's the greatest idea since sliced bread 00:25:24.900 --> 00:25:26.160 and they're going to steal it and I'll get no 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:28.839 credit. Well, that's wrong. You need people around 00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:30.480 you to support you and you need to get it out 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.720 and get feedback on it. But that was the initial 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:35.400 step there and went straight to the local fire 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.579 department as part of the class. That's what 00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:39.599 college was great for. For me, it was I took 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:41.359 this class and I was required to build a business 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.740 model around this idea. Otherwise, I would have 00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:46.380 sat there and not done anything with it. and 00:25:46.380 --> 00:25:49.140 talked to the fire chief and his health and wellness 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:52.779 leader was there. So he had tasked a firefighter. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.599 It was early on in kind of the health and wellness 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:56.680 initiatives in the state of Florida. And he had 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:58.900 just come back from a conference that week. He's 00:25:58.900 --> 00:26:00.519 like, oh, man, this is a real problem. I know 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:03.599 this. Actually, if you could develop this, that 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:06.880 would be really interesting. And so it was the 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.640 right people at the right time. So many steps 00:26:09.640 --> 00:26:11.440 along the way where it could have bounced a different 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.480 way. And I wouldn't. Wouldn't know you guys, 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:15.660 wouldn't be talking about EaseAlert. EaseAlert 00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:19.519 wouldn't exist. But today, EaseAlert is now a 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:23.400 fully wireless alerting system. And it does the 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:24.940 same exact thing that a fire station alerting 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:27.339 system would. But we call it a firefighter alerting 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:29.799 system because it takes what traditionally goes 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.920 to a building and has wired in components to 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:35.960 alert a station and delivers that alert directly 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:39.259 to the firefighter or the responder. And so those 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:41.559 devices are all wireless. We have what we call 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:43.579 TAC pods. They go on your wrist. They vibrate. 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:46.700 We have a bunk alert. It goes in your bunk as 00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:49.539 a vibration motor. We have visalerts, which are 00:26:49.539 --> 00:26:53.940 red LEDs, LED strips, display boards, dispatch 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:56.380 consoles, the whole thing. But it all stemmed 00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:57.920 from that idea of there's got to be a better 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:01.619 way to notify people than that blast of those 00:27:01.619 --> 00:27:05.700 audible tones. Well, before, when we were talking 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:08.559 a few months ago now, I was thinking about, well, 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:10.799 how does a parent wake their child? They don't 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:13.700 just pull the door open and scream at their three 00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:16.480 -year -old, hey, wake up! You kind of gently 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:19.720 rock them, and then they slowly wake up. Versus 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:21.720 if you screamed at them, they'd... sit up, you 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:23.299 know, immediately and their heart would be out 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:26.019 their mouth. So it does make a lot of sense to 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:28.440 me. And again, working on that individual dorm 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:31.920 thing, it just makes no sense whatsoever to wake 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:34.299 anyone up who doesn't need to be there. And this 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:36.779 is where I think sadly, ego comes into the fire 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:38.880 service, you have a battalion chief, I need to 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:40.660 listen to my crew and see what they're up to. 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:43.210 No, you don't go to fucking bed. they're big 00:27:43.210 --> 00:27:45.109 boys and girls you know if they need you they'll 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:47.789 call you you're not that bloody important so 00:27:47.789 --> 00:27:49.829 get some sleep so you're not an asshole when 00:27:49.829 --> 00:27:52.910 you do wake up you know it's just so fundamentally 00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:56.309 you know obvious but again the fire service the 00:27:56.309 --> 00:28:00.609 way we've always done it so um talk to me then 00:28:00.609 --> 00:28:02.750 about the efficacy as you started developing 00:28:02.750 --> 00:28:06.099 this product What were you seeing as far as results 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:09.319 compared to that zero to 100, you know, lights 00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:11.380 and sirens, you know, heart rate goes through 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:14.160 the roof that we're all used to? Well, that was 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.299 the big thing for us when we realized that it's 00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:18.779 not just healthier and less startling, but it's 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:21.880 more effective than a traditional audible learning 00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:25.160 system alone. And what we found is that touch 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:28.339 or tactile is a more effective way to notify 00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:30.759 somebody. Just like you said, when you want to 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:32.849 get somebody's attention. You can yell at them 00:28:32.849 --> 00:28:35.369 and they'll probably turn around. But if they're 00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:38.329 sleeping, they may not wake up. Some people sleep 00:28:38.329 --> 00:28:40.130 through those tones, especially after a long 00:28:40.130 --> 00:28:42.670 day. You can sleep through an audible tone. But 00:28:42.670 --> 00:28:44.470 if someone comes and taps you on the shoulder, 00:28:44.630 --> 00:28:47.269 you're not going to sleep through that. And even 00:28:47.269 --> 00:28:48.609 if someone sleeps through the tone, what do you 00:28:48.609 --> 00:28:50.529 do? You kick their bed or you shake them because 00:28:50.529 --> 00:28:52.890 you need that touch. And that's your body's way 00:28:52.890 --> 00:28:55.329 of saying there is something or someone here, 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:58.089 like right here, that needs my attention. I need 00:28:58.089 --> 00:29:00.880 to respond to that. And so it's more effective 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:04.200 than the audible notifications are. And that 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:06.660 for us was a big light bulb. So we got to know 00:29:06.660 --> 00:29:09.059 that when we're alerting emergency responders, 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:11.740 it has to work every time. It has to be simple. 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.880 It has to be effective. And the goal in getting 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:16.920 you out the door, actually, we help get you out 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:19.180 the door faster. It's not about slowing things 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:22.140 down or putting soft edges on things. putting 00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:24.220 foam around or bubble wrapping. It's not that. 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:26.819 The job is still dangerous and it is stressful 00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:29.940 and it's a challenge. But what we do is eliminate 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:32.640 the unnecessary challenges and improve your capabilities 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.059 as you're getting out the door. So you talked 00:29:35.059 --> 00:29:37.519 about understanding the efficacy around it. That's 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:39.500 where we started with knowing, okay, this is 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:42.299 a real problem. We know this. The science says 00:29:42.299 --> 00:29:44.640 firefighters, the leading cause of on -duty death 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.589 is a heart attack. And firefighters are up to 00:29:47.589 --> 00:29:50.049 14 times more likely to die of a heart attack 00:29:50.049 --> 00:29:52.230 during an alarm response than non -emergency 00:29:52.230 --> 00:29:54.829 duties. And so those two pieces of information 00:29:54.829 --> 00:29:57.170 helped us realize, okay, this is a real problem 00:29:57.170 --> 00:29:59.849 here. And we know that cardiovascular risk is 00:29:59.849 --> 00:30:01.950 increased with the fight or flight response, 00:30:02.150 --> 00:30:04.829 the repeated fight or flight response. Your arteries 00:30:04.829 --> 00:30:07.009 become inflamed, increases your risk of heart 00:30:07.009 --> 00:30:09.309 attack and stroke. So those are all scientific 00:30:09.309 --> 00:30:12.049 facts. And now we get into understanding the 00:30:12.049 --> 00:30:14.220 solution. so we read all those papers and started 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:16.180 reaching out to the researchers who published 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.759 those papers some really great researchers i'm 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:20.960 sure you know a lot of them but sarah janky denise 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:24.420 smith stefanos kales joel billings the the researchers 00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:26.220 now who we're looking to in the fire service 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:28.420 for health and safety every single one of them 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:31.079 believe it or not responded and every one of 00:30:31.079 --> 00:30:32.740 them said i think you're onto something here 00:30:32.740 --> 00:30:36.240 let's put together a paper or a research study 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:40.240 and we submitted an application and the nih funded 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:43.150 a clinical study which uh can dive into in more 00:30:43.150 --> 00:30:45.450 detail but that was the kind of proof around 00:30:45.450 --> 00:30:48.769 the efficacy around the system well let's dive 00:30:48.769 --> 00:30:51.569 into that now what were the results yeah so we 00:30:51.569 --> 00:30:54.670 measured their subjective health ratings compared 00:30:54.670 --> 00:30:57.890 to the traditional learning system so the the 00:30:57.890 --> 00:31:01.089 big thing was here tell us how the your self 00:31:01.089 --> 00:31:03.690 -reported health on the traditional alarm versus 00:31:03.690 --> 00:31:06.599 the tactile alert And it was a study conducted 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:09.859 in the Midwest. Dr. Sarah Janke and Dr. Joel 00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:12.539 Billings were kind of leading it from Joel Billings 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:14.140 is with Embry -Riddle Aeronautical University 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:16.519 in Daytona, but he's based out of Stillwater, 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.900 home of the Oklahoma State Fire College. And 00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:21.880 then Dr. Janke is out of Kansas City, Missouri, 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:24.039 with the Center for Fire Rescue and EMS Health 00:31:24.039 --> 00:31:26.819 Research. So they were the research teams around 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:30.599 it. And the NIH said, OK, here's the money. EaseAlert 00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:33.079 provided the technology. Those two groups do 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.220 the research. And there were two fire departments 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:37.079 that raised their hand, the Stillwater Fire Department 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:39.960 in Oklahoma and the Central Jackson County Fire 00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:42.779 Protection District in Missouri. So we got 48 00:31:42.779 --> 00:31:46.500 total participants across five stations between 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:49.900 the two departments and did a full pre -post 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:52.279 study looking at both objective and subjective 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:56.819 data, heart rate monitors, accelerometers, IRB 00:31:56.819 --> 00:31:59.839 approved subjective surveys, you know, the whole 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:03.359 gamut. So the data around it was we saw that. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:05.519 With the traditional alerting system, so like 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:07.160 the Klaxon belt, that's what they had at one 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:09.539 of the departments, we saw an improvement of 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:14.180 388 % on the self -reported health ratings of 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:17.299 the traditional audible compared to the EaseAlert 00:32:17.299 --> 00:32:19.559 tactile. And then when you combine the two, because 00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:20.960 the other department had a ramp -up audible, 00:32:21.099 --> 00:32:23.779 which you guys, I think you both said you had 00:32:23.779 --> 00:32:25.859 experience with, right? Yes. Where it goes from 00:32:25.859 --> 00:32:29.019 quiet to loud. And even when you conglomerated 00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:31.319 the two, you put both of those. results together 00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:35.039 from all 48 firefighters it was still 169 improvement 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:38.940 in the self -reported health ratings and then 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:41.660 even more than that we we asked what is your 00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:44.400 agree or disagree with this statement and it 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:47.319 was easeler is less startling than the traditional 00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:50.119 learning system and you guys know anybody listening 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:51.980 to this podcast is getting firefighters to agree 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:55.880 on anything is a challenge you know like what's 00:32:55.880 --> 00:32:59.140 for dinner what color are the new t -shirts Anything 00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:03.180 is a challenge. And we got 95 % of those respondents 00:33:03.180 --> 00:33:06.579 to agree or strongly agree that it is less startling. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:08.960 And then we asked, how does it affect your response 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:12.539 capabilities? And 90 % agreed or strongly agreed 00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:14.160 that it improves their response capabilities. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.299 So we're going back now to get some more of the 00:33:17.299 --> 00:33:20.880 objective data. We saw some pretty drastic reductions 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:25.190 in that heart delta for some respondents. Other 00:33:25.190 --> 00:33:27.650 respondents, we had a little bit of a mixed bag 00:33:27.650 --> 00:33:30.130 with that. We think it had to do with the equipment 00:33:30.130 --> 00:33:33.849 itself. So we're going back to a full clinical 00:33:33.849 --> 00:33:36.190 trial right now. We just submitted the application 00:33:36.190 --> 00:33:38.150 last week. So fingers crossed, we'll have more 00:33:38.150 --> 00:33:40.829 to share. Who knows? That's going to be five 00:33:40.829 --> 00:33:43.250 years down the road. But we'll get that data 00:33:43.250 --> 00:33:46.930 and excited to continue on that path. Beautiful. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:49.799 Well, Andrew, you mentioned about transitioning 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:52.140 out the fire service. You ended up creating something 00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:55.359 amazing with Siento as well. So before, again, 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:57.400 we talk about the relationship between the two. 00:33:57.779 --> 00:34:00.420 Talk to me about, you know, what made you create 00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:04.500 that and for people listening what it is. Yeah, 00:34:04.539 --> 00:34:07.160 I mean, you know, I kind of talked earlier about 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:09.980 my moment of crisis when I had a suicide attempt. 00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:15.019 And at that moment, I. didn't really have anything 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:19.780 to turn to we had a peer support team um dave 00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:23.880 my brother he uh blessed me by being by my side 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:26.360 within like the first 10 minutes of that event 00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:29.300 happening and um you know part of that was just 00:34:29.300 --> 00:34:31.719 this stigma of like i i was convinced like i'm 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:34.420 losing my job everybody's gonna think i'm crazy 00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:37.989 you know nobody's gonna want to talk to me Well, 00:34:38.050 --> 00:34:39.949 there were some of those people, let's just be 00:34:39.949 --> 00:34:41.710 honest. And that's kind of like we're trying 00:34:41.710 --> 00:34:44.210 to solve, right, at Ciento. But ultimately, you 00:34:44.210 --> 00:34:46.489 know, I wanted to build something that I wish 00:34:46.489 --> 00:34:50.130 I had when the system failed me. And when I came 00:34:50.130 --> 00:34:53.130 up with the idea, initially, we recognized that 00:34:53.130 --> 00:34:55.489 there's some other solutions that are already 00:34:55.489 --> 00:34:59.190 being at play in the fire service. You know, 00:34:59.210 --> 00:35:02.489 where are they going wrong? And what aren't they 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:05.699 solving, right? because it's just a ban i think 00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:08.460 we all know like in the fire service we do like 00:35:08.460 --> 00:35:10.179 to put band -aids on things and it comes down 00:35:10.179 --> 00:35:12.860 to ego james again right is that we're not willing 00:35:12.860 --> 00:35:15.579 to look in the mirror and and be open to change 00:35:15.579 --> 00:35:18.880 um but the thing that really stood out with me 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:20.639 the most like during that experience and when 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:24.199 we start siento and hearing how you know peer 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:26.960 support is so important to every agency is like 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:30.199 okay how do we connect people at a push of a 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:33.079 button but do it anonymously so you don't have 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:36.320 to worry about that stigma of you reaching out 00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:40.920 for help um you know is okay it's it's totally 00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:43.139 okay and i hate i hate the saying like it's okay 00:35:43.139 --> 00:35:47.199 to not be okay to be honest like we all suffer 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:50.460 every human being suffers everybody we're walking 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:54.480 next to is suffering so if we can hold space 00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:57.380 for somebody and you know that's why we just 00:35:57.380 --> 00:35:59.320 launched something called siento sim which essentially 00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:02.480 helps people like practice having those difficult 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:04.619 conversations and getting repetition talking 00:36:04.619 --> 00:36:07.820 about suicide relationship issues death dying 00:36:07.820 --> 00:36:10.400 i mean these are things that so many people are 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:13.519 afraid to have a conversation about and so you 00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:17.300 know my mission is like how do we make human 00:36:17.300 --> 00:36:20.780 connection instantaneous and how do we get people 00:36:20.780 --> 00:36:23.679 to start talking about the problems and the challenges 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:26.000 our families and our firefighters are facing 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:29.179 across the united states and so yeah it's been 00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:33.539 a interesting journey as blake is my we we definitely 00:36:33.539 --> 00:36:36.320 support each other which is awesome um it's a 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:41.000 really lonely journey um at the same time the 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:43.400 job anybody that's watching this like if you're 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:45.099 a firefighter and you're like i want to start 00:36:45.099 --> 00:36:46.900 a business or i'm thinking about starting a business 00:36:47.869 --> 00:36:51.269 Fucking go do it today. Just do it. Don't care 00:36:51.269 --> 00:36:53.550 about what anybody else thinks. Like Blake's 00:36:53.550 --> 00:36:55.409 saying, you think your idea is great. Your idea 00:36:55.409 --> 00:36:58.230 doesn't mean anything until you execute it. It 00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:01.369 all comes down to execution. And you can have 00:37:01.369 --> 00:37:05.349 nothing. I started my company. I lost everything. 00:37:05.809 --> 00:37:10.269 I went through another crisis moment and ultimately 00:37:10.269 --> 00:37:14.670 my wife took my kids away and I had $73 in my 00:37:14.670 --> 00:37:19.860 name. I just had faith and belief in myself that, 00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:22.739 you know, we can't this, what I'm trying to build 00:37:22.739 --> 00:37:25.400 is a thing and nobody believed me for the longest 00:37:25.400 --> 00:37:28.300 time, but I didn't quit. And so if you're thinking 00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:32.380 about starting a job, just a new career, or you 00:37:32.380 --> 00:37:35.280 want to start a business, I just do it. Don't, 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:37.460 don't let anybody hold you back. You're the only 00:37:37.460 --> 00:37:39.619 person that's holding you back from, from success. 00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:42.440 So yeah, it's been a fun journey and I'm super 00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:45.610 pumped. kind of share what Blake and I are up 00:37:45.610 --> 00:37:48.769 to and how we can support firefighters together. 00:37:50.210 --> 00:37:53.989 I just saw an Instagram video from Steven Pressfield, 00:37:54.230 --> 00:37:57.030 the author, and I love his work. I think he's 00:37:57.030 --> 00:38:00.150 so spot on. And in this writing journey that 00:38:00.150 --> 00:38:01.969 I've been on, I definitely heed a lot of his 00:38:01.969 --> 00:38:04.449 advice. And I think he was responding to a question 00:38:04.449 --> 00:38:06.829 he gets a lot, which is, well, what about competition? 00:38:07.429 --> 00:38:11.329 And he goes, 99 .9 % of people are going to give 00:38:11.329 --> 00:38:14.500 up. And it's funny because when you're talking 00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:16.860 about the businesses that you've created, I was 00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:19.659 thinking even just talking about the 2472 in 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:22.719 the fire service. You talk about an island. I 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:25.360 was on an island for a long, long time getting 00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:28.159 laughed at, getting ridiculed. And I knew it 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:30.280 was the truth. I knew that it was the solution. 00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:32.539 It was the biggest herd of elephants in the room. 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:34.219 And just like the two of you, when you've got 00:38:34.219 --> 00:38:36.860 something that you know needs to be out there, 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:39.500 then it doesn't matter. You get knocked down, 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.000 you just dust yourself off again. But yeah, I 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:44.099 mean, if the first time you get knocked down, 00:38:44.139 --> 00:38:45.380 you're like, I'm going to do something else. 00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:47.219 And obviously it wasn't really burning in your 00:38:47.219 --> 00:38:49.860 heart. But I couldn't agree more with both of 00:38:49.860 --> 00:38:53.500 you. If that thing is there, you know, then I 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:55.539 think you're not driven by the money, you're 00:38:55.539 --> 00:38:57.139 driven by the mission. And hopefully for all 00:38:57.139 --> 00:38:59.699 three of us, we'll be able to see some financial 00:38:59.699 --> 00:39:03.090 gain at some point from this. But yeah, I couldn't 00:39:03.090 --> 00:39:06.030 agree more. This is what's exciting about entrepreneurship 00:39:06.030 --> 00:39:08.909 in the first responder professions and why we 00:39:08.909 --> 00:39:11.409 shouldn't be relying on overtime as the be all 00:39:11.409 --> 00:39:14.570 and end all for our income is that the skills 00:39:14.570 --> 00:39:16.289 that we have, whether you're an actual first 00:39:16.289 --> 00:39:18.070 responder, whether you're a son of a first responder, 00:39:18.329 --> 00:39:22.769 you can forge another entire area where you're 00:39:22.769 --> 00:39:24.889 also making the world better, even if you're 00:39:24.889 --> 00:39:28.429 not wearing a uniform anymore. Yeah, without 00:39:28.429 --> 00:39:32.809 a doubt. Yeah, I think too, you bring up competition. 00:39:33.090 --> 00:39:36.289 We talk about competition. I like to win. I'm 00:39:36.289 --> 00:39:38.570 a winner. I'm a firefighter, right? I'm competitive. 00:39:39.469 --> 00:39:42.309 And it's been really interesting to see transitioning 00:39:42.309 --> 00:39:45.610 from the fire service where it's more team -led 00:39:45.610 --> 00:39:48.949 environment to an eat -your -own environment 00:39:48.949 --> 00:39:52.070 has been a very different experience for me. 00:39:53.250 --> 00:39:57.289 But what's really exciting is competition drives 00:39:57.289 --> 00:40:00.320 innovation. That is what competition is about. 00:40:00.539 --> 00:40:03.280 So if you can out -innovate me and out -execute 00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:07.780 me, go for it. But I mean, our team is ready 00:40:07.780 --> 00:40:10.260 to innovate. And that's why Blake and I are working 00:40:10.260 --> 00:40:13.739 together because we believe in people first. 00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:16.500 I think with everything that's going on in the 00:40:16.500 --> 00:40:21.840 world right now, we have an opportunity to choose 00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:25.119 love. and choose people first over money over 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:27.880 anything else because at the end of the day like 00:40:27.880 --> 00:40:30.340 that's what matters like your job doesn't matter 00:40:30.340 --> 00:40:32.639 your house doesn't matter it's the people in 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:35.679 the community around you that truly matters and 00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:38.920 and so you know i heard not too long ago like 00:40:38.920 --> 00:40:42.019 this saying that really stuck with me and and 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:44.639 i'll always remember it but it's comparing like 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:48.039 what a buffalo and a cow do in a storm right 00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:51.650 like buffaloes run into the storm and through 00:40:51.650 --> 00:40:54.630 the storm and as hard as that is and difficult 00:40:54.630 --> 00:40:57.849 as it is if you fight through that fear if you 00:40:57.849 --> 00:41:00.369 fight through that feeling that you have i can't 00:41:00.369 --> 00:41:02.989 do this you're going to get out the other side 00:41:02.989 --> 00:41:05.369 a lot quicker than the person who runs away so 00:41:05.369 --> 00:41:08.090 i think as a fire service in general when it 00:41:08.090 --> 00:41:10.150 comes to wellness and it's not just mental health 00:41:10.150 --> 00:41:15.170 it's whole body wellness um we need to start 00:41:15.170 --> 00:41:18.659 running into that storm together and really start 00:41:18.659 --> 00:41:21.760 making changes and not checking boxes anymore 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.820 i think you talk about leadership and ego and 00:41:24.820 --> 00:41:27.639 you know it's just a check of the box when it 00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:29.340 comes to wellness it's getting better but it's 00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:33.579 still a check of the box winston churchill said 00:41:33.579 --> 00:41:36.699 if you're going through hell keep going it's 00:41:36.699 --> 00:41:38.960 the same exact thing you know what i mean i think 00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.159 this is what we need i talk about courage or 00:41:41.159 --> 00:41:44.139 cowardice a lot and i think just to kind of touch 00:41:44.139 --> 00:41:46.320 on what you're alluding to andrew because as 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:49.460 we're sitting here now on 9 12 which arguably 00:41:49.460 --> 00:41:52.559 is the day that we all came together together 00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:54.599 as a nation today i released my book deliberately 00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:57.599 because it was such a pertinent day there is 00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:00.199 so much divisive rhetoric going out there but 00:42:00.199 --> 00:42:04.300 that's the cowardice 100 if your message is oh 00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:06.860 we all hate each other then you're a coward because 00:42:07.420 --> 00:42:09.179 Someone with courage is someone who's going to 00:42:09.179 --> 00:42:11.199 pull everyone together, even if there are differences, 00:42:11.340 --> 00:42:14.500 even if there are difficult conversations, even 00:42:14.500 --> 00:42:16.719 if there are traumas in the past that we've got 00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:19.639 to forgive and move on. That, I think, is this 00:42:19.639 --> 00:42:21.559 conversation. And what both of you are doing 00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:22.980 with your products and what I'm trying to do 00:42:22.980 --> 00:42:26.719 with my mission is not driven by greed or winning 00:42:26.719 --> 00:42:30.340 as far as some corporate race. The competition 00:42:30.340 --> 00:42:34.280 is the rising tide lifts all ships and shifts. 00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:37.260 If we want to make the world a little better, 00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:39.820 we've got to innovate with that too. So we can 00:42:39.820 --> 00:42:42.599 take all of these great minds and this great 00:42:42.599 --> 00:42:45.340 technology that's being used to hurt people and 00:42:45.340 --> 00:42:48.000 we can put it back because most innovation started 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:50.880 not as a weapon. It started as something good. 00:42:50.920 --> 00:42:53.300 So put it back into the place where we heal people 00:42:53.300 --> 00:42:56.440 because hurt people hurt people and healed people 00:42:56.440 --> 00:43:00.480 heal people. Yeah, that second part of the saying 00:43:00.480 --> 00:43:03.079 is great. I hadn't really heard that, but it's 00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:05.460 so true. Don't finish it with hurt people, hurt 00:43:05.460 --> 00:43:07.679 people. Finish it out with the good side of things, 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:09.559 the good side of people. There's always a good 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:13.599 side. 100%. Well, Andrew, just I want to circle 00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:15.800 around for a second. You mentioned the Siento 00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:19.260 Sim. I can't remember if we talked about this 00:43:19.260 --> 00:43:21.440 in the original conversation, if we've talked 00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:23.360 about it since on the phone or if it was with 00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:26.159 someone else. But I remember talking to someone 00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:29.130 about... the ability to actually practice for 00:43:29.130 --> 00:43:31.869 peer support teams and people that would be interacting 00:43:31.869 --> 00:43:34.210 with people that were struggling. Is this one 00:43:34.210 --> 00:43:38.190 of the tools? Yeah, so it's a first of its kind. 00:43:39.010 --> 00:43:41.349 Actually, my son came up with the idea. My son's 00:43:41.349 --> 00:43:45.449 12. So I'm super proud of that. So he's our AI. 00:43:45.809 --> 00:43:48.070 Brody is that person that you're going to be 00:43:48.070 --> 00:43:51.289 giving support to is my son. But yeah, it's getting 00:43:51.289 --> 00:43:53.909 those repetitions. You know, we heard day in 00:43:53.909 --> 00:43:57.480 and day out, like one. It's hard to get us all 00:43:57.480 --> 00:43:59.719 in the same room. And then number two, I don't 00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:02.000 feel comfortable because I only do one, two peer 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:06.179 support requests a year. But through that, we've 00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:10.139 learned, we just launched it in June. So everything's 00:44:10.139 --> 00:44:13.820 very new and we're growing super fast. We have 00:44:13.820 --> 00:44:16.559 a lot of agencies that are buying into this because 00:44:16.559 --> 00:44:18.599 it's such a big problem that nobody's solved 00:44:18.599 --> 00:44:22.119 yet. But what we're seeing is agencies open to 00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:25.590 the idea of, wait. Why are we only training our 00:44:25.590 --> 00:44:29.989 peer supporters to give support? We should all 00:44:29.989 --> 00:44:34.230 have emotional readiness to be there and be present 00:44:34.230 --> 00:44:36.550 for one of our brothers. Well, if we're going 00:44:36.550 --> 00:44:38.369 to call each other brothers and sisters, we need 00:44:38.369 --> 00:44:40.769 to be present there for them. You don't need 00:44:40.769 --> 00:44:43.010 to solve the problem. You just need to learn 00:44:43.010 --> 00:44:45.630 how can you sit in that space with somebody who's 00:44:45.630 --> 00:44:48.570 suffering and show them compassion and empathy. 00:44:49.309 --> 00:44:51.429 to get them through it on their own. It's not 00:44:51.429 --> 00:44:54.949 your role as a firefighter to make me healthy. 00:44:55.389 --> 00:44:57.489 The only way I'm going to get healthy is when 00:44:57.489 --> 00:45:01.289 I look inward in myself. And your job in that 00:45:01.289 --> 00:45:03.789 space when somebody's struggling is just to simply 00:45:03.789 --> 00:45:07.710 hold a mirror up to them for them to then take 00:45:07.710 --> 00:45:12.550 that internally and make a change. Absolutely. 00:45:13.179 --> 00:45:15.179 All right. Well, then let's get to why you're 00:45:15.179 --> 00:45:17.500 standing here side by side today or sitting here 00:45:17.500 --> 00:45:21.639 virtually side by side, that is. So, Andrew, 00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:23.980 to start with you, kind of what how did you come 00:45:23.980 --> 00:45:26.079 across Blake's technology and then talk to me 00:45:26.079 --> 00:45:29.079 about this relationship that you forged? Well, 00:45:29.179 --> 00:45:31.119 it started out with this like really shitty video 00:45:31.119 --> 00:45:34.480 on his website, which is a lot better now. No, 00:45:35.460 --> 00:45:37.119 I'm kidding, because like, no, I watched this 00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:39.840 video. on his website and i'm like fuck am i 00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:45.739 on target solutions right now blake yeah no i 00:45:45.739 --> 00:45:51.079 was big time um it's fun but yeah so ultimately 00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:55.619 you know i saw blake and what he was doing and 00:45:55.619 --> 00:45:58.179 and i i saw something i wish i had right when 00:45:58.179 --> 00:46:01.079 i was on the job and you know so i just randomly 00:46:01.079 --> 00:46:03.820 i don't know if it was me or you either way we 00:46:03.820 --> 00:46:08.960 got connected we started talking and From a human 00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:12.599 level, I connected with Blake in his personal 00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:17.079 mission. Him being a firefighter's son is super 00:46:17.079 --> 00:46:20.559 important. I think in the space of technology 00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:28.320 and public safety and wellness, I think we talk 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:31.760 about greed. There is a lot of that in our space. 00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:34.820 And when I see somebody who's truly a human being 00:46:34.820 --> 00:46:37.159 and puts other people first and is thinking about 00:46:37.690 --> 00:46:39.829 you know, the whole wellness of a firefighter 00:46:39.829 --> 00:46:44.030 outside of just, you know, their product. And 00:46:44.030 --> 00:46:46.110 when Blake and I connected, it was just easy. 00:46:46.389 --> 00:46:48.530 And then I like to come up with crazy ideas. 00:46:48.590 --> 00:46:52.150 We bounce ideas off of each other. And so ultimately 00:46:52.150 --> 00:46:55.570 we decided, like, you know, let's combine forces. 00:46:55.909 --> 00:46:59.469 And, you know, Blake and his company are doing 00:46:59.469 --> 00:47:02.639 amazing things. you know the physical aspect 00:47:02.639 --> 00:47:04.699 of the firefighter how do we keep them healthy 00:47:04.699 --> 00:47:07.400 and safe that way and then by combining that 00:47:07.400 --> 00:47:10.179 with our technology we can also now take care 00:47:10.179 --> 00:47:12.659 of the firefighters mental well -being um and 00:47:12.659 --> 00:47:15.699 wellness in general as as well so it made it 00:47:15.699 --> 00:47:17.940 made the partnership opportunity super easy for 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:23.500 us so how does it integrate well we can't get 00:47:23.500 --> 00:47:26.639 away that information yet um no we got some secret 00:47:26.639 --> 00:47:28.960 squirrel stuff we're working on so right now 00:47:28.960 --> 00:47:32.619 like we There is no integration. It's working 00:47:32.619 --> 00:47:36.139 together, but we definitely have some big plans 00:47:36.139 --> 00:47:38.820 that, you know, we talk about innovation. We 00:47:38.820 --> 00:47:40.559 talk about competition. Hopefully what we're 00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:44.119 about to do in the future will strive others 00:47:44.119 --> 00:47:48.780 to create something similar. Well, Blake, back 00:47:48.780 --> 00:47:52.139 to you for a second. With you being here in Florida 00:47:52.139 --> 00:47:55.050 with this state. now finally really starting 00:47:55.050 --> 00:47:58.070 to have this kind of revolution of the 24 -72, 00:47:58.289 --> 00:48:01.170 so starting to finally address, as I always say, 00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:03.369 the herd of elephants in the room, the woeful 00:48:03.369 --> 00:48:06.550 shifts that we work, and that causing the recruitment 00:48:06.550 --> 00:48:10.190 and retention crisis. What, if any at all, has 00:48:10.190 --> 00:48:12.650 been the conversation as far as the shifts themselves 00:48:12.650 --> 00:48:14.750 as you've been there displaying your product? 00:48:15.989 --> 00:48:19.110 It's definitely becoming a much hotter topic. 00:48:19.610 --> 00:48:22.230 And even I've talked to my dad about it recently 00:48:22.230 --> 00:48:24.429 with his department. And I mean, everybody's 00:48:24.429 --> 00:48:27.250 talking about it now. Five years ago, it wasn't 00:48:27.250 --> 00:48:29.670 even considered, you know, in terms of that's 00:48:29.670 --> 00:48:32.409 not true. You were considering it, but there 00:48:32.409 --> 00:48:35.690 were not. It wasn't a hot topic. Like you said, 00:48:35.730 --> 00:48:37.849 yeah, you're on an island, like you said. But 00:48:37.849 --> 00:48:39.750 it wasn't something that everybody even knew 00:48:39.750 --> 00:48:43.610 was an option, truthfully. And even more recently 00:48:43.610 --> 00:48:46.940 with Dr. Billings, his whole. realm is shift 00:48:46.940 --> 00:48:49.300 schedules and sleep health and so we i've talked 00:48:49.300 --> 00:48:51.800 with him all the time and um it became more and 00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:53.719 more of a question from fire departments that 00:48:53.719 --> 00:48:55.599 we're working with and we're throughout the country 00:48:55.599 --> 00:48:57.820 and in fact more kind of outside of florida than 00:48:57.820 --> 00:48:59.159 in florida which we're trying to change here 00:48:59.159 --> 00:49:02.280 pretty soon but um we're hearing from all over 00:49:02.280 --> 00:49:05.000 the country people are really focusing on this 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:08.559 they realize the impact it's having and um i 00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:11.199 tell everybody the gold standard is 24 72. like 00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:14.820 that's you if you can do it do it the The return 00:49:14.820 --> 00:49:17.079 is there. You just got to convince your leadership 00:49:17.079 --> 00:49:19.699 and look to others around you. And we're seeing 00:49:19.699 --> 00:49:22.199 it more and more, especially in Florida. So I 00:49:22.199 --> 00:49:25.340 would say it's one of, if not the hottest topic 00:49:25.340 --> 00:49:27.480 that I'm hearing, especially in the state of 00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:30.699 Florida. Well, what's interesting if you actually 00:49:30.699 --> 00:49:33.679 break it down. literally solves every problem 00:49:33.679 --> 00:49:36.199 that we have now not solely like if you get more 00:49:36.199 --> 00:49:37.900 sleep all of a sudden the mental health issue 00:49:37.900 --> 00:49:40.480 is going to go away but i mean it makes a huge 00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:42.760 dent on the physical health the mental health 00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:45.679 what i'm really excited about is it shifts the 00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:49.059 the lens from wellness to performance so ironically 00:49:49.059 --> 00:49:51.360 the opposite thing that we were having with the 00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:53.840 high school conversation earlier, you know, our 00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:57.260 whole conversation has been on, on reactive wellness. 00:49:57.380 --> 00:49:59.920 So, Oh no, they're overweight. I know the hypertensive, 00:49:59.960 --> 00:50:02.239 I know they're, you know, testosterone is 112, 00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:05.119 you know, and let's try and pull them back in. 00:50:05.179 --> 00:50:07.179 Well, these are tactical athletes. We should 00:50:07.179 --> 00:50:10.239 be talking about cardiovascular performance and, 00:50:10.280 --> 00:50:12.840 you know, breath work and, you know, mindfulness 00:50:12.840 --> 00:50:15.000 and all these things that the special forces 00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:17.019 and, you know, and other elite operators around 00:50:17.019 --> 00:50:20.670 the world have by their side. So there's a beautiful 00:50:20.670 --> 00:50:22.869 conversation with that. So all the chess beaters, 00:50:22.869 --> 00:50:25.230 the mustache wearers that, you know, love to 00:50:25.230 --> 00:50:27.789 film themselves on Instagram. If you really take 00:50:27.789 --> 00:50:29.969 this profession seriously, then you should be 00:50:29.969 --> 00:50:32.010 at the front of the line beating on the drum 00:50:32.010 --> 00:50:33.969 to get a healthy work week because that's how 00:50:33.969 --> 00:50:36.409 you forge performance. And then you look at the 00:50:36.409 --> 00:50:39.010 financial side, obviously, the wasted budget 00:50:39.010 --> 00:50:41.110 on overtime and lack of retention and workman's 00:50:41.110 --> 00:50:43.849 comp and medical retirements and lawsuits and 00:50:43.849 --> 00:50:46.510 all these other things. There's your money. And 00:50:46.510 --> 00:50:48.530 then once you fix the work week, well, now you've 00:50:48.530 --> 00:50:52.570 got more of a budget for, you know, Ciento, EaseAlert. 00:50:52.570 --> 00:50:55.329 These other initiatives are going to then layer 00:50:55.329 --> 00:50:58.630 this beautiful first responder health boulder 00:50:58.630 --> 00:51:00.230 that we're going to be rolling down the hill. 00:51:00.949 --> 00:51:04.070 Yeah. Absolutely. It all builds on top of itself. 00:51:04.269 --> 00:51:06.530 And we see a lot of departments actually that 00:51:06.530 --> 00:51:08.550 are getting easier. And I'm sure Andrew can say 00:51:08.550 --> 00:51:10.349 the same for Siento. They're the ones that are 00:51:10.349 --> 00:51:12.369 already making those shift changes or already 00:51:12.369 --> 00:51:14.090 implementing those health and safety practices. 00:51:14.289 --> 00:51:16.769 They've already done steps, you know, one, two, 00:51:16.829 --> 00:51:19.070 three, and they've already advanced so far along. 00:51:19.389 --> 00:51:22.050 And now they're able to add more because they're 00:51:22.050 --> 00:51:24.650 having better retention, increased recruitment, 00:51:24.829 --> 00:51:27.840 less overtime. less expenses, less liabilities. 00:51:28.059 --> 00:51:30.699 And they're, they're now putting more into that, 00:51:30.699 --> 00:51:32.659 into their greatest resource, their personnel 00:51:32.659 --> 00:51:35.019 to make sure that they can do their job more 00:51:35.019 --> 00:51:36.599 effectively and take care of their communities, 00:51:36.659 --> 00:51:38.579 improve their ISO ratings. It's just such a, 00:51:38.599 --> 00:51:40.920 it's a positive vicious cycle that goes right 00:51:40.920 --> 00:51:43.880 up. You know, it adds onto itself. A hundred 00:51:43.880 --> 00:51:46.900 percent. Andrew, anything to add? Well, no, I 00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:50.539 was just thinking like in that, the word that 00:51:50.539 --> 00:51:52.340 just kept popping in my head that it comes down 00:51:52.340 --> 00:51:56.519 to is like leadership. i think our biggest challenge 00:51:56.519 --> 00:52:00.739 we're facing right now is is leadership you know 00:52:00.739 --> 00:52:04.420 i uh we so we just ran a campaign so we we ran 00:52:04.420 --> 00:52:06.960 into like a bunch of agencies that like rural 00:52:06.960 --> 00:52:09.300 agencies who can't afford to do peer support 00:52:09.300 --> 00:52:11.719 or don't even know where to start right and we're 00:52:11.719 --> 00:52:14.559 like well how can we support them so we started 00:52:14.559 --> 00:52:18.539 like a campaign called i feel which is we sold 00:52:18.539 --> 00:52:22.059 T -shirts to fund getting a department out of 00:52:22.059 --> 00:52:24.940 Minnesota, Peer Support. It's a rural agency 00:52:24.940 --> 00:52:28.099 north of Minneapolis. And what I loved about 00:52:28.099 --> 00:52:30.840 it was the leadership. So here I am, this crazy 00:52:30.840 --> 00:52:34.420 entrepreneur. We come up with an idea, like, 00:52:34.420 --> 00:52:37.760 literally a couple days before, and, like, I'm 00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:40.079 on the phone, like, trying to, like, who can 00:52:40.079 --> 00:52:42.920 we support? And I just happened to run into this 00:52:42.920 --> 00:52:45.000 chief, and, like, he's like, I can talk to you 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:48.630 today. it was instantaneous he had buy -in but 00:52:48.630 --> 00:52:50.630 he said one thing that was like really impactful 00:52:50.630 --> 00:52:54.789 to me that i really respect with leaders is that 00:52:54.789 --> 00:52:58.269 he's like i think this is great i want my team 00:52:58.269 --> 00:53:01.309 to have buy -in i want my team to lead this and 00:53:01.309 --> 00:53:04.670 it's like those are the best leaders who they 00:53:04.670 --> 00:53:06.750 don't push something on you they they look for 00:53:06.750 --> 00:53:09.630 somebody to step up in that moment to take something 00:53:09.630 --> 00:53:13.219 on and have initiative and that just shows the 00:53:13.219 --> 00:53:15.099 members of the team that like hey your leader 00:53:15.099 --> 00:53:17.699 cares about you right they listen doesn't mean 00:53:17.699 --> 00:53:19.760 they're always going to do what you want or make 00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:22.420 you happy but they at least listen and they give 00:53:22.420 --> 00:53:25.260 you ownership in being a part of that organization 00:53:25.260 --> 00:53:28.260 and so you know i think it boils down to just 00:53:28.260 --> 00:53:36.440 we have a really um we have very toxic leadership 00:53:36.440 --> 00:53:38.480 in the fire service and i'll just call it out 00:53:38.750 --> 00:53:41.250 um it's getting better like we're having different 00:53:41.250 --> 00:53:46.570 generations come in um but we still have a long 00:53:46.570 --> 00:53:48.969 way to go and so it just boils down to leadership 00:53:48.969 --> 00:53:51.489 people just need to step up and it doesn't mean 00:53:51.489 --> 00:53:53.869 you're a fire chief to be a leader right a fire 00:53:53.869 --> 00:53:56.409 a rookie firefighter can be a leader of their 00:53:56.409 --> 00:53:59.090 organization just as much as a fire chief can 00:53:59.090 --> 00:54:03.690 there's a texas department that i think literally 00:54:03.690 --> 00:54:07.460 on tuesday is going to be able to publicly announce 00:54:07.460 --> 00:54:09.840 that they're the first department to go to 2472. 00:54:10.380 --> 00:54:13.000 And I know that one of the people spearheading 00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.380 it in that department just hit his first year 00:54:15.380 --> 00:54:19.179 in that department. So there we go. Leadership 00:54:19.179 --> 00:54:21.440 within that department. So amazing. And I'm not 00:54:21.440 --> 00:54:23.059 saying he was the only person by any means, but 00:54:23.059 --> 00:54:25.739 definitely one of the driving forces. And this 00:54:25.739 --> 00:54:27.360 is what I've seen as well. When we go back to 00:54:27.360 --> 00:54:29.320 the mental health conversation, I was talking 00:54:29.320 --> 00:54:32.610 to someone about this just today. One of the 00:54:32.610 --> 00:54:35.550 least discussed areas of mental ill health in 00:54:35.550 --> 00:54:37.510 the first responder professions, and I'm sure 00:54:37.510 --> 00:54:41.110 a lot of other areas too, is organizational betrayal, 00:54:41.389 --> 00:54:44.449 toxic leadership, as you mentioned. Because if 00:54:44.449 --> 00:54:48.489 you are that driven first responder and you have 00:54:48.489 --> 00:54:51.010 service in your heart and you take your job seriously 00:54:51.010 --> 00:54:53.610 and you train and you stay in shape, and then 00:54:53.610 --> 00:54:55.889 the organization that you wear their patch on 00:54:55.889 --> 00:54:58.530 your shoulder says, sit down, shut up, you're 00:54:58.530 --> 00:55:01.880 making us look bad. that can be hugely detrimental 00:55:01.880 --> 00:55:04.039 because that goes against the very ethos of what 00:55:04.039 --> 00:55:06.099 you're doing in the first place. So what I'm 00:55:06.099 --> 00:55:08.599 excited about is as this health revolution starts 00:55:08.599 --> 00:55:11.280 to take hold and people are looking at other 00:55:11.280 --> 00:55:12.840 departments going, well, you told us that that 00:55:12.840 --> 00:55:14.219 would never work here. Well, why not? Because 00:55:14.219 --> 00:55:16.400 the neighboring department is doing it and I've 00:55:16.400 --> 00:55:18.800 heard nothing but good things. Now we're going 00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:21.320 to look back and go, okay, well, who was stopping 00:55:21.320 --> 00:55:24.699 us from progressing? And should that person still 00:55:24.699 --> 00:55:27.550 be in the position? union president, chief, whoever 00:55:27.550 --> 00:55:30.449 that person, city, county council members, you 00:55:30.449 --> 00:55:32.829 were opposing the very things that were going 00:55:32.829 --> 00:55:34.829 to help the first responder wellness that keep 00:55:34.829 --> 00:55:38.210 us fully staffed, delivery of service. So I think 00:55:38.210 --> 00:55:40.769 that anyone who's out there that is a bad leader 00:55:40.769 --> 00:55:44.369 that refuses to change, you're not going to be 00:55:44.369 --> 00:55:46.949 there very long. I hate to tell you, but it's 00:55:46.949 --> 00:55:50.219 going to happen. Yeah, the change is happening 00:55:50.219 --> 00:55:53.039 all across the fire service. You're seeing younger 00:55:53.039 --> 00:55:55.900 firefighters come up and a one -year firefighter 00:55:55.900 --> 00:55:57.639 taking over and making a change like that. I 00:55:57.639 --> 00:55:59.539 mean, it's a different breed of firefighters. 00:55:59.820 --> 00:56:02.000 And some of the salty firefighters are saying, 00:56:02.059 --> 00:56:04.099 oh, I don't like that. It's not the way we've 00:56:04.099 --> 00:56:05.480 done in the past. But a lot of those firefighters 00:56:05.480 --> 00:56:07.900 that I talk to, even with EaseAlert, when we 00:56:07.900 --> 00:56:10.199 come in and we'll say, hey, this is EaseAlert. 00:56:10.320 --> 00:56:11.699 It's going to do this. And we know it's very 00:56:11.699 --> 00:56:13.380 different. They'll be really opposed, really 00:56:13.380 --> 00:56:14.800 opposed. But then they'll kind of see some of 00:56:14.800 --> 00:56:17.159 the younger guys and gals take it on. And they 00:56:17.159 --> 00:56:19.260 start buying in because. It just seems like the 00:56:19.260 --> 00:56:22.159 fire service in general is open to innovation 00:56:22.159 --> 00:56:25.719 more than it ever has been, which is very encouraging 00:56:25.719 --> 00:56:27.760 and exciting because innovation doesn't necessarily 00:56:27.760 --> 00:56:30.300 mean throw out tradition. We honor tradition. 00:56:30.480 --> 00:56:33.079 We respect tradition and legacy. It's that way 00:56:33.079 --> 00:56:34.519 for a reason. That's what makes the fire service 00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:37.920 special. But don't let it impede your progress, 00:56:38.079 --> 00:56:39.760 you know, because progress is going to help you 00:56:39.760 --> 00:56:42.619 do your job better, help you go home safer, live 00:56:42.619 --> 00:56:44.920 longer, spend more time with your family. I think 00:56:44.920 --> 00:56:48.960 people are realizing that. I get that word thrown 00:56:48.960 --> 00:56:51.099 in my face when we talk about the firefighter 00:56:51.099 --> 00:56:54.000 helmet. Oh, but it's tradition. No, that's a 00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:57.039 hat. That is a hat. If you really wanted to look 00:56:57.039 --> 00:56:58.840 the same way as people that when that first came 00:56:58.840 --> 00:57:00.940 out, then you wouldn't have an SCBA and you'd 00:57:00.940 --> 00:57:03.840 arrive with a horse. So you were fine moving 00:57:03.840 --> 00:57:06.059 forward with breathing apparatus, but all of 00:57:06.059 --> 00:57:08.719 a sudden the hat doesn't want to change. Tradition 00:57:08.719 --> 00:57:12.460 is selflessness and courage and service and problem 00:57:12.460 --> 00:57:14.500 solving. Those are the traditions of the fire 00:57:14.500 --> 00:57:18.440 service camaraderie. So we've got to remove those 00:57:18.440 --> 00:57:21.219 two parts because the way we've always done it, 00:57:21.260 --> 00:57:23.639 that isn't tradition at all. That's a lack of 00:57:23.639 --> 00:57:25.519 humility and that's a whole different conversation. 00:57:26.659 --> 00:57:29.739 That's a great point. Tim Ferriss had a guest 00:57:29.739 --> 00:57:32.760 on his show. He was a businessman from, I think 00:57:32.760 --> 00:57:35.500 it was Brazil or somewhere in Central South America. 00:57:36.280 --> 00:57:39.239 And he was talking about his philosophy that 00:57:39.239 --> 00:57:41.679 his father had and he called it the three whys. 00:57:41.860 --> 00:57:45.920 And he said, if you have a question, and you 00:57:45.920 --> 00:57:50.179 ask why three times, and there's a bona fide 00:57:50.179 --> 00:57:53.039 reason after each of those three whys, then you 00:57:53.039 --> 00:57:56.219 know it's the truth. So for example, we need 00:57:56.219 --> 00:57:58.380 to drink water. Why? Well, because the body's 00:57:58.380 --> 00:58:00.619 made up of water. Why? Well, because that's what's 00:58:00.619 --> 00:58:04.000 needed at a molecular level to create all our 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:06.280 functions. Okay, humans need water. That is an 00:58:06.280 --> 00:58:09.900 absolute truth. We need to have an alerting system 00:58:09.900 --> 00:58:14.389 that wakes up the whole station. Why? Well, because 00:58:14.389 --> 00:58:17.309 we've always done it. All right, you're done. 00:58:17.429 --> 00:58:19.070 You see what I mean? So this is what we need 00:58:19.070 --> 00:58:20.929 to put all the things that we've always done 00:58:20.929 --> 00:58:26.429 into that same kind of humble reflection process 00:58:26.429 --> 00:58:28.429 to be like, okay, forget about the way you've 00:58:28.429 --> 00:58:30.750 always done it. Does it make sense? Why are you 00:58:30.750 --> 00:58:34.409 waking up four different apparatus crews for 00:58:34.409 --> 00:58:36.989 a rescue with two people on it to go run a call? 00:58:37.340 --> 00:58:39.659 Why is a battalion chief monitoring and staying 00:58:39.659 --> 00:58:42.780 half awake all night when you literally can just 00:58:42.780 --> 00:58:44.619 say, hey, can you turn out the chief? And then 00:58:44.619 --> 00:58:47.139 they'll get the call. So I think this is what's 00:58:47.139 --> 00:58:49.519 interesting now. And the same with what we're 00:58:49.519 --> 00:58:52.940 talking about today. Why do we have to have loud 00:58:52.940 --> 00:58:56.539 alerting systems that scare the hell out of people 00:58:56.539 --> 00:58:58.699 and send their nervous system through the roof 00:58:58.699 --> 00:59:02.159 when there is an alternative now in the technology 00:59:02.159 --> 00:59:04.940 that you've developed? Or, you know, why do we 00:59:04.940 --> 00:59:07.519 just have a two day peer support training weekend 00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:10.840 when now you have an AI platform that can actually 00:59:10.840 --> 00:59:13.480 help all of our first responders learn how to 00:59:13.480 --> 00:59:15.880 have these difficult conversations? So I think 00:59:15.880 --> 00:59:19.599 it's amazing. I really do. Yeah, that's a great 00:59:19.599 --> 00:59:23.400 way to think about it. Go ahead, Andrew. Yeah, 00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:25.860 no, I just think the future is bright. You know, 00:59:25.900 --> 00:59:30.840 I try to get from my mom, right? Like nothing's 00:59:30.840 --> 00:59:32.900 wrong. The world's great, right? The world is 00:59:32.900 --> 00:59:36.820 difficult, but today I'm making the choice to 00:59:36.820 --> 00:59:39.340 not only love myself, but to love everybody else. 00:59:39.699 --> 00:59:43.039 And, you know, in working with Blake is, you 00:59:43.039 --> 00:59:46.159 know, we I truly believe that we're with what 00:59:46.159 --> 00:59:48.300 we've thought about coming up with and things 00:59:48.300 --> 00:59:52.960 change over time. I don't I don't think that 00:59:52.960 --> 00:59:57.340 there's going to be one solution out there that's 00:59:57.340 --> 00:59:59.460 going to work. But I think when you have people 00:59:59.460 --> 01:00:03.179 who. believe in the mission and, and outcome 01:00:03.179 --> 01:00:05.519 of, you know, at the end of the day, we want 01:00:05.519 --> 01:00:07.800 all of our firefighters to go home to their family. 01:00:07.860 --> 01:00:10.219 And, you know, and that's when we talk about 01:00:10.219 --> 01:00:12.139 mental health too, like we don't talk about the 01:00:12.139 --> 01:00:16.039 macro level of problems that come from, you know, 01:00:16.039 --> 01:00:17.460 Washington state's looking at cutting mental 01:00:17.460 --> 01:00:20.219 health benefits for firefighters to save money. 01:00:20.500 --> 01:00:23.619 Well, here's the thing you're destroying families. 01:00:23.699 --> 01:00:25.639 Now you're going to have depressed and anxious 01:00:25.639 --> 01:00:28.260 kids who are now on therapy and on medications. 01:00:28.300 --> 01:00:30.840 Like, I mean, that's how our society works. You 01:00:30.840 --> 01:00:34.340 have, you know, trauma that's being spread throughout 01:00:34.340 --> 01:00:36.300 your agency because you're not taking care of 01:00:36.300 --> 01:00:39.780 things. Like, you know, the time for change is 01:00:39.780 --> 01:00:43.420 now. And, you know, it's amazing to have people 01:00:43.420 --> 01:00:44.940 like yourselves that are speaking out against 01:00:44.940 --> 01:00:47.860 us because at the time, we can't lose any more 01:00:47.860 --> 01:00:52.920 people. It's getting sad. Well, even from a false 01:00:52.920 --> 01:00:55.360 economy point of view, you cut mental health 01:00:55.360 --> 01:00:58.079 benefits. What are the downstream costs of that? 01:00:58.219 --> 01:00:59.860 And this is the reverse of what we're seeing 01:00:59.860 --> 01:01:04.739 in 2472. You keep working your first responders 01:01:04.739 --> 01:01:07.039 as a 56 hour work week. What's the downstream 01:01:07.039 --> 01:01:09.159 cost? Well, we're living it now. Congratulations, 01:01:09.500 --> 01:01:11.760 fire service. This is no one wants to do the 01:01:11.760 --> 01:01:13.639 job anymore. Cities and counties are bleeding 01:01:13.639 --> 01:01:16.199 money. We just discovered what happens if you 01:01:16.199 --> 01:01:20.019 don't change. So the opposite is true. And Pasco 01:01:20.019 --> 01:01:21.920 and Gainesville and all these progressive departments 01:01:21.920 --> 01:01:24.719 are showing, hey, now we're fully staffed. There's 01:01:24.719 --> 01:01:26.880 no overtime. Apart from, you know, I mean, they 01:01:26.880 --> 01:01:29.199 all have overtime, you know, events and that 01:01:29.199 --> 01:01:31.739 kind of thing, but not this consistent overtime 01:01:31.739 --> 01:01:33.860 model where you're being forced to work. And 01:01:33.860 --> 01:01:36.400 20 years later, you're still using that as a 01:01:36.400 --> 01:01:38.699 staffing model. And it's the same with cutting 01:01:38.699 --> 01:01:41.039 programs. You know, the way that you save money, 01:01:41.119 --> 01:01:44.260 and I always use this as an example, the NHS, 01:01:44.340 --> 01:01:47.320 which I adore from the UK, the healthcare system. 01:01:47.920 --> 01:01:50.800 at its core, is an amazing altruistic, I would 01:01:50.800 --> 01:01:52.780 argue, best healthcare system on the planet. 01:01:52.940 --> 01:01:55.800 All of us band together, and if you get hurt, 01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:58.619 if your family gets pregnant and you're going 01:01:58.619 --> 01:02:00.639 to have a child, if your beloved person gets 01:02:00.639 --> 01:02:03.639 cancer, whatever it is, we're going to take care 01:02:03.639 --> 01:02:08.000 of them. That works beautifully if you then put 01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.179 all your focus on making the rest of the nation 01:02:10.179 --> 01:02:13.630 as healthy as possible. But... As what's happened 01:02:13.630 --> 01:02:15.989 in the UK, you allow it to be privatized, picked 01:02:15.989 --> 01:02:19.610 apart, understaffed, and then you allow fast 01:02:19.610 --> 01:02:21.449 food and all these other things to kind of perforate 01:02:21.449 --> 01:02:23.849 your culture, get rid of PE programs. Now the 01:02:23.849 --> 01:02:27.710 population gets fatter and sicker. Now you start 01:02:27.710 --> 01:02:31.210 destroying the health care system. So the way 01:02:31.210 --> 01:02:33.070 that you save money, people always ask, oh, we 01:02:33.070 --> 01:02:34.989 need more tax money or we need more, you know, 01:02:35.010 --> 01:02:37.570 firefighter budget, whatever it is. You don't. 01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:40.679 The healthier your workforce, the more money 01:02:40.679 --> 01:02:43.139 you save, which then you can reinvest in even 01:02:43.139 --> 01:02:46.139 more initiatives to make it healthier and safer. 01:02:46.320 --> 01:02:49.460 We know how not to do it. So the converse is 01:02:49.460 --> 01:02:52.619 also true. When you fix the work week, when you 01:02:52.619 --> 01:02:55.539 put in a better alerting system, when you have 01:02:55.539 --> 01:02:57.860 access to mental health resources, all these 01:02:57.860 --> 01:03:01.199 areas, you're just amplifying the healing effects 01:03:01.199 --> 01:03:03.639 versus what we're doing at the moment, which 01:03:03.639 --> 01:03:07.679 is amplifying the Jenga tower effects. Yeah. 01:03:07.840 --> 01:03:12.119 I think, too, our politicians and I'm just going 01:03:12.119 --> 01:03:15.980 to be really blunt. We don't matter. Me and you 01:03:15.980 --> 01:03:18.500 don't matter. We're dispensable. Right. I've 01:03:18.500 --> 01:03:22.739 never felt more inhuman than what I've experienced 01:03:22.739 --> 01:03:26.079 dealing with the state of Washington and the 01:03:26.079 --> 01:03:29.659 system. It is horrible. Absolutely horrible. 01:03:29.900 --> 01:03:33.559 And you wonder why our firefighters are asking. 01:03:33.820 --> 01:03:36.349 They're saying, hey, I need help. And then they 01:03:36.349 --> 01:03:38.190 go get help and they come back and kill themselves. 01:03:38.409 --> 01:03:41.530 That period of time after treatment, you go into 01:03:41.530 --> 01:03:44.289 treatment, is the most vulnerable state a person 01:03:44.289 --> 01:03:46.889 is going to be in. But you know what the fire 01:03:46.889 --> 01:03:48.989 service does? They don't fucking talk to you 01:03:48.989 --> 01:03:51.510 about it. They want to walk away from it because 01:03:51.510 --> 01:03:53.030 it's uncomfortable. We don't want to talk about 01:03:53.030 --> 01:03:55.090 it. So now we leave our brothers and sisters 01:03:55.090 --> 01:04:00.630 suffering alone. And it's clear that all we are 01:04:00.630 --> 01:04:04.309 is nothing more than a body, right? Because it's 01:04:04.309 --> 01:04:07.079 clear. investing money in my mental health is 01:04:07.079 --> 01:04:10.079 not valuable. It doesn't matter. That's what 01:04:10.079 --> 01:04:12.719 the optics look like to us as firefighters. And 01:04:12.719 --> 01:04:14.699 ultimately it comes up, I mean, who's better 01:04:14.699 --> 01:04:16.880 at organizing than we are, right? We kick ass 01:04:16.880 --> 01:04:20.380 like that. We need to step up and fight these 01:04:20.380 --> 01:04:23.559 states and cities like Denver who are cutting 01:04:23.559 --> 01:04:26.280 mental health benefits for firefighters. We need 01:04:26.280 --> 01:04:28.840 to step up and fight for them because it's just 01:04:28.840 --> 01:04:31.500 going to make this problem 10 times worse. We're 01:04:31.500 --> 01:04:34.840 just kicking that can down the road. And I was 01:04:34.840 --> 01:04:36.199 going to add on, James, you kind of talked about 01:04:36.199 --> 01:04:39.300 the way we think about the fire service and investments 01:04:39.300 --> 01:04:41.659 or what's my return on this. Of course, it all 01:04:41.659 --> 01:04:43.380 comes down to the dollar. So you have to speak 01:04:43.380 --> 01:04:45.940 that language to make it make sense. And one 01:04:45.940 --> 01:04:48.900 of our investor advisors, Stefan Truthen, he 01:04:48.900 --> 01:04:50.940 works at the Berlin Fire Department and he's 01:04:50.940 --> 01:04:53.400 just a visionary in the fire service. And he 01:04:53.400 --> 01:04:56.239 talks about the fire department is not a cost 01:04:56.239 --> 01:04:59.019 factor, but a production center. Don't think 01:04:59.019 --> 01:05:01.800 about how much it costs the city for a department. 01:05:02.300 --> 01:05:04.780 to run emergency response. Think about how much 01:05:04.780 --> 01:05:07.300 it produces for the city to provide that service 01:05:07.300 --> 01:05:10.800 to your communities. And that simple frame of 01:05:10.800 --> 01:05:14.360 mind shift turns into an investment vehicle for 01:05:14.360 --> 01:05:16.599 the cities to realize, oh, we can make money 01:05:16.599 --> 01:05:19.420 off of AMS runs and ambulance trips. And we can 01:05:19.420 --> 01:05:21.619 provide these services that increase our tax 01:05:21.619 --> 01:05:23.760 burden. And all these things, like it's a production 01:05:23.760 --> 01:05:25.920 factor because it is better for the city, you 01:05:25.920 --> 01:05:28.400 know, and it does help. And so lean into that. 01:05:28.519 --> 01:05:30.719 It's really, like you said, just change that 01:05:30.719 --> 01:05:34.489 frame of mind. One of the things that I hate 01:05:34.489 --> 01:05:36.710 hearing is the fire service is a business. And 01:05:36.710 --> 01:05:38.429 I know that's kind of partially what he said, 01:05:38.489 --> 01:05:40.610 but what I mean is that's thrown out there a 01:05:40.610 --> 01:05:42.690 lot. And I've always said, okay, well, if it's 01:05:42.690 --> 01:05:44.489 a business, why do we treat it like an Indonesian 01:05:44.489 --> 01:05:48.570 sweatshop and not Google? Because I went to Google 01:05:48.570 --> 01:05:52.070 HQ in London a couple of years ago. And they 01:05:52.070 --> 01:05:55.050 have a free cafeteria with all kinds of healthy 01:05:55.050 --> 01:05:57.570 food. They have gyms. They have daycare. They 01:05:57.570 --> 01:06:00.070 have flexible hours because they understand that 01:06:00.070 --> 01:06:03.070 a healthy and happy workforce is then actually 01:06:03.070 --> 01:06:05.090 going to be more innovative, more efficient, 01:06:05.110 --> 01:06:08.670 and more productive. Yet, conversely, you have 01:06:08.670 --> 01:06:10.889 the way they look at us. So again, no matter 01:06:10.889 --> 01:06:12.570 how you look at it, if you look at the corporate 01:06:12.570 --> 01:06:16.369 world, the UK and Iceland specifically have just 01:06:16.369 --> 01:06:18.849 finished a study and hundreds of businesses went 01:06:18.849 --> 01:06:22.190 to a four -day work week. for eight -hour day 01:06:22.190 --> 01:06:25.510 work week with one -hour lunch. And equally as 01:06:25.510 --> 01:06:28.829 productive, again, innovative, efficient, but 01:06:28.829 --> 01:06:31.989 less sick time use, happier workforce, happier 01:06:31.989 --> 01:06:36.170 customers, obviously. So when the corporate leaders 01:06:36.170 --> 01:06:39.889 are doing these proactive changes that we're 01:06:39.889 --> 01:06:42.840 fighting for... And the fire service has the 01:06:42.840 --> 01:06:44.960 audacity to say we're a business without actually 01:06:44.960 --> 01:06:46.760 asking the business leaders what they're doing. 01:06:46.980 --> 01:06:49.639 It just goes to show the huge disconnect. We're 01:06:49.639 --> 01:06:52.420 not a business. We're a service. And I hope that 01:06:52.420 --> 01:06:54.659 down the road, we're not looking to make money 01:06:54.659 --> 01:06:57.320 from transport. I hope we minimize the amount 01:06:57.320 --> 01:06:59.400 of response that we go. The Northwest, actually, 01:06:59.619 --> 01:07:04.179 they had one of my guests on who have nurse navigation. 01:07:04.300 --> 01:07:07.730 So they use 911 integrated telehealth. to take 01:07:07.730 --> 01:07:10.309 away all those kind of non -emergent calls that 01:07:10.309 --> 01:07:12.190 we shouldn't be responding. We genuinely shouldn't. 01:07:12.190 --> 01:07:14.429 And empower the parent, the caller, whoever it 01:07:14.429 --> 01:07:16.349 is to say, would you like to choose for yourself? 01:07:16.809 --> 01:07:19.969 Treat at home, urgent care tomorrow, you know, 01:07:19.989 --> 01:07:22.190 whatever the thing is. And that eliminates a 01:07:22.190 --> 01:07:25.190 lot too. So it's okay for the corporate world 01:07:25.190 --> 01:07:27.809 to take some of our calls. And we shouldn't have 01:07:27.809 --> 01:07:30.369 to justify our existence. But the problem is 01:07:30.369 --> 01:07:32.710 we've been asked to be the healthcare for the 01:07:32.710 --> 01:07:35.389 entire country. which is wrong, which again, 01:07:35.429 --> 01:07:37.969 circles around to a lack of leadership. First 01:07:37.969 --> 01:07:40.429 responders should not be responding to non -emergent 01:07:40.429 --> 01:07:42.730 calls. And especially with the fear mongering, 01:07:42.829 --> 01:07:44.530 oh, but there was this one time where it came 01:07:44.530 --> 01:07:47.050 in as a tummy ache and it, yeah, and that happens. 01:07:47.110 --> 01:07:49.130 And you got to put your big boy pants on, you 01:07:49.130 --> 01:07:51.030 know, make sure that we're being diligent. And 01:07:51.030 --> 01:07:53.650 if someone falls through the cracks, you can't, 01:07:53.650 --> 01:07:56.170 you know, it's not a foolproof system. Those 01:07:56.170 --> 01:07:58.510 are going to happen, but you can't tar and feather 01:07:58.510 --> 01:08:01.130 the whole profession because of these anomaly 01:08:01.130 --> 01:08:05.380 events. And another point I wanted to hit on 01:08:05.380 --> 01:08:09.179 too, when you were talking about the whys behind 01:08:09.179 --> 01:08:11.820 it and why Andrew and Siento kind of stood out, 01:08:11.900 --> 01:08:15.000 it has to do with the... person that Andrew is, 01:08:15.079 --> 01:08:17.039 the relationships that we build, the person that 01:08:17.039 --> 01:08:18.760 you are, James. I mean, Andrew connected us and 01:08:18.760 --> 01:08:21.180 immediately was like, okay, this is great. You 01:08:21.180 --> 01:08:23.579 know, we get it as people. And we can talk about 01:08:23.579 --> 01:08:25.619 some of these things that are difficult to bring 01:08:25.619 --> 01:08:28.079 up. And it's because you care so much, Andrew 01:08:28.079 --> 01:08:30.220 cares so much. And the solutions that we're providing 01:08:30.220 --> 01:08:33.420 come from places that are truly, genuinely here 01:08:33.420 --> 01:08:36.979 to help. And not just Fugazi idea pie in the 01:08:36.979 --> 01:08:39.039 sky, but let's get in the field. Let's try it 01:08:39.039 --> 01:08:41.840 out. see how it works and move forward from it. 01:08:41.899 --> 01:08:43.920 Let's look at the data. What happens when we 01:08:43.920 --> 01:08:46.420 respond to every single call? Well, bad things 01:08:46.420 --> 01:08:49.119 happen. Okay. Then let's make an adjustment here. 01:08:49.199 --> 01:08:51.560 Let's be rational. Let's be logical. Let's use 01:08:51.560 --> 01:08:53.880 the information at our disposal and not be just 01:08:53.880 --> 01:08:56.100 stuck in one way of doing one thing the same 01:08:56.100 --> 01:08:58.300 every single time, just because that's how the 01:08:58.300 --> 01:09:00.720 last group did it. So I think it's definitely 01:09:00.720 --> 01:09:02.560 important to have these conversations. We're 01:09:02.560 --> 01:09:04.579 making the changes slowly, but it's happening. 01:09:04.920 --> 01:09:07.060 actually faster than I would honestly expect 01:09:07.060 --> 01:09:09.340 it to in the fire service. So it's encouraging 01:09:09.340 --> 01:09:12.659 for me to see. And, you know, it's a real pleasure 01:09:12.659 --> 01:09:16.579 to be in these conversations. I love it. I really 01:09:16.579 --> 01:09:18.460 believe that we're at the beginning of a renaissance, 01:09:18.579 --> 01:09:20.760 you know, in the fire service and hopefully then 01:09:20.760 --> 01:09:22.979 the nation. I think, you know, we could be a 01:09:22.979 --> 01:09:25.060 beacon of light for a lot of other groups in 01:09:25.060 --> 01:09:28.239 this country. I want to kind of highlight each 01:09:28.239 --> 01:09:30.020 of your products again, and then we'll kind of 01:09:30.020 --> 01:09:32.560 wrap up. So with Andrew, with you, for people 01:09:32.560 --> 01:09:35.340 listening. Talk about where they can find Ciento 01:09:35.340 --> 01:09:39.439 and then what are the spectrum of products within 01:09:39.439 --> 01:09:44.699 that umbrella that you offer? Yeah, so you can 01:09:44.699 --> 01:09:47.340 find me on LinkedIn. That's a great way. I'm 01:09:47.340 --> 01:09:52.500 pretty active on there. Our website's www .ciento 01:09:52.500 --> 01:09:57.500 .io. If you want to try Ciento Sim, it's free 01:09:57.500 --> 01:09:59.539 on there. Just click on Ciento Sim and do a quick 01:09:59.539 --> 01:10:02.560 try now. um so we already kind of talked about 01:10:02.560 --> 01:10:05.779 that so uh you know part of our product too is 01:10:05.779 --> 01:10:08.800 is uh what people really wanted is like a peer 01:10:08.800 --> 01:10:11.520 support management system so essentially we built 01:10:11.520 --> 01:10:14.140 the operating system for you to run your peer 01:10:14.140 --> 01:10:16.220 support team on so all of your communications 01:10:16.220 --> 01:10:19.460 in an encrypted environment all of you understand 01:10:19.460 --> 01:10:22.439 what ongoing requests you have but in an anonymous 01:10:22.439 --> 01:10:25.720 fashion so we're not you know giving giving away 01:10:25.720 --> 01:10:27.859 identifiable information but at least peer support 01:10:27.859 --> 01:10:30.770 teams understand the workload they're under. 01:10:31.250 --> 01:10:34.109 But then really what the approach we've taken, 01:10:34.229 --> 01:10:35.989 you know, you hear a lot of culturally competent 01:10:35.989 --> 01:10:40.489 clinicians that get thrown out. Well, we felt 01:10:40.489 --> 01:10:45.090 like the solutions available, EAP and these other 01:10:45.090 --> 01:10:46.829 companies that are coming out saying like, hey, 01:10:46.850 --> 01:10:49.050 we have culturally competent providers for you. 01:10:49.689 --> 01:10:51.949 We believe as a company that should not come 01:10:51.949 --> 01:10:55.909 from us. So what we do is we bring all of our 01:10:55.909 --> 01:10:58.890 agencies together. So we're in 14 states. we 01:10:58.890 --> 01:11:01.109 bring them together and say hey put all of your 01:11:01.109 --> 01:11:03.470 resources that you're willing to share with other 01:11:03.470 --> 01:11:06.710 agencies into our platform so if you're visiting 01:11:06.710 --> 01:11:09.590 seattle and you're in crisis you know you have 01:11:09.590 --> 01:11:11.810 a vetted culturally competent clinician from 01:11:11.810 --> 01:11:16.069 seattle fire or you're in san francisco right 01:11:16.069 --> 01:11:18.010 we're uh there's some news coming out of san 01:11:18.010 --> 01:11:24.149 francisco soon they it ultimately these organizations 01:11:24.149 --> 01:11:27.880 are just not organized and they need this operating 01:11:27.880 --> 01:11:30.579 system. And that's what Ciento has done is built 01:11:30.579 --> 01:11:32.699 that. And then the mobile application aspect 01:11:32.699 --> 01:11:36.279 of just connecting, you know, we have a network. 01:11:36.319 --> 01:11:38.720 So there's nothing like this out there right 01:11:38.720 --> 01:11:42.039 now. And that, you know, we give the individual 01:11:42.039 --> 01:11:44.800 who's struggling the choice. Do you want to access 01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:48.500 your peer support team or do you not feel comfortable 01:11:48.500 --> 01:11:50.439 with that? And you can reach out to the network. 01:11:50.500 --> 01:11:54.300 And then we use. the agency's peer support teams 01:11:54.300 --> 01:11:57.140 to support each other so again that comes on 01:11:57.140 --> 01:11:59.859 to that individual peer supporter am i ready 01:11:59.859 --> 01:12:02.699 and open to taking something outside of my agency 01:12:02.699 --> 01:12:06.819 and if they are they can get connected so yeah 01:12:06.819 --> 01:12:10.279 it's super exciting uh we have a lot of growth 01:12:10.279 --> 01:12:12.699 happening right now and change is happening and 01:12:12.699 --> 01:12:15.140 other big partnerships happening so there's gonna 01:12:15.140 --> 01:12:18.220 be a lot coming we're moving super fast and um 01:12:18.220 --> 01:12:23.819 it's uh It's been a very humbling and lonely 01:12:23.819 --> 01:12:28.939 journey, but I hate being seen. This is something 01:12:28.939 --> 01:12:31.159 I learned about myself. I hate being seen. I 01:12:31.159 --> 01:12:33.739 know it sounds weird, but at the end of the day, 01:12:33.840 --> 01:12:36.439 I'm willing to go through that uncomfortable 01:12:36.439 --> 01:12:40.840 feeling if it can save somebody's life. That's 01:12:40.840 --> 01:12:42.880 what I'm chasing, and I know this is probably 01:12:42.880 --> 01:12:46.189 not healthy. I'm chasing that feeling of saving 01:12:46.189 --> 01:12:48.390 somebody's life again, and I want to save one 01:12:48.390 --> 01:12:50.470 of my friends' lives. That is my goal. I've lost 01:12:50.470 --> 01:12:54.430 five friends to suicide, and I'm done with it. 01:12:54.590 --> 01:12:57.649 So whatever it takes to end this, I'm going to 01:12:57.649 --> 01:13:02.510 keep going until it ends. Beautiful. Well, Blake, 01:13:02.569 --> 01:13:06.350 same question to you. Yeah, so you can find more 01:13:06.350 --> 01:13:09.869 information at easealert .com. That's E -A -S 01:13:09.869 --> 01:13:14.289 -E -A -L -E -R -T. EaseAlert, we're on Instagram, 01:13:14.649 --> 01:13:18.449 LinkedIn, and Facebook as well. I'm personally 01:13:18.449 --> 01:13:21.770 on LinkedIn, Blake Richardson. So a lot of information 01:13:21.770 --> 01:13:24.270 is on there. And we have a new website coming 01:13:24.270 --> 01:13:26.729 out really soon here. So we also have a new video, 01:13:26.770 --> 01:13:30.250 thanks to Andrew's feedback. And we've improved 01:13:30.250 --> 01:13:32.590 a lot of those materials to help you come to 01:13:32.590 --> 01:13:35.210 a website, understand what it is, and start bringing 01:13:35.210 --> 01:13:38.729 it to your department. What it is, it notifies 01:13:38.729 --> 01:13:42.329 you. It's your alerting system. So it can be 01:13:42.329 --> 01:13:44.529 an add -on. Let's say you have the latest and 01:13:44.529 --> 01:13:47.350 greatest. Your city just invested multi -million 01:13:47.350 --> 01:13:49.510 dollar project on the latest and greatest fire 01:13:49.510 --> 01:13:51.930 station alerting system. No problem. You can 01:13:51.930 --> 01:13:54.270 add EaseAlert right onto that. So it's still 01:13:54.270 --> 01:13:56.130 a great investment that you made. You don't have 01:13:56.130 --> 01:13:58.090 to tear anything out. You're just adding onto 01:13:58.090 --> 01:14:00.930 it and enhancing your capabilities with our tactile 01:14:00.930 --> 01:14:04.569 alerting. So you can shake the bunk on the wrist 01:14:04.569 --> 01:14:07.069 as well with the TAC pod. and then any other 01:14:07.069 --> 01:14:10.369 wireless alerting solutions as well. Or if let's 01:14:10.369 --> 01:14:12.869 say you're in a rural area, unable to afford 01:14:12.869 --> 01:14:15.430 that multimillion dollar project, but need something 01:14:15.430 --> 01:14:18.710 because you're waking up to buzzers from a high 01:14:18.710 --> 01:14:21.010 school basketball gym. I've seen that actually. 01:14:21.970 --> 01:14:24.909 You can get EaseAlert and install it in a day. 01:14:25.029 --> 01:14:27.050 It's a wireless system. Like I said, you just 01:14:27.050 --> 01:14:28.989 plug it into a wall outlet. You got your lights, 01:14:29.090 --> 01:14:31.369 you got your tactile alerts. We even do audible 01:14:31.369 --> 01:14:34.090 alerts as well. And it grows with you over time. 01:14:34.489 --> 01:14:37.470 So it's fully modular designed for your needs 01:14:37.470 --> 01:14:40.430 and your needs only today and into the future. 01:14:42.090 --> 01:14:44.430 Fantastic. Well, I want to thank you both. I'm 01:14:44.430 --> 01:14:46.829 excited to hear about, you know, when this does 01:14:46.829 --> 01:14:50.130 begin to integrate as well. But for now, you 01:14:50.130 --> 01:14:51.869 know, I think it's been an amazing conversation 01:14:51.869 --> 01:14:54.390 hearing these two kind of systems side by side. 01:14:54.430 --> 01:14:57.170 And, you know, again, as we said, layering these 01:14:57.170 --> 01:14:59.590 solutions, one of the things that really just 01:14:59.590 --> 01:15:01.710 irks me is when people say, oh, yeah, but it's 01:15:01.710 --> 01:15:05.010 complicated. There is no greater rhetoric of 01:15:05.010 --> 01:15:07.229 the coward than saying something like that. There 01:15:07.229 --> 01:15:09.489 are multiple parts to it. Yeah, of course. But 01:15:09.489 --> 01:15:11.350 when you go to the grocery store with a list, 01:15:11.489 --> 01:15:13.130 you don't go, oh, but there's lots of things 01:15:13.130 --> 01:15:15.739 I've got to buy. You just go aisle by aisle and 01:15:15.739 --> 01:15:17.720 you buy the things that you need for the day. 01:15:17.760 --> 01:15:19.899 It's the same as this. What are the problems? 01:15:20.159 --> 01:15:22.399 What are the things that we can use to improve 01:15:22.399 --> 01:15:25.079 each of those areas? So you guys have brought 01:15:25.079 --> 01:15:28.420 two amazing platforms to this conversation. So 01:15:28.420 --> 01:15:30.739 I want to thank you both for being so generous 01:15:30.739 --> 01:15:32.840 with your time today and coming on the Behind 01:15:32.840 --> 01:15:36.300 the Shield podcast. Thank you, James. Thanks, 01:15:36.479 --> 01:15:37.180 James. Appreciate it.