About This Episode
Welcome back to Catching Wildfire! On this episode, Chief Jeff Johnson and Chief Kim Zagaris speak with David Blankinship, President of Emergent. David shares how his background has contributed to the technical evolutions and innovations at Emergent. During the episode, they delve into how Emergent’s fire apparatus hotspots and architectural design are making a difference in the fire industry.
About The Speaker
David has over 25 years of experience in Public Safety. He started in the Colorado Springs Fire Department and served as the Senior GIS Analyst applying technology to all-hazard risk analysis, tactical fireground support for major incidents and multiple national deployments. He has co-founded multiple Public Safety startups, including Intterra, an analytics and geospatial situational awareness company that produces software for public safety supporting municipal operations, wildland firefighting, performance analysis and pre-planning.
Episode 2 Show Notes
Emergent: Revolutionizing Fire and EMS Through Data Integration
Main Message: Emergent is transforming public safety by acting as the “connective tissue” that integrates real-time data from vehicles, personnel, and incidents to reduce cognitive load and improve long-term firefighter health.
Key Points
1. The “Connective Tissue” Concept: David Blankenship, Lead at Emergent and CTO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, describes Emergent not as a traditional records management system, but as a platform that bridges the gaps between fleet telemetry, incident command, EMS, and inspections. It allows disparate hardware and software to communicate, creating a unified “nerve center” for fire departments.
2. Reducing Cognitive Demand: A primary goal of the technology is to automate administrative tasks. By using “Legos” (telemetry control units) on fire trucks, the system can passively record data—such as when a pump is engaged or water is flowing—so that firefighters can focus entirely on the emergency rather than manual reporting.
3. Prioritizing Firefighter Health: Beyond operational efficiency, the platform is designed to track long-term health risks. By documenting every exposure to carcinogens and cardiac stress over a 25-year career, the data can be used to intervene early and reduce the high incidence of job-related cancer and heart disease.
4. Interoperability and Data Ownership: Emergent operates on a philosophy of open data. Unlike systems that “hold data hostage,” Emergent ensures that fire departments own their information and can move it freely between different specialized tools, fostering a more flexible and efficient technological ecosystem.
5. The AI Frontier: Blankenship predicts that AI will be as revolutionary as the internal combustion engine for public safety. In the next 18 months, AI “agents” will move beyond simple chat tools to handle complex workflows, such as automatically drafting patient care reports (PCRs) and providing instant data-driven answers during city council budget hearings.
Notable Quotes
“I just want to be the connective tissue for fire and EMS… I just want to be laser focused and not necessarily be an RMS. I am by virtue of I’m connective tissue, but I have to always be constantly focused on the field.”
— David Blankenship, Lead at Emergent and CTO of Western Fire Chiefs Association
“You’re essentially the nerve center that gets all the various pieces throughout this public safety body connected back to one brain where we can do something with it.”
— Jeff Johnson, Senior Policy Advisor for Western Fire Chiefs Association
“The 800-pound gorilla in the fire services is ops. Solve an operational problem and you’ll have someone’s attention.”
— David Blankenship, Lead at Emergent and CTO of Western Fire Chiefs Association
Conclusion
This discussion highlights a shift in public safety technology from isolated software tools to integrated ecosystems. By focusing on “perfect data” and passive collection, Emergent aims to support the responder’s intuition rather than distract from it. For fire service leaders, the takeaway is clear: the future of the profession lies in leveraging interoperable data to not only improve incident outcomes but also to safeguard the long-term health and safety of the personnel on the front lines.