Join us in Nashville for Firehouse Expo, Oct. 18-22.
This year's conference provides a number of educational and networking opportunities for those interested in learning more about strategy and tactics, command and modern day hazards. Following is a comprehensive look at sessions related to firefighter safety, health and wellness.
Hands-on Sessions
These four- and eight-hour sessions include hands-on training. Attendees must pre-register for these programs, which take place Oct. 18 and 19.
LIVE FIRE / RIT Under Fire
Gary Coney, Relief Lieutenant, Chicago FD
This program provides firefighters with the skills to effectively operate as a member of a rapid-intervention team (RIT), including firefighter drags and carries, breaching, heavy lifting with hydraulic and pneumatic tools, cutting utilizing a variety of torches, and hands-on, scenario-based, training involving a firefighter mayday. Skills are practiced under Live Fire conditions.
First-Due Tactical Operations for Chemical Incident Hazards: Meth Lab, Chemical Suicides, CO and Related Emergencies
Phil Ambrose, Hazardous Materials Captain, Glendale (CA) FD
Students will respond to scenarios set in an “as real as it gets” environment with instructors who are also responders. Students will learn proper air-monitoring techniques, how to recognize different types of methamphetamine labs, see the signs related to potential chemical suicide and learn the decontamination challenges with each type of incident.
Preconference Sessions
These four- and eight-hour sessions include in-depth discussions on a variety of topics. Attendees must pre-register for these programs, which take place on Oct. 19.
Flawed Situational Awareness: The Stealth Killer of First Responders
Rich Gasaway, Gasaway Consulting Group
Situational awareness is one of the leading contributing factors to near-misses and LODDs among first responders. If we are going to reduce responder casualty incidents, we must first improve our ability to develop and maintain situational awareness under stress. This program provides attendees with a thorough understanding of situational awareness.
H.O.T. for Marriage Workshop
Lori Mercer, Founder, 24/7 Commitment
This 3-hour workshop includes talks and hands-on activities that firefighter couples perform together to strengthen their marriage, especially as it pertains to the challenges and benefits of the fire life. All activities are performed within a classroom (i.e. we aren't spraying water at this one!)
Mayday Operations: Outside In versus Inside Out
Pat Dale, Chief of Operations (ret.) Olympia (WA) FD
This session highlights contemporary best practices for managing maydays. Students will learn how to prevent maydays, when to declare a mayday, how to address fire-control needs, how to structure and control communications, and how to deploy an on-deck rapid intervention team. We will also examine the contemporary help order and how to apply it.
Meth: It's Everywhere
Mike Wilkerson, Captain/Hazardous Materials, Nashville (TN) FD
This 4-hour awareness program is geared to all first responders and will discuss up-to-date, state-of-the-art procedures for identifying, isolating and mitigating any type of meth lab present in America today. This presentation is a must-see for firefighters, regardless of location, urban or rural.
The Kill the Flashover Project: Science Informs Tactics
Warren Whitley, Deputy Chief - KTF Learns, Kill the Flashover (KTF)
Using science, the Kill the Flashover Project has explored ways to improve size-ups and tactics with the intent to cause fires to decrease prior to and during firefighter entry. This class will examine test/demo data, case studies and videos from the project, and will include audience discussions.
The Fundamentals of Firefighter Functional Fitness
Dan Kerrigan, Assistant Fire Marshal, East Whitehead (PA) FD
Jim Moss, Metro West Fire Protection District, St. Louis County (MO)
Firefighters will be taught the importance of functional fitness and how to apply it to their lives through four fundamentals: flexibility/core strength, cardiovascular capacity, strength training and nutrition/lifestyle. The instructors offer a holistic approach to improving fireground performance while reducing the risk of firefighter injury and LODD.
A Look Inside the Illicit Manufacturing of Butane Hash Oil and the Dangers to First Responders
Siegfried Klein, Captain, Aurora (CO) FD
On January 1, 2014, Colorado enacted Amendment 64, which made recreational use and possession of marijuana and hash oil legal for people 21 years of age and older. As a consequence, many people in Colorado have been manufacturing the very lucrative and potent butane hash oil (BHO).
Since 2014, the manufacturing of BHO has led to 39 documented explosions in private and multi-family residences in Colorado. With more states considering the legalization of recreational marijuana, it is not a matter of if you will encounter a BHO explosion, but of when. Be prepared for the unusual circumstances these labs present and know what to look for to keep you and your crew safe.
This course will address the process of manufacturing BHO and address the chemicals, dangers and associated risks to first responders. Accepted practices developed by the Aurora Fire Department for BHO labs will be shared. This course includes demonstrative evidence seized by the Aurora Fire Department, fire and explosive investigators and will conclude with an actual recreation of a BHO fire in a burn cell.
Conference sessions
These 90-minute sessions take place Oct. 20-22.
Effective Decision Making on Today's Fireground
Robert Moran, Fire Chief, Brewster, MA, FD
John Lewis, Lieutenant (ret.), Passaic, NJ, FD
Come find out what the cue-based concept COAL WAS WEALTH means and participate in an interactive forum designed to discuss and define the key relationships strategy and tactics, street-wise size up, and risk benefit analysis have on the critical first few minutes of structural firefighting operations. First-due video and photo-based scenarios will help participants to make fireground decisions.
Fireground Leadership: Attitudes and Behaviors Shape Our Culture
Mike Bryant, Deputy Chief (ret.), Los Angeles County CA, FD; Elite Command Training Group
Attitudes and behaviors drive your fireground culture within your fire department. This presentation will identify fireground operations and the way firefighters think, feel and act. We will discuss our good/bad habits and actions, and how firefighters apply them on the fireground. Organizational learning is crucial to risk management.
Fireground Survival Is No Accident
John Salka, Jr., Battalion Chief (ret.), FDNY
This class will explore the major components of the chief officers combat school, which include command and control, effective fireground communications, leadership lessons, etc. Each of these topics is discussed so that attendees discover the best ways to plan for, execute and conclude operations with an eye toward firefighter safety, civilian survival and tactical excellence.
This Did Not Have to Happen!
Marc Bashoor, Fire Chief, Prince George's County Fire/EMS
Fire departments experience close calls on a regular basis, but one of their biggest challenges is how to recover and learn from them. This class will use chilling audio/video to examine real-life close calls, and will share examples of how several departments have made a difference after an investigation.
"Knowing the Enemy" on Today's Fireground
Michael Daley, Lieutenant, Monroe Twp. 3, NJ, FD
Today, much emphasis is placed on building construction awareness on the fireground. Lightweight engineered structural timbers, coupled with “green construction,” have made the structure fire scene extremely untenable. This class will help members better identify clues to hazards in construction and potential failures to keep all members safe on scene.
Fire Service Mayday: Fire Department Survival Strategies of the Next Generation
Eric Saylors, Captain, Sacramento (CA) FD
How do you justify your budget? Historically the fire service focusing on measuring the value losses at incidents. However, simply measuring losses only demonstrates the magnitude of the event more than it illuminates the effectiveness of the fire department. And the more effective a fire department is at suppressing fires, the less the department appears to be needed. The fire service must change the narrative by measuring, quantifying, and reporting the value of saves opposed to losses in a standard format.
Pre-Meditated Responder Ambush
Robert Wylie, Fire Chief, Cottleville (MO) FD
Through case studies and best practices, students will learn the motivating factors and warning signs that may accompany violent assaults against first responders. They will also learn strategies and tactics for pre-planning their response to ambush-style attacks, improving their situational awareness and reacting to pre-meditated violence.
Rural Fire Safety: Do It the Same Way, Differently
Devon Wells, Fire Chief, Hood River (OR) Fire & EMS, 1st VP, ISFSI
The wildland safety principle of lookouts, communications, escape routes and safety zones (LCES) is possibly the easiest-to-remember safety standard. The lack of situational awareness is a leading cause in many line-of-duty deaths and near misses. This presentation will discuss how these principles and other safety rules can be applied to all hazard incidents.
Friday
Driving and Surviving the Cultural Change
Mike Wisko, Fire Chief, Galveston (TX) FD
For 20 years, we have heard that our culture is “killing us,” and we must therefore change it. This presentation will walk you through the cultural change occurring in one particular department, and discuss the ways the chief, who is driving the change, is also surviving the change.
Rescue Task Force: Command & Control of an Active Shooter Event
Alan Berkowsky, Fire Chief Winnetka (IL) FD
This presentation is designed to provide chief officers with an introduction to the Rescue Task Force Concept and training model. It will help the chief officer understand the roles, responsibilities, terminology and operational procedures in order to support a Rescue Task Force (RTF) response during an active Shooter Event (ASE). The presentation will include video, real-world examples and best practices as to the deployment of Rescue Task Forces during these types of emergencies. Three phases to an ASE will be presented as well as the role of the fire department in each of the phases. Though Fire and Police often work side-by-side at emergencies, this presentation will encourage a paradigm shift in the manner we work together and the significance of modifying the current fire service staging model. The goal of the RTF is to extract patients as quickly as possible from the “warm zone” to definitive medical care. This will save lives!
Decisions Under Fire
Ron Smith, Firefighter, Gary (IN) FD
This class will explore the methods and benefits of critical decision making and the risks associated with delayed or poor choices. We will also discuss how humans make decisions, and review examples of good and bad choices made on the fireground, as well as factors that affect the ability to make quick decisions.
Is it Aggressive? Or is it Freelancing?
Eric Paloski, Lieutenant, Cobb County (GA) Fire & Emergency Services
Everyone wants THAT fire or THAT call to prove their worth and use their training. Those events are exciting and may be a “once-in-a-career” call. Under stress, these events change our thought processes and cause us to act and react in ways we may not expect. The goal of this presentation is to inform and discuss, as well as improve upon what we already do; so we all go home. This class is meant to discuss the group dynamic of firefighters, the dangers of unilateral decision making, and the dire and sometimes deadly consequences when being aggressive becomes freelancing.
Major Incidents - Are You Ready?
Bob Atlas, Battalion Chief, Contra Costa (CA) FD
The law of averages says you will eventually get to the “BIG ONE”, the only question is will you be ready? This session will take a hard look at actual incidents and what went well and what didn’t. Interactive discussion is key and the goal of this experience is for you to leave better prepared to handle what may happen to you tomorrow.
Mayday for Mental Health
Patrick Kenny, Fire Chief, Western Springs (IL) FD
Is our culture, both inside and outside the fire service, a direct contributor to the idea that mental health disease is not actually a disease but rather a character deficiency? This presentation examines cultural beliefs relating to mental health awareness and how it is being addressed or ignored in the fire service today.
The 10 Best Exercises for Firefighters
Aaron Zamzow, Firefighter/Training Officer, Madison (WI) FD
Multi-joint, whole-body exercises utilizing varying loads, muscular contraction speed and duration will benefit the fire rescue athlete far more than bodybuilding-style training, or traditional weightlifting machines. Discover the importance of choosing the correct exercises to be more effective, move more efficiently and ultimately reduce injuries.
The Hokey Pokey of Personal Escape Systems
Jim Ogle, Firefighter, FDNY
This program will discuss the need for escape systems, how to choose one and some case studies on the topic. Several systems will be available during the presentation so participants can get an up-close look. This program will provide in-depth information so participants can make educated decisions when considering the safety of their members.
Things We Don't Talk About
Dan Sikorski, Fire Chief (ret.) West Seneca (NY) FD
We are everyday heroes that kids look up to. Some days are good, others not so good. Over our careers, we experience a vast variety of situations and emotional ups and downs. By attending this session you will be enlightened, gain understanding and learn how you can help each other.
Fit to Fight: Mechanics of Fireground Movements and Their Physical Requirements
Sarah Apgar, Firefighter/EMT, Halesite (NY) FD
The first step in building an effective fitness program for a team of occupational athletes is to break down the work required for success, and properly understand the physical requirements for that work. This workshop will dive deep into the mechanics of movement on the fireground, and explain how to prepare your mind and body to excel at these activities. Your instructor has worked with the FDNY, military, fire departments, training academies, and gyms around the country on this topic.
It's All About Numbers: Nutrition in the Fire Service
Jason Brahm, Founder, 1st Due Fit
More than 70 percent of domestic firefighters are overweight or obese. This program will give members the tools they need to make healthy dietary changes. Attendees will also learn about the myths of dieting, what when and how much we should be consuming, and what types of foods we need to achieve personal goals.
RIC for Real: Lessons Learned from 400 Firefighters
Paul Strong, Captain, Valley Regional Fire Authority (WA)
This class is presented as best practices from lessons learned through training that does not occur enough in our fire service - realistic, elevated stress training. Seconds matter to the trapped firefighter. We will discuss how 400 firefighters from 16 departments learned how to shave valuable time by operating more efficiently. We will also discuss how to approach rapid intervention training properly and to dump old habits that are setting you up for failure. Attendees will learn how every detail of their preparation and training for a firefighter rescue makes a difference in the outcome. Details regarding, PPE, communication, decision-making, leadership, and many other topics are covered.
Understanding Explosives and Keys to Surviving IED Incidents
Robert Burke, Owner, Hazardous Materials Consultant
Participants in this presentation will examine the basics of explosions, explosive materials and how these materials are crafted into improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They will also be given an overview of how to identify an IED, as well as how to render it safe and dispose of it properly.
Saturday
Action: Nine Missions for Personal & Professional Growth
Dr. David Griffin, Captain, Captain, Charleston (SC) FD
This course will focus on nine missions that attendees can embark upon to embrace their changing work environment. These missions will challenge attendees to perform tasks that they may normally shy away from. Interactive classroom discussions and team-building drills will also be used to help attendees take the information back to their departments.
In-Context Training: The Power of Reps
Jason Caughey, Fire Chief, Laramie County (WY) Fire District #2
This course will provide an effective proficiency-based format that focuses on “the power of reps” for firefighter training. Through the use of training models developed in the sports world, we will outline and demonstrate the effectiveness of training in context. We will also examine scientific research on adult education learning practices.
It Can't Happen to Me
Jeff Cool, Firefighter (ret.) FDNY
On January 23, 2005, as a major snowstorm swept through the New York area, firefighters were called to an apartment fire in the Bronx. First-arriving units encountered fire on the third floor of a four-story multiple dwelling. As units went about their assignments, crews continued to search for extension. Crews reported a loss in the water pressure as they searched the fire floor, which had undergone several illegal renovations.
Conditions changed rapidly and fast moving flames forced several firefighters toward windows. Without other options, six firefighters were forced to jump to the ground some 40 feet below. Four firefighters received life changing injuries, while Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew were killed. Lt. Joseph DiBernardo would later die as a result of the injuries he sustained from that fire.
Protecting Firefighter's Lives Along the Double-Yellow Line
Jack Sullivan, Director of Training, Emergency Responder Safety Institute
Since Nov. 9, 2015, eight firefighters and/or EMTs have been struck and killed by vehicles while working near moving traffic. This class will review strategies and tactics for fire department and EMS responses to roadway incidents, and will outline proactive measures your agency can take to prevent struck-by-vehicle LODDs and injuries.
Saving Our Own with Mental Fitness
Christopher Jett, Lieutenant, Stafford (VA) Fire and Rescue Dept
Mental fitness is crucial to a first responder’s wellbeing. Stressors from work and home can lead to myriad problems. This class will discuss critical incident stress, how to recognize the signs of someone in need, as well as signs of a potential suicide attempt, and how you can prevent that unexpected knock at the door.
Sweet Sleep: Why Sleep Deprivation May Be the Most Significant Threat to Firefighter Health and Safety in the Future
David F. Peterson, Fire Training Coordinator, Blackhawk Technical College
Firefighters and EMS workers frequently don’t get enough sleep. This poses a significant problem, as risk and health concerns both increase with lack of sleep. This presentation will cite several studies concerning sleep debt and firefighters, and will examine how to decrease these risks and prevent chronic health problems.
Fire Dynamics & Facepieces
Gavin Horn, Director of Research, Illinois Fire Service Institute
Recent firefighter fatality reports suggest that the SCBA lenses worn were incapable of withstanding the conditions encountered. This presentation will focus on fire dynamics research and fireground investigations, with an emphasis on projects done between the Illinois Fire Service Institute and the National Institute of Safety and Technology to characterize the fireground and its impact on SCBA facepiece damage/failure.
Fit to Fight: Build Your Own Circuit Training Program to Meet Fireground Needs
Sarah Apgar, Firefighter/EMT, Halesite (NY) FD
Armed with an understanding of fireground movement mechanics (Part 1), get hands-on and outline your own circuit training in this action-oriented workshop. Your instructor cites examples of programs implemented with the FDNY, fire departments, training academies, and gyms around the country. Leave the workshop with the tools to create a complete program for your own team.
Mayday Project
Don Abbott, President, CERT
The Mayday Project is a year-long study of 900 maydays. This presentation will cover information provided by the participants in regard to type of mayday, actions taken, injuries, rescue, medical care and critiques. This class will provide insight into individual/crew alerts, actions and communication. It will also provide information about incident command actions and communications.
Risk-Based Overhaul Safety
Charles Bailey, Assistant Chief, Montgomery County (MD) Fire/Rescue
This session will provide students with an overview of the dangers of the fire overhaul environment, a risk/technology-based methodology for evaluating that environment and strategies for reducing exposure to overhaul hazards.
Safe Operations at Basement Fires
Fred Peters, President, Safety First Group
This class will explore the challenges and tactics involved in o?ensive, defensive and transitional attacks of below-grade fires, as well as how to give effective size-up reports and how to formulate an effective strategy. Learning points will include unique construction challenges and fire loads of basement fires.
Survivability Profiling – Size-Up on Steroids
Stephen Marsar, Captain, FDNY
Survivability profiling is the educated art of examining a situation and making an informed, intelligent decision of whether to commit firefighters to life-saving or interior operations. It differs from basic risk vs. reward in that it goes beyond the tendency to justify risk whenever we respond to an occupied building. Size-up components, situational awareness, UL & NISTstudies and calculating if civilians are savable before committing firefighters to an aggressive interior attack are discussed.
The Reality of Saving Your Crew Tonight
Jeffrey Pindelski, Deputy Chief, Downers Grove (IL) FD
This program will provide participants with the blueprint they need to analyze their department’s capabilities so they can update thought processes and training programs to successfully mitigate safety and survival challenges on today’s fireground. All firefighters and officers, regardless of training background and experience, will benefit from this program.
The Training Safety Officer Program: Managing Risk on the Training Ground
Richard Kline, Fire Chief, Plymouth, MN, FD
This class will discuss the training safety officer program, which is designed to increase focus and awareness during training activities in order to reduce risk and injuries. By identifying risk and hazards early in the planning phase, and assigning preventive measures and monitoring activities, the injury potential to participants is significantly reduced.
Wood-Frame Construction: They're Building Bigger Problems
Theodore Goldfarb, Deputy Chief (ret.), FDNY
This presentation will cover newer wood-frame buildings, legacy wood-frame building types and balloon- and platform-frame buildings. Building materials and their configuration will be discussed, and the same material used in different configurations will be explored. Newer construction materials and techniques will also be explained.
Working with Your Code Official to Make the Community a Safer One
John Gullo, Fire Chief (Ret.)
Do you know who conducts code enforcement in your community? If not, you should, because working with them will result in a safer community and may even reduce your number of runs. This class will discuss what is behind those closed doors that lurk in every community.
Hazmat vs Fire Smoke...Toxicity of Fire Smoke is a Hazmat
Katie Roberts, Firefighter, Santa Clara County Fire
This course will discuss the dangers of smoke, how firefighters can protect themselves and how to treat exposure to carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. We will also discuss how to protect yourself from chemicals found in both structure and wildland fires, and how to utilize air monitoring for crews working outside the fire.
Navigating NFPA 1582 in Today’s Fire Service
Jake Rhoades, Fire Chief, Kingman Fire Department
The importance of regular medical monitoring for every fire service member cannot be understated. This presentation will discuss barriers to health and wellness program implementation, solutions for departments of all sizes, and a better understanding of a comprehensive program, including implementation of NFPA 1582, for long-term member wellness.
Normalization of Deviance: How to Overcome Complacency
John Dixon, Lieutenant/Fire Instructor, Teaneck, NJ, FD/Bergen County, NJ, Fire Academy
This course will examine the normalization of deviance and how the fire service is surrounded by it. The focus will be on organizational learning and leadership, as well as how to navigate through the “drift into failure” process. Attendees will also learn how to avoid the drift to prevent firefighter injuries and deaths.
Stress Inoculation Training: Preparing for the Worst
Dr. David Griffin, Captain, Charleston (SC) FD
This class will focus on the importance of adding stress inoculation to your training. Doing this will enable firefighters to experience heart and respiratory rates that match those during real-life emergencies. We will also discuss how to calm those physiological responses before making decisions on scene. This leads to better decision making and successful outcomes.
Critical Decision Making under Stress: How to Be Successful when Time Is Compressed
Bradford Newbury, Captain, Stoughton, MA, FD
This class will explore how first responders make decisions at emergency scenes. Students will participate in an exercise where multiple problems will be presented. We will examine the consequences of being overwhelmed by a situation, as well as the techniques that every firefighter can use when time-sensitive decisions must be made.
Exceeding the Minimum Standards in Firefighter Professional Development
Justin Bailey, Assistant Fire Chief, Olivery Springs Fire Department
This class will discuss the minimum training standards for the professional firefighter and how to exceed those standards. Students will also be able to create a professional development plan that they can take back to their department to assist themselves and other members.
Railroad Incidents: Are You Ready for an HHFT Event?
Jeffrey Moran, Captain, Woodbridge, NJ, FD
This class will examine railroad operations, terminology, safety and derailment scene hazards. Attendees will leave with an understanding of the size and weight of rail equipment, how to determine who is responsible for a rail line, the unique challenges, needs and impediments of a derailment, pre-incident planning and where to find more in-depth training.
RIT for the Understaffed Company
David Topczynski, Senior Firefighter, Newport News, VA, FD
This class will teach students how they can successfully respond to a mayday while operating with only two to four firefighters on the rapid intervention team. Modified techniques will be taught for conducting scene size-up and staging, and selecting and carrying tools and equipment. Modified methods of searching for and removing a downed firefighter will also be discussed.
Stressed: It Changed Everything
Eric Clauss, Director, EMS Center of Excellence, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
This presentation will cover a topic that’s not often talked about within the healthcare and emergency community: cumulative stress. Attendees will learn how to identify individuals at high risk and how to provide appropriate assistance to them, which ultimately will increase retention and reduce burnout.
Striving for 25: Developing Resilience for your Career
David Wiklanski, Firefighter/EMT, New Brunswick Fire Department
Psychological resilience is our ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. Higher resilience accounts for increased job satisfaction, reductions in sick time and a better working environment. This class will provide methods to develop and increase resilience to reduce anxiety, stress and behavioral issues that plague our chosen careers.
Firehouse Memorial Stair Climb
Join us for the first Firehouse Memorial Stair Climb in Nissan Stadium! Participants will climb 2,200 steps in the stadium.
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