Our mission

Developing solutions that bring results you need.

We are experienced emergency and crisis leaders who bring together the best resources and the best practices to find solutions to the most wicked problems.
Tom Sampson Calgary Emergency Management
Experienced

The power of experience can never be underestimated and the best solutions come from those that have weathered the storm.

9Zero Solutions Ltd.

My leadership history shows a proven track record of leading diverse groups and agencies through some of the most complex responses in Canadian history. Through the foundations of collaboration, innovation and hard work, together we can solve the most wicked problems. I can bring the team that you need.
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9Zero Solutions Ltd.

I bring the strength and network of experts from a broad range of disciplines. These are experts that have delivered in the most challenging circumstances and will continue to deliver for you.
Tom Sampson-Chief-CEMA-retired-EOC

Emergency Services

9Zero Solutions brings the experience of front line emergency services, balanced with the experience of senior leadership. This ensures solutions are strategic, balanced and can be implemented.

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Incident Management

Successful Incident Management requires sound principles, the use of best practices, and the leadership grit to make the hard decisions with the available information. Our experts can bring the experience of past events and the objectivity of a true crisis leader.
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Training and Exercises

At the core of all successful teams is people who know how and what they are supposed to do. Let us help you take your team to the next level.
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Coaching

Coaching is fundamental to successful team development. We can be the voice to help your team maintain perspective of the big picture and provide insight into the gaps that you may not have considered.

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Business Continuity

At 9Zero Solutions Ltd., we believe that effective Business Continuity Planning (BCP) requires active participation from your organization's personnel. Our role is to provide the tools, exercises, and templates necessary for your team to identify critical functions, assess risks, and develop tailored strategies. By fostering collaboration, we ensure that the resulting plans are comprehensive and deeply integrated into your organizational culture, empowering your departments to maintain and update their continuity plans to remain resilient against unforeseen disruptions.
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After-Action Reviews

9Zero Solutions Ltd. delivers tailored AAR services that address the specific needs of diverse stakeholders.Whether you're leading a Fire Department, an elected Council member or managing emergency responses, our objective evaluations and actionable recommendations are designed to enhance resilience and promote continuous improvement.

Communications

At the heart of every challenge is the need to communicate. With the experience of my team behind you, we will ensure timely, consistent and effective communications to all your stakeholders.

Tom’s Tenets

1. Always assume that staff start their work day with good intentions. They just don't wake up and say...am going to go in today and cause problems.

2. Seek first to understand what the staff member was doing and thinking around an issue - Explore with the employee where their assumptions are grounded. Once you have dug 50% more than you thought you needed to ask the employee, is there anything else I should understand. Once you're really sure you understand, work to have the employee understand your objectives focusing always on values and the issues. . Almost everything can be brought back to our prime focus of our business or profession. And everyone wants to be good at those.

3. No surprises! - Employees have the right to be informed by you of policies, programs and practices that impact. them, to be advised of performance expectations and to express their work-related needs and concerns in the reasonable belief that Management will respond constructively

4. a)Progressive system of dealing with issues - When dealing with a problem the employee they should know that they have something to address before you have to discipline them. Tell them at least two times before you take written action. Be progressive in your discipline. This never forgoes the right to act strongly when staff have lied, cheated, stolen from the organization, refused to respond to the public in an emergency or caused intentional harm to the patient.

4. b)What you allow, you encourage - Don't let the bad actors win. Employees must know that, when appropriate, you are willing to act and to deliver consequences. Don’t keep an employee you wouldn’t re-hire.

5. Earn trust - Practice the kinds of behavior that generate trust — honesty, loyalty, fairness, responsibility and integrity.

6. If you can't feel it, you can't lead it, and they won't do it - Seek to understand and align with the organization’s values and direction and then teach, enforce, advocate and model to infuse those core values into employees’ everyday decision making.

7. To get the best out of people, expect the best from them - Expect that employees will deal honestly with their employer and their co-workers, that they will act thoughtfully to protect the business interests and reputation and that they will give to their jobs the full measure of their knowledge, skill and abilities.

8. Hire for good attitude, character and intelligence, train for skills - A good attitude and character really counts. It is easier to train a person with a good attitude and character to do a job well than it is to develop character in a skilled but unprincipled employee. If you have to choose, hire for attitude and character then, train for skills.

9. To make a difference, be the difference - Do more than is required. Expand your circle of influence. Excellence comes from doing more than people expect of you.

10. Maintain a straight line of communication - Communicate directly with those you lead. You are responsible for creating a workplace characterized by open and constructive communication and the sharing of ideas for improvement of your service.

11. Nothing supercedes the use of good personal judgement in how you do your job. If you have questions or are in doubt, ask your immediate supervisor/manager.

Upon reviewing these again, some would say that I am naive. Over the years I have found very few people who did not respond well to this approach.