Education Sessions: Saturday, August 16
7 am – 8:15 am
Fire Corps’ mission is to increase the capacity of career, combination and volunteer fire/EMS departments by utilizing the resources of their local community. Residents support departments by performing non-operational roles, including fire-prevention education, grant writing, fundraising and administrative support. This session will help participants implement, maintain and expand new and existing programs. Concentrating on the steps to building a viable program, how to engage the community and how to maintain a program, participants will have a blueprint for how to start and maintain a successful Fire Corps program, as well as a foundation for future growth.
Lori Moon, Program Manager, Fire Corps
Recruitment continues to be a challenge for most fire departments seeking to reflect the diversity of their communities. This workshop will provide practical methods for recruiting and developing sustainable relationships with the African American, Asian American and Hispanic communities in your area, as well as with women’s groups. A panel of four fire-service leaders from each of these groups, including the chief of the most diverse fire department in the country, will discuss and answer questions about how to develop recruitment strategies adapted to the cultural norms of these four major groups.
Debra J. Jarvis, Fire Chief, Ret., Public Safety Consultant, Debra J. Jarvis Consulting and Training; Debra Amesqua, Fire Chief, Madison Fire Department, Madison (WI)
Each year, accidents involving fire apparatus make up the second leading cause of line-of-duty deaths. A three-year study, covering more than 1,000 U.S. fire departments, indicated six areas controlled by the departments’ management that had a direct effect on the frequency and severity of fire-apparatus accidents. This study confirmed several items that risk management has relayed to fleet managers for years, but now actual and numerical proof is at hand. While this information is vital to fire chiefs and commissioners, it is also important to anyone involved in fleet-safety management.
Bill Tricarico, Director, Loss Control Services, Emergency Services Insurance Program
More firefighters die in the line of duty from heart attacks than from any other cause. In addition, slips, trips and falls represent the greatest source of firefighter injuries. There is strong reason to suggest that these two hazards of firefighting are influenced by a common factor—heat stress. Information will be presented from the ongoing heat-stress research being conducted at the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, as well as engineering and fireground operational techniques and best practices used to mitigate against the effects of heat stress.
Gavin Horn, PhD, Research Program Coordinator and Interim Director Illinois Homeland Security Research Center, University of Illinois Fire Service Institute; Denise L. Smith, PhD, Research Scientist, University of Illinois Fire Service Institute
One of the key components of the mission of the IAFC is to provide information, education and services to the fire and emergency service. The National Programs Department, in partnership with governmental agencies and other associations, manages almost 20 programs that affect many aspects of today’s fire departments. This class will provide an update on the many programs managed by the IAFC, including mutual aid programs, the Fire Service Leadership Partnership, the Hazmat Fusion Center and the National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting Program.
Ed Plaugher, Director of National Programs, International Association of Fire Chiefs
7 am–10 am
The June 18, 2007 Sofa Super Store fire, which resulted in the deaths of nine Charleston firefighters, is destined to become a landmark event in the American fire service. This session will present a comprehensive analysis of the Sofa Superstore Incident and the role of the Post Incident Analysis and Review Team in conducting a detailed review of the Charleston Fire Department and a comprehensive analysis of the incident. The presentation will also discuss the development of a strategic plan to implement the recommendations produced by the organizational review and the incident analysis.
All six members of the Post Incident Analysis and Review Team will participate in the presentation and will discuss a wide range of issues, including local politics, labor relations, legal concerns and implications, media relations and interactions with multiple agencies involved in the investigation. The team members will also discuss the influence of Charleston’s ISO Class One grading on the overall situation and the implications of codes, code enforcement, incentives, legislative actions and pre-fire planning. The discussion will also address the psychological impact of a traumatic event on the members of the fire department, surviving family members and others associated with the events that occurred in Charleston. The presentation should provide valuable information for all fire chiefs who are committed to preventing line-of-duty deaths and chiefs who recognize the need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios.
J. Gordon Routley, Program Specialist, Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program; Michael Chiaramonte, Chief Fire Inspector, Ret., Lynbrook Fire Department, Lynbrook, NY; Brian Crawford, Assistant Chief, Shreveport Fire Department, Shreveport, LA; Pete Piringer, Chief PIO, Montgomery Country Fire and Rescue, Rockville, MD; Kevin Roche, Assistant Fire Marshal, Phoenix Fire Department, Phoenix, AZ; Timothy Sendelbach, Editor, FireRescue Magazine
8:30 am–10 am
801: High Profile Fires in California
California fire and emergency response officials will present and discuss the events surrounding the wildland fire emergency in Southern California last October. They will discuss all aspects of the fire siege, including interagency response, operational problems and decisions and post-fire ramifications. Plus, this session will also include a presentation on the logistical and operational elements of battling the recent fires that blazed through Universal Studios.
William R. Metcalf, Fire Chief, North County Fire Protection District, Fallbrook, CA; P. Michael Freeman, Fire Chief, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles, CA
The NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program has developed a train-the-trainer program to help fire departments start a health and wellness program focusing on cardiac health. This session will focus on nutrition, fitness, medical standards, behavior change and various other factors in maintaining a health and wellness program.
Gail Fast, VP of Marketing, L&T Health and Fitness; Maggie E. Wilson, Director of Health and Safety, National Volunteer Fire Council
In this session, we will discuss leadership styles and when each style is appropriate. We will also discuss the political aspect of being a leader in the fire service today, including how to tell when you’re leading your department and when you’re being chased. Dealing with unions, career members, volunteers and administrative staff takes skill, finesse, courage and compassion; this session discusses when and how to employ each style of leadership.
Bett Clark, Chief of Fire and Rescue, Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue Department, Albuquerque (NM); Mike Jaffa, Deputy Chief-Volunteer Section Chief, Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue Department, Albuquerque (NM)
This humorous session will look at how to survive on the fireground by learning to read conditions and rapidly evolving, often conflicting factors of the environment: from the fireground to the chief officer’s world, which is full of situational landmines such as labor unions, elected officials, organization politics, shifting sands of the environments. The presentation will use humor to teach you how to read the tea leaves to survive and lead through change.
Billy Goldfeder, Deputy Chief, Loveland-Symmes Fire Department, Mason (OH); Todd LeDuc, Deputy Fire Chief, Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue, Ft. Lauderdale (FL)
