Emergency Preparedness: An Interview with Ketaily Technical Consulting

A crucial aspect of overdose response is training not only first responders, but the average citizen who will become equipped with the knowledge and resources to reverse an overdose before emergency services arrive. This notion can be extrapolated to all forms of emergency response, whether it’s residents learning how to evacuate when responding to a wildfire, or students knowing how to find safety during the chaos of an active shooter. This information is crucial to communicate to the general public, which is where Ketaily Technical Consulting comes in.

Founded by a father-and-son duo with over 45 collective years of experience in Southern California fire departments, Mike and Tim Ketaily are experts in all forms of emergency response, from crisis communications and risk assessments, to fire, life, and safety preparedness. Their work has made a tangible impact on institutions like community colleges throughout Southern California and is continuing to grow in size and scope.

In honor of International Overdose Awareness Day, we’re proud to collaborate with Ketaily Technical Consulting on a series of videos in the coming weeks that will explain how to use naloxone when it's needed most. In advance of those videos, we’re excited to share an interview with Mike and Tim and dive into their background and expertise that powers their work throughout the state. Read on below, and if you want more information on Ketaily Technical Consulting, head to their website here.

Can you tell me about your background as first responders? What inspired you to initially enter the field?

Mike Ketaily: I spent 35 years with a large, metropolitan Fire Department here in Southern California. I retired at the rank of Captain. When I was growing up, my parents had a friend who was a firefighter and he would come over occasionally. He always told me how much he enjoyed his job and I would visit his fire station occasionally. I loved his stories and they motivated me to apply when I was 18 years old. With his help and coaching, I went through the hiring process and was hired in August of 1980.

Tim Ketaily: I am an active duty captain and have been working as a firefighter for over a decade. I was very fortunate to grow up in a “First Responder Family” and was exposed to a culture of safety at a very young age. I have been very fortunate to have a great mentor within the fire service and have him as a business partner now.

When did the concept for Ketaily Technical Consulting come to fruition? What was your initial vision for the company?

Mike: Tim and I started talking about forming a company like this about 4 years ago. I was doing it as a sole proprietor for many years, but the opportunity to work with Tim as a team was very intriguing and it has turned out to be a bucket list item for me. Think about it, how many dads get to work with their son, start a company, enjoy the work and really help people be safer in their places of employment? Our focus initially was on community colleges and that is now most of our clients.

Tim: We were approached about a project at Pasadena City College and built the company while the work was being completed. After identifying a scope of work including training, assessments and experience we realized that there was a gap between the education system and first responders and because of our backgrounds in the fire service and education we have a unique ability to fill that gap. Our vision has changed as we have worked with more people, we want to extend our reach and make sure we can instill a culture of safety wherever we go.

Can you break down the importance of emergency training? How do you mold your methods for different settings (i.e. a residential building vs. a community college)?

Mike: We always knew the training was critical, but after the recent Eaton and Pasadena brush fires, it really hit home. Pasadena City College was our very first client, and they were heavily impacted by the Eaton Fire. Many of their staff and students lost their homes. The college itself was declared a food distribution center and a FEMA claims process center staffed by many of the employees that we had training. Their performance during these emergencies greatly benefitted the communities in Pasadena. We could directly observe that our training had paid off.

Tim: Emergency training is important but consistent emergency training is more critical. Regardless if we are training at a large scale organization or a home we strive to make training approachable, realistic and manageable. Emergencies are stressful enough, we always take a realistic approach, account for the human factor and identify areas of weakness. This attitude brings people back to the training table and makes them more knowledgeable.

As a communications major, I’m extremely intrigued by your crisis communications offering. Can you walk me through that process and what you equip your clients with?

Mike: We do provide Crisis Communication Training which includes effective messaging to the public and to the employees. We also teach proper radio use, emergency notification systems, and communicating to the Incident Management Team via WhatsApp. The use of WhatsApp was a suggestion from one of our clients and it has worked out so well! Both Tim and I established a "Family" WhatsApp community for immediate family use. We now recommend it to all of our clients.

Tim: We try to utilize “normal” communications methods whenever we can. People are already proficient in using their phones. We give our clients avenues to get information out to their teams, out to the public and the ability to maintain situational awareness by collecting information. Communication gaps are always the number one complaint when we come into a new program. We focus a huge amount of effort in fixing this.

You facilitated a massive active-shooter training – what kind of work goes into a high-intensity concept like this?

Mike: I worked at Oxnard College for many years as an instructor in their Fire Academy. One of the administrators asked me to facilitate a full scale Active Shooter Exercise on campus. It took approximately 6 months of internal and external meetings with all the stakeholders; OC employees, Oxnard Fire Department, Oxnard Police/Swat, Ventura County Sheriff, AMR ambulance, and the Ventura County Fire Department. We developed a classroom training for exercise participants and selected a location on campus for the training. I enlisted the help of 20 fire academy cadets to pose as victims. I hired a "moulage artist" to makeup the cadets with horrific injuries and gunshot wounds. One of the campus police officers posed as the "shooter" with a gun with dummy rounds. We scattered the cadets all over a selected building in various spots and told them to role play their injuries. The shooter was firing off the dummy rounds. Local police and fire were staged outside and eventually were told to enter the building to neutralize the shooter and treat all the victims. The police, fire and EMT personnel loved the exercise! So did the cadets. It was featured on the local news and in the newspapers. I was super proud of the efforts of all and OC was a safer place because of it.

You’re partnering with End Overdose for Overdose Awareness Day. Can you talk about the importance of equipping the wider population across California with naloxone?

Mike: We are very excited about the partnership with End Overdose. Opioid overdose has become such a huge epidemic and negatively impacts so many families. Being able to provide training, situational awareness and skills to everyday people is so important. We are proud to be part of that delivery!

Tim: The opioid epidemic is a massive problem, as a first responder I have seen first hand how opioid abuse negatively impacts families and entire communities. I have had close friends who have fallen victim to this. I believe these losses are preventable and am extremely excited for this opportunity with End overdose to save lives.

What do you envision for the future of Ketaily Technical Consulting?

Mike: The future of KTC is very bright! We currently have 10 community colleges under contract. A local city has contacted us recently to provide emergency training to their city employees. It seems obvious, but people desperately want to feel safe at their place of employment. Today's world is so unpredictable with fires, earthquakes, and active shootings. It seems like it's been one disaster after another lately. Tim and I have the experience as first responders and educators to provide a high level of quality training to make people feel safe.

Tim: In regards to the future of KTC, I am very fortunate to work with my father. Not many people have that opportunity. We are in a unique position to assist people in emergency training and preparedness. Our goal is to continue to reach people and provide our current clients with a high level product. We have recently launched an LMS and are excited for the potential growth.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Mike: I can't say enough about being able to do this with my son. His knowledge is current and has led us into developing an online learning management system that we really hope is effective. We really work well together and probably talk about 5 times per day. I really enjoy teaching with him in the classroom. He is such an effective teacher and that makes me really proud. Something funny: when I first started creating the company, I was investing into it and I asked Tim to invest some into it and I asked Tim to invest. I'll never forget his response: "I don't know Dad, $1000 is a lot to invest.” I still have his check posted on the wall and will never take it down!