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Nationally, PREVENTS is the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide. HeroLight Training is proud to provide 9-1-1 PREVENTS to empower our call-taking community with the knowledge to positively interact with Veterans experiencing periods of crisis. 16 Veterans per day take their own life. While this is down from 22 per day, this number is still unacceptable. When these Veterans are in a state of crisis, quite often, the calls come to 9-1-1 for help. These calls may be veiled in other nature codes such as domestic violence, disturbances, fights, or thefts, yet through listening for key indicators. The call-takers will be armed with the knowledge to identify that the root cause of the incident is a Veteran in crisis so they may notify the field responders. This course will focus on training public safety call-takers to recognize Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Syndrome symptoms, traumatic brain injury signs and symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicidal risk factors, and the Veteran's aversion behaviors. Additionally, this course will focus on verbal de-escalation and containment through the power of active listening skills and verbal intervention techniques. Call-takers will be provided a wide variety of tools and suggestions to communicate with Veterans that are also transferrable to other callers the call-takers may interact with. This course will look into triaging the calls for service, including the potential of diversion to mobile mental health crisis response and the use of safety plans.

Through this course, the call-taker will be guided through communication with various types of despondent callers, including adults, youth, and the elderly in crisis. Information will be shared to establish an understanding of suicidal erosion, warning signs of suicidal ideology, and the PLAID PALS clinical assessment tool. The course will go in-depth into active listening skills to establish a rapport and earn the caller's trust, as well as verbal containment techniques. Unique suicidal methods will also be addressed, including chemical suicide and suicide by cop.

It is no secret that working in 9-1-1 is inherently stressful, so in this course, we will begin by understanding what stress is and what causes stress, including the four major categories of stress, two types of stress, and four stress responses. The causes of stress for the Public Safety Telecommunicator will be reviewed, including the stress caused by critical incidents in the work environment, on top of personal or home-caused stresses. Once all the stressors have been identified, this course will evolve into stress management and coping techniques. When those techniques are exhausted, the PST will also be exposed to various resources available, such as peer support and critical incident stress management.

This course encompasses not only the civil and legal repercussions of liability but also addresses the topic of personal and professional ethical conduct. Topics incorporated include types of 911 liability, elements of negligence claims, and incorporation of national standards, including the ADA, specifically regarding the TDD. Next, students will discuss the public expectations of service and how they drive our profession. The need for core ethics, values, and mission statements helps identify how to do the next right thing and the potential consequences of violating your code of ethics. Information about four general areas of ethical concerns and ethical leadership in public safety communications will be discussed..

Solar Eclipse Call-Taking is an encompassing course created to discuss solar eclipses, the science behind them, and their multi-day impact on a community, as the impact on public safety services is much longer than the time span of the eclipse. That community impact will include factors such as traffic, boating, hiking, and aviation dangers, as well as the potential physical and emotional impacts on the community. The course will dive deep into various call types that may see an increase from out-of-area visitors, as well as eclipse impact and some suggestions to mitigate these calls. Next, students will look at the challenges faced by public safety infrastructure, including anticipated telephony challenges, potential workarounds, and land/mobile radio. We will discuss lessons learned from other organizations as they faced similar multi-day events and self-care for the team.

This exciting new boot camp will begin with a review of foundational leadership principles, including strengthening self-awareness, re-calibrating unacceptable patterns, and closing gaps in skills, knowledge, confidence, and how to focus on what matters most. Next, there will be a discussion on the need to lead with an emphasis on empathy and kinship to increase team productivity and engagement and allow all personnel to feel respected. This will reduce staff burnout and increase team loyalty. Then, the workshop will delve into servant leadership and how information feeds and accountability.

This exciting new boot camp will begin with a review of foundational leadership principles, including strengthening self-awareness, recalibrating unacceptable patterns, and closing gaps in skills, knowledge, confidence, and how to focus on what matters most. Next, there will be a discussion on the need to lead with an emphasis on empathy and kinship to increase team productivity and engagement and allow all personnel to feel respected. This will reduce staff burnout and increase team loyalty. Then, the workshop will delve into servant leadership and how information feeds and accountability.

New research in the neuroscience of effective leadership will be shared, along with an introduction to how neuroscience deepens our understanding of team responses to change and how to utilize it in organizational and technological change leadership. Attendees will review the 8 stage process to create organizational change, including developing synergy from within by involving your team in successfully implementing technological changes, upgrades, and operations. 

The workshop will continue with tips on effectively developing personnel through the SCARF Model, which identifies the five social qualities that drive human behavior. This understanding will assist leaders in emotionally intelligent conversations, enhancing positive organizational culture through a review of identity, group dynamics, and psychological safety. Next, the workshop covers the foundations of leading during a crisis and the seven steps of using chaos to build long-term resilience. 

This course is a two-day workshop.

In 2022, the U.S. wildfire activity remains higher than the 10-year national average for the number of fires and acres burned. In the U.K., in the summer of 2022, the London fire service experienced its busiest day since World War II. All of this wildland fire activity is statistically common, as, over the past 20 years, wildfires have increased in size and duration. As the fires have grown, they have also grown in destruction. This course will examine the cause of this wildland fire crisis, including increasing fuels and an ever-warming climate. In addition, this course will look into the 3 types of wildland fires, unique weather patterns of wildfires, and the Telecommunicator's roles and responsibilities in supporting fire service crews.

Calls involving mental health challenges are rapidly increasing & agencies are adopting a more proactive response. This one-stop class provides the base of knowledge needed to be combined with active exposure to calls. Students will be shown how to define and recognize various mental illnesses. We will cover suicidal ideation, the four common types of suicidal callers, and suicide by cop. Several calls will give students practice in utilizing the active listening skills wheel, caution phrases, The REACCT model, the behavioral change stairway, and the four triggers of the SAFE model. Class is appropriate for seasoned telecommunicators, the new, as well as those dedicated to mental health-related call-taking. 

When faced with a fire situation in a high-rise, defined as a building where the floor of an occupied story is greater than 75 feet above the lowest level, the fire department experiences various unique challenges that require pre-planning, training, and understanding. The response will likely include rapid ascent teams (RATs), lobby control/fire command operations, standpipe system operations, air replenishment systems (FARs), and crew and staging locations. The response will entail utilizing pre-fire planning in the emergency operations plan (EOP). The public safety telecommunicators must also understand the evacuation types and needs based on fireproof and non-fireproof buildings. Communications may be impaired based on the construction of the building, so the telecommunicator must also be aware of fire and building codes requiring radio enhancement systems (RES/BDA). This is a comprehensive course meant to bring dispatchers and their supervisors to a partnership level of operating strategies within communications, meeting field needs.

Complacency is perhaps the most deadly trait in public safety. There is no such thing as a "routine" call for service. No two situations, shifts, or months are ever the same. Yet, over time handling numerous critical emergencies allows public safety personnel to fall into a false sense of security in the processing of less urgent situations. During this interactive workshop, attendees take a deep dive into various liability concepts where complacency has been a factor. This workshop will extensively use case studies to illustrate where complacency has affected the various public safety disciplines.

This vital course will focus on the Fire/EMS responses to Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER), following the guidelines set forth in NFPA 3000. The communications team will learn and/or be refreshed on the best of what we know on how to partner with our field units in this current volatile environment. Administrative topics will include the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for a pre-planned response, required plans and procedures, data and information sharing, and radio communications interoperability. Operational topics include the benchmarks that should be documented, understanding the various response elements, and TEMS units.

In this center-changing class, bully types & approaches will be taught so attendees can identify bullying behavior within their center & themselves. We will train on the psychological origin of this behavior and triggers for it within a 9-1-1 center. This class is appropriate for teams to attend together, from line personnel to directors. Bully Proofing is everyone's responsibility. The healthiest agencies start by bully-proofing new team members still in training. We will train on the steps for breaking the bully cycle and specifics on how to work one-on-one with a bully and the survivor to bully-proof the future. Included in this course are area-specific statistics.

Active threat calls have become numbingly common over the last decade, regardless of community size. This course will help dispatchers, call takers, supervisors, and those who support prepare to work against these threats - full-scale active shooters, cases of vehicle ramming, or cutting attacks. The internationally recognized 6-step pathway to active assailant violence and the rapid response, rapid deployment response model will be taught. Also covered will be mechanisms to detract from vehicle ramming and the reason that assailants are increasing the use of cutting instruments. This course will also address improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as they can be a diversionary tactic for a larger-scale attack, or they may be the mechanism of attack. 

Students will be updated on the latest what we know about call-taking and dispatch techniques during an active threat call. Supervisors will receive information on how you manage the room and channels, while the administration will receive plans to guide the aftermath and long-term health of the agency. Our Founder, Tracy Ertl, was first exposed to active threat calls in 2007 while in Omaha, Nebraska, during their December mall active shooter. Attendees will be brought to that scene via recovered video narrated by Ertl or a HeroLight instructor.

The holidays are stressful for society and lead to an increase in certain call types such as domestic disturbances, traffic accidents, suicidal callers and reports, etc. The component we need to understand better is the end-of-year expectations and, as telecommunicators, the "look back" concept of totality that can often grab us. Unless trained on it, dispatchers can be caught off guard by feelings of compounded grief and loss, with a hard hit often coming when we need more peace and resilience, not less. This course is designed for all staff to recognize the changes brought to society during the holidays that specifically impact callers, calls, information, and strategy in the 911 center. Utilizing call data, students will learn the science of moving through the holidays in 911. As a class community, we will analyze a selection of holiday-related calls and teach a plan for successfully working during this critical time of year. Attendees will work with trauma therapist Rebecca Hubbard on the 911 team warning signs of grief and loss while training specifically on how to prepare ahead.

Fine-tuning dispatching and calltaking is an ongoing process for public safety 911 professionals and part of the continual reinventing of oneself in a long, impactful career. This course is broad-spectrum and appropriate for several dispatch categories, including new telecoms; existing telecoms hoping to learn the latest techniques; progressive trainers to gain teaching ideas; supervisors or managers seeking a fix-it for baseline skills. Using tremendous caller, responder, and dispatch audio, attendees will dissect great calls and actively work with instructors to formulate excellent CAD notes and dispatch responses. In addition, students will learn the 10 Do's of Dispatching and the 10 Dos of Calltaking. This course is constructed not only to help new employees but to reinvigorate seasoned dispatchers as well as re-sharpen those who have been gone on leave or re-entering the industry.

HC911, created by HeroLight Training Founder Tracy Ertl, is a step-by-step guide to total 911 center rejuvenation. Controlling negativity & lifting morale within the agency leads to healthy retention, recruitment, longevity & staff happiness. Attendees will learn the 4 HeroLight Steps to achieving this dynamic culture shift. Physical & mental health strategies, camaraderie-building activities; & critically necessary information on diversity and generational communication techniques will all be covered. You are going to love your 9-1-1 center. Supervisors, directors, and line staff should consider attending together. 

Human Trafficking is a cutting-edge course for public safety designed to bring call-takers, dispatchers, and field personnel inside the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world. The state of Texas is in the top 5 states as a gateway for trafficking. Public safety personnel will learn the cause and what trafficking looks like in their communities. Students will be taught what questions to ask and how to process calls, while dispatchers will learn what information to look for. Guest instructors for the course include a San Francisco-area human trafficking survivor and a modern-day rescuer on the front lines of this criminal epidemic.

Critical information will be provided to help attending agencies formulate a plan to combat trafficking and assist the most vulnerable in their communities. Managers will receive assistance in creating effective policies and procedures to work alongside the latest information available.

Stress and the chance for miscommunication in our 911 centers are the highest they have ever been. Students will first be led through their own personal stress survey to get a baseline. We will then study physical, emotional, and organizational stress within a 911 center, identifying locations, symptoms, and then positive combatants. Suitable for operational staff as well as management. Creating center-wide stress pressure relievers will be introduced. Finally, we will work with the 10 identified communication strategies to employ during a Pandemic or ongoing crisis in the center, using psychological research. 

Especially suited for new or soon-to-be-promoted supervisors, students will assess their current leadership traits while being taught the 5 foundations of managing during a crisis. Further work will be explored in processing the 7 steps of using chaos to build long-term team resilience. Conflict resolution in the unique communications center environment and cutting-edge concepts on operational supervision when under duress will also be taught. Students are asked to have a current team roster available as well as a notebook for exercises.

On the frontline, wedged between dynamic call-takers/dispatchers and administration, we find the modern-day Comm Center Supervisor. In one day, supervisors will emerge refreshed, re-focused, empowered, and ready to lead into Next Generation 911. Meant for tenured supervisors as well as those new to the mission, attendees will learn the latest techniques available for supervising present-day 911 teams. Included will be real-life help in  increasing positive culture, reducing bullying, and adapting to quickly changing technology. Students will be led through exercises meant to increase resilience, confidence, and overall health in the position. Detroit-based empowerment expert Grace Liang will teleconference with all participants. Books of encouragement will be provided. Ideal for supervisors to attend alone or for teams to experience together.

Public Safety communicators cradle the community, as well as their center field responder families. If you work long enough in public safety, you will encounter a "When It's Your Own" moment and potentially many. The ability to move through it, get the job done, and recover in the aftermath is decided long before the event. What mental preparations have staff made in advance for a worst-case scenario, too close an event? Survival as an individual and team are reliant in part on preparation ahead of time with individual training, a known notification process, organized resources, and planned outcome. A planned outcome means deciding ahead of time that your team will survive even worse. This course is appropriate for all roles in the center and is especially effective if multiple members of a 911 staff attend. Direct and impactful, we will train on line-of-duty injury and death within a center and extend to field families. Also included will be exposure to how to manage to receive or dispatch calls involving loved ones, friends, neighbors, and known community members. Instructors will use specific examples, and there will be guest 911 lecturers relating their own experiences and how they navigated. Additionally, students will be provided with trauma clinician insight and a pathway to surviving "When It's Your Own." Managers or directors in attendance will be trained on how to update or create center procedures for handling the most life-changing traumas.