Conference Program

Check back often for updated information.

Conference sessions are 75 minutes in length, unless otherwise noted. Program subject to change.

September 29, 2010
8:30 AM	Developing Exceptional Fire Officers...Critical Areas of Focus Dennis Compton, Chief (ret.), Mesa, AZ, FD and IFSTA CATEGORY: LEADERSHIP This session explores key areas of focus and critical leadership concepts that will contribute to the success of fire officers and simply improve their performance. It is well established that fire departments cannot outperform the capability of their leaders. Current and aspiring fire officers of all ranks will find this session unique and practical.
8:30 AM	Engine Company Standpipe Operations David M. McGrail, District Chief, Denver FD, CO CATEGORY: ENGINE OPERATIONS Quickly and efficiently placing a handline in operation off a standpipe is one of the most important jobs the engine company will perform. Because standpipe operations are low frequency high hazard events, the engine company must be well prepared, both mentally and physically, for these demanding operations. This interactive workshop will provide attendees with a strong foundation, upon which to build a successful standpipe operation. The recommended tools associated with "proper weapon selection", standard operating procedures, and various types of hoseline (standpipe) stretches will be addressed. Attendees will leave armed with quality information that will help them take their respective organization to the next level.
8:30 AM	Search Operations For Today's Fireground Jeff Seaton, Department & Recruit Academy Instructor, San Jose, CA FD CATEGORY: SEARCH OPERATIONS Today's fireground is a dynamic environment that can become deadly in a matter of seconds. The US Fire Service reports that "fire fighter disorientation" is the third leading cause of LODD'S in our nation. Firefighters are in desperate need of ensuring that safe, effective, and coordinated search operations are practiced daily.
8:30 AM	The Mental Management of Command Richard B. Gasaway, Ph.D., EFO, CFO, Gasaway Consulting Group CATEGORY: SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Organizations with great equipment, sound procedures and quality equipment are still killing dozens of firefighters annually at emergency scenes. If we are going to reduce emergency responder casualty incidents, we must first improve the ability of our responders to develop and maintain strong situation awareness and to understand how to make decisions under stress. This program focuses on improving the understanding of situation awareness and decision making. The program explores and discusses: 6 ways your decision making is impacted by physical and mental stress; 7-step process for how experts make decisions in high stress, dynamic, and rapidly changing environments; 4 essential components to making decisions under stress; 4 levels of competency in the development of expertise including tips for how to accelerate the development of expert-level performance; how decision making is influenced by pattern matching, mental modeling, sense-making and information chunking; and 3 levels of situation awareness including how to develop and maintain each.
3:00 PM	Grading The Fireground on a Curve Mark Emery, Operations Battalion Chief, Woodinville, WA Fire & Life Safety District CATEGORY: LEADERSHIP Do you know how to grade the fireground on a curve? Perhaps your most important factor during building fire size-up is to determine on which side of the firegrowth curve you have arrived. This class will show you how to do this. Entering a building on the no-value side of the curve has injured and killed many fine people. There is a point on each side of the firegrowth curve that will look the same and will feel the same. Don't rely on what you see through the windshield; don't rely on your thermal imaging camera. It requires a master craftsman fire officer to determine which side of the curve is being contemplated.
3:00 PM	Holding Court: So You Really Think You Understand Truck Work! Kevin Trost, Captain (ret.), Sacramento, CA FD CATEGORY: TRUCK OPERATIONS What happens when you vent the wrong location? What happens when you don't vent at all? What if you don't have a Truck Company? Do you and/or your department understand the relationship between fire attack, search, rescue, and truck work? The Truck 101 course provides an opportunity to dispel some of the misconceptions regarding Truck Company operations. Whether you are a firefighter, company officer or battalion chief, you need to have a clear understanding of the truck functions on the fireground. In addition, you need to understand the priority of these functions. This course will take you from an introduction as to the role of the Truck Company on the fireground, to identify the functions of a Truck Company, and to prioritize those functions. Then, the course will breakdown the roles and responsibilities of the Truck Company members and how to apply them on the fireground. Whether you are a volunteer department, paid department, combination department, or even staff a Truck Company it is imperative that you understand the importance of truck work on the fireground. The safety of all fireground operations is directly related to Truck Company operations, and this course will provide a clear understanding of that relationship.
3:00 PM	Is There an APP for That? Peter Lamb, Fire Chief, North Attleboro, MA FD CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY This program is designed for officers and administrators to demonstrate some of the technology and "gadgets" that can assist us on the fireground or in the office. We will discuss technology, software and creative uses for software as it relates to the fire service.
3:00 PM	Success With Less Michael Taylor, Captain, West Sacramento FD, CA CATEGORY: STRATEGY & TACTICS This lecture is designed to give you the nuggets needed for successful fireground operation, when you feel limited by staffing or response. Choosing the proper nozzles, forcible entry tools, and apparatus set up to achieve your goals. Honing your skills so one firefighter can do more with less and empowering the fireground to collect information on the structure. This course is ideal for all ranks to be successful. Structure fires do not care about staffing, but firefighters care about structure fires.
September 30, 2010
8:00 AM	CHAOS Should Not Stand For "Chief (or Captain) Has Arrived On Scene" Steve Prziborowski, Battalion Chief , Santa Clara County, CA FD CATEGORY: COMMAND This session reviews how to effectively command and control an incident, including size-up, radio reports, company assignments, and creating the incident action plan through discussion and simulations. Not setting an incident up properly from the start can have serious consequences to firefighter safety and survival, not to mention incident outcome.
8:00 AM	Fire Ground Operations…Roles and Responsibilities for the Engine Company Jeff Shupe, FF, Cleveland, Ohio FD CATEGORY: ENGINE OPERATIONS The fireground can present many confusing looks and complexities. Sometimes it can take firefighters away from their "attack plan". This can lead to dangerous conditions for all firefighters operating at a working fire. This presentation will define the mission of an engine and what it is responsible for. It will also review operational procedures that should be understood by all fire department members regardless of of how big or how small a department might be. This class runs from 8:00 AM - 10:45 AM.
8:00 AM	Nozzle 101 Michael Taylor, Captain, West Sacramento FD, CA CATEGORY: NOZZLE/ENGINE OPERATIONS Nozzle 101 covers the real world operations of structural firefighting nozzles. Are your nozzles really flowing what you think? Are they versatile for your district? This is an indepth description of the differences between the fixed flow, automatic, selectable, and smooth bore nozzles. With versatility in mind, some considerations will be offered when purchasing or repairing nozzles.
8:00 AM	Redefining Our Culture: Avoiding Your Perfect Storm Richard Kline, Fire Chief-Plymouth, MN CATEGORY: FIREFIGHTER CULTURE Despite numerous advances in fire service technology, systems and practices, firefighter injury and death rates remain unchanged from previous years. One contributing factor that greatly influences firefighter safety is the impact of the fire service culture. This session will examine several long held cultural beliefs and fire service traditions that are detrimental to improving firefighter safety. This session will examine the culture of the fire service, illustrating the influence that cultural practices have upon firefighter health and safety. Insight will be offered that reveal organizational indictors denoting institutionalized apathy toward safety. Leadership keys to change the organizational culture soas to adopt and internalize a culture of safety will also be presented.
9:30 AM	Do You See What I See? Peter Lamb, Fire Chief, North Attleboro, MA FD CATEGORY: SAFETY This tactical based class has a focus on size-up but geared for risk analysis and safety perspective. A guided look at some fireground situations that would serve as a good primer for new officers or a great review for the seasoned veteran.
9:30 AM	Real Leadership in the Fire Service is Not for Wimps! Kimberly Alyn, Ph.D., Owner, Fire Presentation CATEGORY: LEADERSHIP This session will cover some of the advanced tools and techniques available to demonstrate the best leadership possible in your fire department. Session focuses on how to become a great leader and how to create more leaders within the organization. The biggest issue facing the fire service today is leadership. The need for quality leadership development up and down the chain is imperative. When you have good leadership development in your fire department, you'll discover that most of the other issues take care of themselves. Attitude reflects leadership, and firefighters today need great leaders. Find out how to employ the most influential leadership possible.
9:30 AM	Safety Overview (Live Fire & Hands-On Training) Ron Peddy, Texas A&M CATEGORY: SAFETY This presentation will review components dealing with safety protocols, requirements, and practices for conducting live burn and hands-on training activities. Key items will include: safety culture, NFPA 1403, project safety analysis, pre-burn checklist, fuel protocol, weather procedure, medical procedure and training action plan (TAP).
11:00 AM	Firefighter Rescue Mickey Conboy, Lieutenant, FDNY CATEGORY: SPECIALIZED RESCUE With a new emphasis on firefighter safety and survival today, take a realistic look at lessons learned from the fireground where we had to deal with firefighter trapped and overcome on the fireground. Not all fires involve only one firefighter in trouble, are you prepared to handle multiple firefighters in need of your help, now? Have you mastered rescuing your brother firefighters or are we doomed to repeat these lessons learned from history of the fire departments in this country?
11:00 AM	How to Excel at Fire Service Promotional Exams-The Key Points Steve Prziborowski, Battalion Chief , Santa Clara County, CA FD CATEGORY: CAREER ADVANCEMENT Attendees will be exposed to the most commonly utilized events within a typical fire service assessment center: the written examination, the oral interview, the emergency simulation and the personnel counseling session. Numerous key points for success will be discussed to help candidates increase their score on their next promotional exam!
11:00 AM	How Would You Like to Work for You? Paul Stein, Chief (ret.), Santa Monica and Lakeside Fire Departments CATEGORY: LEADERSHIP This high-powered, interactive training session is designed to identify critical skills and techniques that will make the difference between success and failure as a leader. This workshop is packed with leadership tools that can be used throughout your leadership career. Topics will include: why many leaders don't pass the "acid test of leadership," bridging the generation gap in the workplace, techniques to getting people to want to work for you, powerful techniques for combating attitude problems, and strategies for building a cohesive, high-performance team.
October 1, 2010
8:00 AM	Compressed Air Foam for the Urban Firefighter Homer Robertson, Captain, Fort Worth, TX FD CATEGORY: COMPRESSED AIR FOAM Most inter-city firefighters believe that compressed air foam is something that is just useful in the wildland urban areas of the country. This program will focus on CAFS use in day-to-day operations that any fire department can use.
8:00 AM	Firefighting…….It's a Numbers Game! Jeff Shupe, FF, Cleveland, Ohio FD CATEGORY: STRATEGY & TACTICS It doesn't matter if you are from a big urban fire department or a small rural hamlet with only one fire engine. To perform fireground operations as needed requires the right kind and right number of resources to get the job done. This presentation will look at different fireground situations and what is needed to develop fireground strategies and the right resources. We will look at fire fighting principles and practices and company organization for safe, effective fireground operations. This class runs from 8:00 AM - 10:45 AM.
8:00 AM	How a Small Department is Winning the South Daniel Byrne, Lieutenant, Fire Marshal, Beaufort FD, SC CATEGORY: FIRE PREVENTION Most departments see the value in fire prevention and would like to have good programs but feel that it is not possible due to a lack of national organization in the field of prevention and a lack of examples of successful programs for them to utilize. They often feel that what they are doing is not efficient and that it is a waste of valuable time, resources, and funds.
8:00 AM	Moving Your Career Forward - What Does it Take? Russell Merrick, BPS, EMT, Captain, Rochester, NY FD CATEGORY: CAREER ADVANCEMENT This program is intended to help students determine where they currently are right now within the fire service and what the future might have in store for them. Fire chiefs are looking at their departments and saying, "We want our officers to have the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in supervisory, management, administrative and executive positions." Is this where you're heading and will you be successful? Better yet, will you be prepared? This course will identify some of the areas that our future leaders are going to have to know if they really want to be successful!
9:30 AM	Forcible Entry Tools and Techniques for Getting In and Out Homer Robertson, Captain, Fort Worth, TX FD Craig Walker, Captain, Austin, TX FD CATEGORY: STRATEGY & TACTICS Modern day forcible entry is rapidly changing for the firefighter. This program will focus on the most modern tools and techniques you need to operate on today's fireground.
9:30 AM	Holding Court: Can’t We Put The Fire Out Anymore? Kevin Trost, Captain (ret.), Sacramento, CA FD CATEGORY: STRATEGY & TACTICS We continue to kill and injure firefighters and the debate continues if our basic firefighting principles are flawed. We have added ICS/IMS, 2in/2out, RIC, better turnouts, SCBAs, the safety officer, and the numbers don't go away. What is going on? Well, part of the answer is the fact that there are many myths and misconceptions as to the basic firefighting principles and how to apply these new safeguards on the fireground. This course will walk you through the history of how some of these safety guards have come about. More importantly, this course will try to dispel the misconceptions as to how we should be applying them on the fireground. The course will address COMMAND: who, where, when, why, and how. The course will address the fireground LAP: who should take it and when should it be taken. 2IN2OUT: what it is and what it isn't. RIC: what it is, who does it, what do they do and when. Lastly, the course will address the safety officer on the fireground. This course will challenge the myths and misconceptions regarding these new safeguards. Everyone who attends this course will come away with a better understanding as to the application of these safeguards on the fireground so we can continue to put the fire out using basic firefighting principles with addition of these safeguards.
9:30 AM	Responding to Everyday Emergencies Mickey Conboy, Lieutenant, FDNY CATEGORY: SPECIALIZED RESCUE Firefighters across the country respond to an increasing number of rescue emergencies each year. Learn invaluable lessons from recent incidents such as workers buried in a trench and tanks, children impaled on fences and occupants trapped in a building collapse.