FirstWatch History, & Its Future: Marc Baker Looks Back
I sat down with Marc Baker, vice president and partner at FirstWatch, who is retiring from this position to spend more time with his family. Marc joined FirstWatch in 2002 and in the intervening 23 years has seen the firm grow exponentially, in terms of staff, technological capability, and scope. We wish him a happy and well-earned retirement. — Crawford Coates
How did you come to working with Todd and FirstWatch?
I was at a firm called KGB Media. The name came from the founders’ last name initials: Jake Knight, Keith Griffiths, and me. The three of us had a one-room office where we were doing media, advertising, and public relations work. Todd Stout, the founder and CEO of FirstWatch, had a small office in the same building. Keith had worked with Todd’s father, Jack Stout, when Keith was the editor at JEMS. So that’s how we got to know each other.
Everything changed with the tragedy of September 11, which was followed immediately by a series of anthrax attacks. American public safety was suddenly on the frontlines. Jerry Overton at the Richmond (Va.) Ambulance Authority was the first to deploy FirstWatch for bio-surveillance and terrorism monitoring and alerting, which led to significant interest in what we were doing at FirstWatch. Todd approached KGB Media for help with the press inquiries.
Very quickly, KGB Media took over sales, accounting, and marketing for FirstWatch, allowing Todd to focus on software development. I enjoyed my work at FirstWatch so much that I soon left KGB Media, which then became RedFlash Group. I became Todd’s business partner.
As vice president and partner at FirstWatch you’ve overseen and led some big projects. What are some of your proudest accomplishments here?
I’m going to give you five things that stand out.
First, I loved moving to newer, bigger offices. Every time we moved, we doubled our square footage. We went from 945 square feet
at the Encinitas Lumberyard to 2,500 square feet in the Corp Center to nearly 10,000 square feet at Palomar Point. In fact, we were poised to move into a 16,000-square-foot place, but COVID-19 prevented that. Still, my favorite was cramming into our original office at the Lumberyard. We only had two rooms, and we all crammed in there: one small room for the engineers, while the servers were in our copy room.
Second, I’ve loved seeing our headcount grow. We’re now around 80 people, with an office and also people working dispersed across the country.
Third, a highlight of my career was seeing Todd and his father, Jack, receive awards together at Fitch and Associates’ Pinnacle Conference. Todd got the EMS Leadership Award, and Jack was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award. I treasured the time I got to work with my own father, so it was special to see them share the stage together.
Fourth, I still remember selling our first regional system, which included multiple computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems (TriTech and Intergraph), to Contra Costa County. I was left alone in the booth, and next thing you know …
Fifth, I love watching folks come to work for us and find their own success here. I have been able to step back from my day-to-day and watch this happen, and it’s just so gratifying.
FirstWatch, with a new COO and now entering the AI era, is at something of a crossroads. What do you think the biggest changes are that you’ve seen at the company in your time here?
Our product and offerings started as a bio-surveillance monitoring and alerting system. Today, FirstWatch is a proven, industry-leading system that offers automated analytics to
more than 200 public safety and public health software systems. We provide our customer-partners with user-defined data visualizations, dashboards, and alerts for mission-critical performance, operational, quality, and situational awareness measures. FirstWatch helps protect both citizens and first responders not just every day, but every minute. We are integral to their operations and make them better.
You are at heart a coach. Now that you’re moving on to spend more time with family, you will continue in that role. What are some of the evolutions in public safety you’ve seen recently and what, as a coach, do you think are the challenges and opportunities ahead?
The most significant opportunity is to harness AI, the vast amounts of data we have, and our customers’ data to provide even more comprehensive reports and alerts that can alter the trajectory of a potentially devastating incident. For the past 25 years, I have heard my first responder friends say, “If I had only known sooner …”
AI can serve as a turbocharger, quickly grinding through vast amounts of data to uncover helpful intel.
“I wish I knew sooner” continues to be our biggest challenge. I will never forget a webinar I was on during the height of COVID-19 with emergency department doctors. One of them broke down and began crying because of how hard it was to take care of his team. It wasn’t just his patients. It was the nurses, respiratory therapists, and paramedics transporting the extremely sick folks to the overcrowded EDs. I hope we can continue to assist our customer partners with tracking concerning incidents and helping to mitigate the impact on everyone from dispatch to the field. First responders take care of us when we need them, and we need to take care of them. I see this as a challenge and an opportunity for FirstWatch.
