Attorney who Fought For Closed Cabs to Speak at FDSOA Event
Neil Rossman, the attorney who handled the landmark case against a fire truck manufacturer in 1985 and changed fire truck designs forever, will be the keynote at the Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s annual Apparatus Symposium and Safety Forum, Tuesday, January 17, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
Thirty-five years ago, Firefighter Joseph Tynan, Jr., fell off a fire engine in Brookline, Mass. Rossman, a former firefighter, took the case of the permanently disabled Tynan because it was too common for firefighters to be hurt from the open-cab design of fire trucks. In 1985, a Boston jury found the Wisconsin fire truck manufacturer liable for Mr. Tynan’s injuries. The impact was revolutionary on the industry and within a year fire trucks were radically re-designed.
Neil Rossman is a partner in the law firm of Rossman & Rossman and specializes in Superior Court trials involving medical malpractice, products liability and personal injury. He was a firefighter in the U.S. Army while on active duty and a professional firefighter for 6-1/2 years with the Swampscott, Mass., Fire Department. He has spoken over 45 times to fire service groups in the United States and Canada about fire service liability and firefighter occupational safety and health.
Rossman will be presenting during the Apparatus Symposium. The Apparatus Symposium and the Safety Forum will be co-located at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on I-Drive, Orlando, Florida. The Apparatus Symposium, January 16-18, will feature apparatus and ambulance specification and maintenance topics. Details and registration information can be found at on the event page .
The Safety Forum pre-conference program begins January 16-17, Dave Dodson and Shadd Whitehead will teach the two-day Incident Safety Officer class and Steve Raynis and Dan Melia will teach the two-day Health Safety Officer class preceding the start of the Safety Forum, Wednesday, January 18th to Friday, January 20th, 2017.
The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) was established in 1989 as a non-profit association, incorporated in Massachusetts. In 2013, the offices moved to Michigan. Its mission is to promote safety standards and practices in the fire, rescue and emergency services community. The association is led by a volunteer board of directors and has a small staff to handle the day-to-day operations. The association is dedicated to the issues that affect the critical role of the safety officer in protecting and promoting the safety and health responsibilities of fire departments, communities and first responders. FDSOA works to helps fire departments achieve proficiency and promote the recognition of training, skills and a secure future. In May 2016, FDSOA won the Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award for its work over 28 years, “as an organization fully dedicated to the health and safety of the nation’s firefighters.”
For more information about FDSOA, visit https://www.fdsoa.org/
