National Blue Light Users' Conference

Background

The Annual National Blue Light Users' Conference is aimed at all those who manage or train drivers who during the course of their work drive emergency vehicles. It is also relevant to those who manage health and safety and occupational road risk issues for all staff within the emergency services and those who are involved in casualty reduction.

Over the years the Conference has become an important event in the diary for the emergency services and has gained a reputation and credibility with Government and its agencies and other organizations concerned in any way with the emergency services.

2010 Conference Chairman

Kevin Day, Driver Training Manager for West Midlands Fire Service is the 2010 NBLUC Conference Chairman.

On leaving school in 1971, Kevin joined what was then Warwickshire & Coventry Constabulary as a Police Cadet. The following year he learnt to drive with the police and once a Police Constable was immediately driving police vehicles. By now he was a member of Warwickshire Constabulary as Coventry had become part of the West Midlands.

By the end of 1975 he decided on a change of career, leaving the police, Kevin joined West Midlands Fire Service and following training was posted to Solihull. Within one year he had passed his LGV Course and become a fire appliance driver. With no training on driving to incidents, it was a case of watching others and picking out the best and worst aspects of each driver. This was followed by becoming an operator/driver of hydraulic platforms.

Kevin has always enjoyed driving and being competitive and started taking part in the brigade driving competition, winning in 1987 and 1988. The brigade used to enter drivers into the regional Lorry driver of the Year Competition; in 1988 he won the regional competition in his class and went to the National Finals at Cranfield Airfield. In this his first year he won what was then Class ‘C’; and followed this by competing in the National Finals for the next five years, finishing within the top eight drivers each time. After this he became part of the organising group for the Wolverhampton Lorry Driver of the Year, joined the national organising committee and continued as a national organiser until the competition ceased to take place in 2003.

During this time Kevin had become a Sub Officer and fire service driving instructor. Once again he attended a police driving course as part of his training along with specialist courses on various types of vehicles/appliances. He continued in the role of driving instructor, working in several locations within the West Midlands carrying out LGV, EFAD, Responding Officer courses and other training on all types of specialist appliances until retirement in May 2006. He re-joined West Midlands Fire Service as Driver Training Manager in June 2006. Over a period of time he has developed working partnerships with other brigades, police forces and road safety organisations such as RoSPA, IAM and BRAKE.

Kevin is a member of AIRSO and holds the Portfolio Holder for Emergency Services. and serves in this capacity on the Association’s Road Safety Group. Outside of work he enjoy walking, mainly in the Lake District, cycling and sailing, recently taking part as a crew member in the Fastnet Race.

2010 National Blue Light Users' Conference

The 13th National Blue Light Users' Conference will be held at the Hinckley Island Hotel on 1st & 2nd September 2010. A programme of speakers for both days of the conference will be announced in the near future

A pdf version of the NBLUC brochure is available, giving details of the conference, including Conference Packages and costs, Programme content and an application form, to be printed off and returned.

We appreciate the support of our sponsors and look forward to announcing conference sponsors for 2010.

The Association invites a number of people to exhibit at the National Blue Light Users Conference who offer services and products which are relevant to the emergency services. Any businesses or organisation who wish to receive such an invitation should make contact with the Secretary of AIRSO Graham Feest on 01903 506095 or via email at airso@talk21.com in order to obtain an Exhibitors Pack which provides the details and arrangements about exhibiting.

Exhibitors for 2010 will be featured here in due course.

NBLUC Reference Group

AIRSO established for the 2009 Conference a NBLUC Reference Group who have the responsibility of gathering and feeding in ideas with regard to promoting the conference and assisting with the development of both the programme and the exhibition. The contact details for each of the Reference Group Members is given below and we invite those involved within our emergency services, whether statutory, private or voluntary to make contact with any Member of the Group should they have questions or ideas about the conference.