Workshops
4-Hour Workshops, Monday, April 19, 8:00 am–12:00 pm NEW!
Challenges of Today’s Vehicles
David Dalrymple, Education Chair, Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee-US
This fast-paced, informative educational program will be a dynamic coupling of classroom education and interactive skill sessions on new vehicles and their associated technology concerns and issues. Obtain the latest information and materials on such “hot topics” as safety systems, hybrid and alternative-fueled vehicles, vehicle construction and materials, and vehicle fire concerns. Also presented are cutting-edge tool techniques that take into account technology issues and concerns and patient management and injury considerations. The materials presented represent a global perspective from emergency responders and vehicle manufacturers. Bring information and material back to your fellow responders, and enhance your educational programs and delivery. ALL LEVELS
Fire Rescue A-Z
Deputy District Chief Steve Chikerotis, Chicago (IL) Fire Department
This is a colorful presentation on the coordinated tactics necessary to save a life learned from crawling down the smoky hallways at Chicago fires over the instructor’s 30-year career. Fire case studies are brought to life through exciting pictures and video. Each story reinforces powerful lessons learned. Topics include rescue, size-up, rescue triage, risk management, reading smoke, building construction and collapse, fireground tactics, flashover, communications and accountability, commanding the Mayday, and RIT rescue. The goal of the class is to increase the effectiveness of firefighters, officers, chiefs, and fire companies in saving firefighter and civilian lives through safer and more effective fireground tactics. This class is for the seasoned veteran as well as the new recruit. BASIC
Fireground Situation Awareness
Chief Richard B. Gasaway, Roseville (MN) Fire Department
Have you ever watched a video or read a case study of a catastrophic fire and asked yourself, “How could they not have seen this coming?” This program examines the challenges of developing and maintaining situation awareness in dynamic, high-stress, high-consequence environments. You may be shocked and amazed to learn the many ways your situation awareness can be impacted. This program will focus on the challenges commanders face when required to make decisions under stress. You will understand why commanders struggle to gather the cues and clues needed at high-stress, complex emergency scenes; why it’s not always easy to make sense of what is happening; and why it is so difficult to predict the future events at complex incident scenes. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Fireground Tactics Take-Home Model
Chief (Ret.) Bill Godfrey, Deltona (FL) Fire Department
Fireground tactics are tough. There are many ways to attack a fire, and everyone has different staffing and unit assignments. Learn the secret to fireground tactics and developing a sound attack plan and how tactics, strategy, and command fit together. See how staffing can change your plan. Better yet, learn how to apply it to your department and teach it when you return home. Participants receive a workbook detailing the teaching model, lecture notes, illustrated case studies, and a CD-Rom. This is the ultimate take-home. ALL LEVELS
High-Rise Fire Management
Captain John Alston, Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department
There are many programs on high-rise fire safety response. This one presents a two-pronged approach: from the prepared civilian side and from the emergency response side. Lessons learned from previous operations and tragedies show that preparation on both sides is critical to mitigation efforts. Learn how to implement an effective department-sponsored high-rise fire safety program. What response guidelines are necessary, laws and ordinances, stakeholders, advocates and beneficiaries, and effective training and response are addressed. INTERMEDIATE
Managing a Successful Fire Academy
Academy Chief Michael H. Gilbert, Brevard Community College Fire Training Academy, Florida
Have you ever heard someone ask, “What are they teaching these kids in fire school?” or say “They should teach these kids some discipline” and then refer to the fire academies of old, lamenting on the pride and discipline of the old-school academy? This class takes a hard look at what worked back in the day and what works today, with a focus on combining these two schools of thought. It will clearly illustrate what it takes to build an academy that produces a recruit with the knowledge, discipline, and pride to meet the demands of today’s fire service. A successful fire academy has to understand the learning process of today’s recruits. This workshop explores new teaching methodologies in use in most elementary and secondary schools today. Learn how to integrate these new techniques into your fire academy while still maintaining the fire service’s core values and high standards. BASIC
Private Dwelling Fires
Deputy Assistant Chief (Ret.) John Norman, Fire Department of New York
This class focuses on the most common fires in America–fires in one- and two-family homes, or private dwellings. Discussion focuses on the scope of the problem; death and injury rates in these dwellings; size-up, the 13-point approach; firefighter survival survey; fire attack–hoseline selection, placement, and water supply; and search and rescue—vent-enter-search. The emphasis is on developing workable tactics that your organization can implement on the fireground under a variety of common–and not so common–conditions. BASIC
Single Truck Company Operations
Firefighter Nicholas Martin, District of Columbia Fire Department
To be effective, the modern truck company must be able to complete multiple tasks, in multiple places, simultaneously–all while operating in coordination with the engine company. This is further complicated by today’s limited staffing and the reality that many departments cannot have a dedicated “truck company” or even aerial apparatus. This interactive, multimedia-enhanced discussion will offer solutions to these challenges and street-smart tips for some of our most essential truck company operations: forcible entry, ventilation, search, and ladders. BASIC
Value-Added Leadership
Chief (Ret.) Alan Brunacini, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department
The major reason a fire department is in business is to deliver service to Mrs. Smith–our customer. She remembers that we responded quickly and solved her problem; most of all, she remembers that we were nice to her and her family. Our basic service (what got us in the door) and adding value–“being nice”–is what made the most difference to her. Fire department bosses must understand that the way they treat the firefighters is what gets delivered to the customers. Any behavior that the chief wants the firefighter to extend to Mrs. Smith they both must extend as well. The discussion in this session is very simple and very important: Value-added service requires value-added leadership. INTERMEDIATE
Where Science Meets the Street
James Dalton, Coordinator of Research and Development, Chicago (IL) Fire Department
Firefighter fatalities and injuries have occurred in residential buildings because of rapid fire spread through areas of unprotected wood construction or the collapse of unprotected dimensional lumber and/or lightweight wood structural components. In response, the Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighter Safety Program awarded funding to the Chicago Fire Department, Underwriters Laboratories, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Michigan State University to further study this disturbing trend. This nationally recognized research program depicts through live fire research how dangerous the modern fire environment has truly become. This workshop will review the significant findings of this research project entitled “The Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions.” Live fire testing was used to compare the failure times of conventional dimensional lumber construction with those of modern lightweight wood construction. Video and photos highlight the failure times of the tested assemblies, limitations of thermal imaging devices, and digital thermal and structural modeling techniques. This workshop will also present case studies of fireground incidents, risk management and tactical recommendations for firefighting operations in residential lightweight constructed buildings, and current building code developments. You will learn about an interactive Web-based outreach program to train members of your department. BASIC
4-Hour Workshops, Monday, April 19, 1:00 pm–5:00 pm NEW!
25 to Survive: Residential Building Fires
Captain Daniel D. Shaw, Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue
More firefighters are seriously injured and killed while operating at residential building fires than at any other fires we encounter. This dynamic and interactive program will address 25 critical firefighting issues common to the residential building. Learn street‐smart tips and tactics in the areas of preparation, response, and operations. BASIC
Engine Company Standpipe Operations: The Essentials
District Chief David M. McGrail, Denver (CO) Fire Department
The focus is on the engine company component of standpipe operations. Addressed are areas of concern, including the basic component of standpipe systems; standpipe water supply; and fire attack operations off a standpipe. A review of pressure-regulating devices and information regarding flow tests of various types of weapons used for standpipe operations are presented. INTERMEDIATE
Fire Dynamics for the Fire Service
Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Protection Engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology
This workshop will discuss how building geometry, materials, furnishings, ventilation, and firefighting tactics can influence fire growth and spread, leading to untenable conditions for firefighters. A combination of videos and data will describe fire behavior to characterize the thermal environment to which firefighters may be exposed. Fire behavior or fire dynamics are based on the fundamental relationship between fuel, oxygen, and heat–i.e., the fire triangle. The type of fuel, the location of fuel in the room, the geometry of the fuel, building construction, and ventilation can have a significant effect on the speed of fire growth and spread. Ventilating the structure can provide cooling by removing heat, but ventilating a “fuel-rich” room may cause a flashover by allowing fresh air into the structure. It is important to remember that smoke is fuel. Ventilation does not equal cooling. Understanding ventilation will lead to improved tactical decisions, such as when to use positive pressure ventilation. Firefighters, fire marshals, and fire chiefs are encouraged to attend. ALL LEVELS
Fireground Control
Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo, North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire & Rescue
This presentation will address the fireground experience from arrival through termination, including safety and the rules of engagement, the most critical size-up factors, command structure, strategy selection and modification, ongoing fireground operations such as decentralizing the fireground, progress reports, and a comprehensive look at post-control activities. Identify areas where weakness in command and organizational structure cause a breakdown in operations and safety. Learn how to bring the incident command system down to the street level, making for a safer and more effective fireground. Awareness and vigilance are the first steps toward a safer fire service. Students will identify activities counter to the safe execution of the incident action plan and learn that the weight of the “Everyone goes home” philosophy is on their shoulders and is a responsibility they cannot take lightly. INTERMEDIATE
Mission-Focused Command
Division Chief Edward K. Hadfield, Coronado (CA) Fire Department
This program will provide company and command officers with the necessary decision-making skills to quickly establish a tactical and strategic plan with positive outcomes. The course will highlight command concepts based on building profiles, rescue profiles, and proper tactical considerations for each circumstance based on today’s fireground, not yesterday’s urban myths about firefighting. Officers will develop an Incident Assignment Plan using mission-focused principles. The program will teach students how to make sound fundamental decisions based on knowledge and the reality-based facts of what the incident has given them. It will also expose the danger of using theory in a world of reality. ADVANCED
Smoke Symposium
Assistant Chief Rob Schnepp, Alameda County (CA) Fire Department
In the past six months, through informal data collection, the Cyanide Poisoning Treatment Coalition tracked more than 200 firefighters treated or transported for smoke inhalation; two firefighters were transported from the scene for treatment of smoke inhalation and eventually died. However, there have also been deaths reported following “smoky fires” after the firefighters left their shifts. Were their deaths related to cyanide toxicity or the cumulative effect of cyanide exposure? There is a strong possibility. However, until the fire service has an in-depth understanding of this deadly toxin, behavior will not change and deaths and disease will continue. Smoke has always been the age-old companion of the fire service; it has now become the enemy. This workshop will change age-old “behaviors” by providing compelling data and information about cyanide as a toxic and deadly component of smoke, prevention methods for use on the fireground, air management, diagnosis, and antidotal treatment proven to be lifesaving. BASIC
Strategy and Tactics at Commercial Fires
Chief Les Stephens, San Marcos (TX) Fire Department
No other decision made during the course of an incident places firefighters in a position of immediate danger or calculated safety more than the decision of “offensive” or “defensive.” Nowhere else is the potential for immediate catastrophic failure and subsequent multiple injuries or deaths more present than at a commercial building fire. For the purpose of this workshop, “commercial building” will encompass all occupancies that cannot be classified as single or multifamily residential. With such dire consequences riding on these decisions, you would think there would be no shortage of literature, training materials, or training programs that address what definitive criteria incident commanders should evaluate when making strategic decisions. Unfortunately, this is not the case—they all stop short of specifically identifying critical factors that should indicate, with any degree of certainty, the call for an offensive or defensive strategy. This workshop will explore the thought processes and criteria you can use to formulate these decisions and combat the situation while keeping firefighters safe. INTERMEDIATE
Supporting Technical Rescue Operations
Captain Larry Collins, Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Department
This workshop will focus on the firefighters’ role at the scene of technical rescues and options for handling the initial phases of large or complex rescues and supporting rescue companies or teams when they arrive. It is intended for firefighters and company officers who, as first responders, must make life-and-death decisions prior to the arrival of the rescue units, establish the baseline for rescue operations, and support and make the best use of formalized technical rescue companies/teams. The presentation will also be educational for chief officers who are the incident commanders of major rescue operations. BASIC
Training Plan for Success
Divisional Chief Kevin Clifford, Saint John (New Brunswick, Canada) Fire Department
This program uses a comprehensive assessment of the respective fire department’s response profile to develop the training programs necessary to ensure that the firefighters have the critical competencies to safely and effectively respond to the emergency needs of their citizens. Students will be presented with seven key objectives that will serve as the foundation for developing a comprehensive training program for their departments. The seven key objectives will prevent departments from getting caught in the “flavor of the week” training programs and will ensure that a critical skills and training gap assessment is ongoing and that all subjects within the firefighter response profile are presented on a regular basis. As part of the presentation, practical examples, models, presentations, schedules, calendars, and assessment tools will be used and shared so students can implement the plan in their departments. BASIC
Truck Company 2010
Battalion Chief (Ret.) John W. Mittendorf, Los Angeles City (CA) Fire Department
This presentation will discuss from a paid and volunteer perspective how a truck company should be staffed, be equipped, and function. It will cover the most performed truck company operations on the fireground and how to prioritize them and then apply them to common structural incidents to allow the students to understand how to safely mitigate incidents. Topics include apparatus overview, staffing and assignments, response criteria, tools, determining available fireground time, prioritizing fireground considerations, using protective equipment defensively, continually evaluating your fireground environment, ensuring the viability of your escape route, managing the air in your bottle, and practical application with scenarios. BASIC
8-Hour Workshops, Monday, April 19, 8:00 am–5:00 pm
Art of “Reading Smoke”
David Dodson, Lead Instructor, Response Solutions, LLC
There is a growing recognition that the modern smoke environment is exceedingly different from what our predecessors faced. Here’s a look at the modern smoke environment with an emphasis on tactical and behavioral solutions that can help you with first-due decision making and incident handling. Case studies, updated technical data, best practices, and group exercises (using raw fireground footage) emphasize situation awareness and intelligent exterior/interior solutions. Topics include why smoke is more explosive than ever, predicting hostile fire events like flashover and backdraft, the reading smoke process, street-tested recognition tools, and video practice (group projects). ALL LEVELS
Command Safety for Today’s Fires
Executive Assistant Chief Steve Kreis and Assistant Chief Todd Harms, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department
The fireground is a very dangerous location: The building is under attack, visibility is limited, the atmosphere is hot and toxic, and conditions change rapidly. Under these extreme conditions, firefighters need to perform their duties to save lives and protect property. See how the first five minutes of a fireground operation set the stage for the remainder of the incident. For company officers and battalion chiefs, the main focus is on improving fireground operations and firefighter safety at the task, tactical, and strategic levels of operation. Learn the eight critical factors of size-up in the development of an incident action plan for the completion of the tactical priorities of rescue, fire control, and loss control. This program will follow the same curriculum used successfully every day in the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department and taught at the Command Training Center (CTC). INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Developing a Fire Department Training Program
Chief Thomas J. Wutz, Fire Service Bureau, and Mark C. Butler, State Fire Instructor, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control
Many fire departments struggle to provide comprehensive and challenging training for their personnel whether career, combination, or volunteer. Frequently these are departments without a dedicated training bureau or division, and the officer/instructor assigned the training responsibility continually searches for training programs and resources without a comprehensive plan. This program will provide training officers with the tools and resources they need to establish a training program for their agency. Through a series of presentations and practical exercises, students will develop a step-by-step training program to identify their specific training needs, design a training course/program for their agency, plan the implementation of the program including budgetary considerations, and evaluate the delivery of their comprehensive fire department training program. INTERMEDIATE
Developing Leadership in Fire Officers
Chief Dennis Compton, International Fire Service Training Association
This session explores critical leadership, supervisory, and management behaviors that make fire officers and those they lead more effective. A fire department is only as capable as the chief officers and company level officers who lead the system and the members. Enhancing the development of current and future fire officers is perhaps the greatest contribution we can make to the future of our fire departments, as well as their service delivery and support systems. All current and future fire officers will benefit from attending this session. INTERMEDIATE
Duty, Pride, and Tradition
J.P. “Mac” McCastland, Associate Director, Illinois Fire Service Institute; and Deputy District Chief (Ret.) Edmund J. Enright, Chicago (IL) Fire Department
This workshop will focus on the concept of similarities between the fireground and the battleground. In both arenas, strong leadership is the key to a successful operation–leadership that can be found at any level of the company. Using a series of photos and personal beliefs, the presenters will get into the hearts of the students and reaffirm the nature of the business of the “firefight,” where your actions and success come–from your training; from your experience; and, most importantly, from your true belief in “what it takes to be a firefighter.” ALL LEVELS
Firefighter and Fire Officer Survival: Why Things Go Right and Why Things Go Wrong
Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, Loveland-Symmes (OH) Fire Department; and Captain (Ret.) Gordon Graham, California Highway Patrol
This workshop will provide organizational risk management training for firefighters, officers, and instructors on what they can do immediately to avoid/minimize incidents from going horribly wrong. It focuses on the “Five Pillars” (and the related “rules”) of a successful organization and presents ideas you can bring home to your department. It will also feature an in-depth look (using video, slides, audio, and lecture) at numerous recent incredible firefighter close calls and fatalities with solutions to avoid them. ALL LEVELS
Five-Alarm Leadership: Preparing to Command
Chief Rick Lasky, Lewisville (TX) Fire Department; and Battalion Chief John Salka, Fire Department of New York
What are the issues and responsibilities officers handle every day? We all spend much more time managing firehouse issues and dealing with our firefighters than we do fighting fires. Shouldn’t we spend some time preparing for these tasks so our fire station environment is as successful as our fireground operations? Topics include your firefighters’ first day, the company officer’s role, your company officer’s first day, the chief’s role, roll call, setting up and planning your day, riding/tool assignments, company training and drills, communication, performance evaluations and awards, values-vision-mission, uniforms, and disciplinary issues. INTERMEDIATE
Instructional Excellence
Training Captain Kevin Milan, South Metro (CO) Fire Department/Board Member, International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI); and Chief of Training Christopher J. Naum, SFPE, Command Institute, Washington, D.C./Second Vice-President, ISFSI
This program will provide the aspiring or current company officer, fire instructor, or training officer with a focused and timely presentation of tools, methodologies, insights, and fundamentals to support company- or department-level training development, management, or delivery. Addressing timely issues, the program will provide a variety of essential elements that are cross-cutting and cutting edge in instructional excellence and development. The program is interactive and participative and will provide the company officer and instructor with the edge necessary to be highly effective and in step with today’s technological demands. Topics includethe virtual fire academy, leveraging technology and balancing traditional classroom deliveries, the training officer in 2010 and beyond, E-learning, social media and networking, and Web-based video production. BASIC
Interactive Strategy and Tactics Training
Lieutenant (Ret.) Jim Murphy, Orange County (FL) Fire Department; and Battalion Chief Mike Gurley, Virginia Beach (VA) Fire Department
If you were asked how effectively your department manages Type 4 and 5 incidents, could you provide a definitive answer and support it? There is a wide array of classes in which incident command is taught. This one takes a different approach, teaching you how to command an incident. This is both an instructional medium and an evaluation tool that uses state-of-the-art high-fidelity interactive simulations that teach, evaluate, and validate incident command, the role of safety officers, and strategy and tactics. By immersing students into simulated real-world events, the program produces “measurable results” in meeting or exceeding mandates/standards. INTERMEDIATE
Specifying Fire Apparatus
Battalion Chief (Ret.) William C. Peters, Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department
This program will guide the apparatus purchaser through the process of specification, including justification for replacement; outlining the options and features desired on the new apparatus; the various types of specifications and which one is best; the all-important general requirements to protect the purchaser; the factory preconstruction conference; and the final apparatus inspection, delivery, and acceptance. Several exercises will encourage group participation and reinforce lessons learned. All of the updates in the 2009 edition of NFPA 1901, the apparatus standard, will be included and discussed. INTERMEDIATE
Urban to Suburban Fire Strategies
Lieutenant Ray McCormack, Fire Department of New York; and Battalion Chief Curt Isakson, Escambia County (FL) Fire Rescue
Buildings vary in style and construction throughout the country; however, one constant remains: doing our job effectively–fire extinguishment and the preservation of life. Staffing issues impact tactics, but that does not mean that fire operations always have to suffer. Poor tactics are often more of a hindrance to success than staffing. Tactics that work for engine and ladder companies in urban and suburban areas are not always vastly different; both should be based on progressive firefighting. This class will break down how to operate at the four most common types of buildings found in urban and suburban response areas. Engine and ladder company operations will be examined to determine the best operational guidelines for each building type, and with the staffing assembled. This class is designed to highlight the commonality of tasks that need to be accomplished at structural fires in various occupancies while addressing the uniqueness of staffing and its impact on operations. Find out what your true fireground priorities should be. INTERMEDIATE
4-Hour Workshops, Tuesday, April 20, 8:00 am–12:00 pm NEW!
Firehouse Excellence
Captain Mike Gagliano, Seattle (WA) Fire Department
There is nothing quite like a firehouse. It can be the most incredible experience of your life or a miserable exile to purgatory. It can be a place of learning where skills are honed and techniques refined or a stagnant cesspool where competence erodes into ineffective complacency. What is it that causes one place to be cohesive and brimming with camaraderie while the place just down the road is filled with dissension and drudgery? There are five key areas that can turn any firehouse into the type of place that enables firefighters to thrive and fulfill their calling. This workshop will present a high-energy, no-nonsense look at how to build and enjoy the type of firehouse everyone wants. BASIC/INTERMEDIATE
High-Rise Operations
Battalion Chief Jerry Tracy, Fire Department of New York
The challenge of operating in commercial structures considered high-rise or low-rise demands the disciplines of procedures that go far beyond routine operations. Many cities, large and small, are experiencing a tremendous growth in such structures because real estate space has become a premium commodity and availability is declining. Learn the information required for preplanning and how the cooperation and duties of building owners and managing agents fit into the plan of operations. The preplan will be more than a building profile–it will focus on a plan of action when the emergency happens. Understand the characteristics of different construction types as well as how features of fire protection, HVAC (heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation) systems, and standpipe systems are used in operations. Learn about strategies and tactics to extinguish the routine to the most difficult fires—controlling smoke movement, search and rescue, the command system that supports operations–and the results of the latest research on smoke control conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in partnership with FDNY. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Hybrid Safety for First Responders
Matthew Stroud, President/Instructor, MGS TECH
This workshop will give first responders the knowledge they need to safely and confidently manage hybrid vehicle incidents. Topics include what a hybrid is, types, voltage hazards, parts location and identification, power-down procedures, fire and submersion tactics, dispelling hybrid myths, and alternative fuel vehicles and new technology approach tactics. BASIC
Instructor Makeover
Battalion Chief Forest Reeder, Pleasantview (IL) Fire Protection District
Every instructor needs to continually develop his skills and learn to deal with the new challenges that our profession brings to us each day. This workshop will help you develop and refine your professional skills in many useful areas. This is a do-it-yourself workshop with practical experience in the areas of objective writing, using and developing job performance requirements, conducting training needs assessments, and adult learning principles. You’ll be challenged to find ways to improve yourself as an instructor and, as a result, will emerge with new skills to help you do your job better. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Mastering Fireground Command
Battalion Chief Anthony Kastros, Sacramento (CA) Metropolitan Fire District
Today’s fireground should be a calm and orchestrated event, but often it is not! Fewer fires, mass attrition, and little or no command training have created an era in today’s fire service where the simple “bread and butter” house fire is a sentinel event. Radio traffic is unclear, and basic mistakes are made on a regular basis. Don’t believe the lie that you cannot prepare for the test and the job at the same time. The military, airlines, and NASA do it, and it’s about time the fire service did! These high-risk fields have relied on simulations for years. Simulation software should not just be used at test time; it’s a great tool for developing great fireground officers. While there are many sources of good information, officers still lack command training that puts them in the hot seat and helps them apply their skills with clear, calm, command presence. A simple, street-smart system is a must for officers and aspiring officers. Regardless of the SOPs, the student will be able to format their department operations into this system for day-to-day operations.Students will review radio traffic and video of actual incidents. In addition, simulation software will be used to size up and organize commercial, residential, garden/center hall apartment, and wildland fires. INTERMEDIATE
Positive Pressure Attack
Battalion Chief Kriss Garcia, Salt Lake City (UT) Fire Department
In the past two decades, lightweight building construction methods and the use of manmade materials in construction and furnishings have become increasingly common. The time until structural failure can be expected in a fire has been reduced, and firefighters see hotter fires that generate higher levels of deadly gases. Recent studies by NIST concluded that fires are growing more rapidly and that escape from some types of fires has been reduced from 17 minutes to three minutes in some situations. But the ventilation methods used by modern firefighters have not kept pace. Positive pressure attack, proven on the fireground, allows for a coordinated and systematic approach to hoseline and ventilation operations. This workshop covers the mechanics and the basics of positive pressure ventilation (PPV), precautions surrounding its use, and presents methods for incorporating PPV without delaying the initial fire attack. ALL LEVELS
Right Seat Responsibilities
Assistant Chief Mike Cardwell, Urbandale (IA) Fire Department
With today’s staffing limitations, young officers often lack the experience or an on-scene command officer to make critical initial fireground decisions. This workshop teaches the process of how to apply information gathered during response and size-up to make initial strategy decisions based on fundamental risk analysis principles. It was developed to provide young company officers with a template for taking size-up information, comparing it against building hazards and existing fire conditions, and completing a risk-benefit analysis. Class participants will receive practical, field-tested guidelines to help them complete that analysis. The result will be sound strategic decision making in the first five minutes, the most critical time frame for any incident. BASIC
Skills and Drills
Captain Bob Carpenter, Miami Dade (FL) Fire Rescue
In these economic times, getting the maximum impact out of training time is crucial, and reducing “fluff” classes is more important than ever—especially for the new company officer. Miami Dade Fire Rescue has instituted a Skills and Drills component to ensure that new officers are prepared and confident to supervise and train companies in the bread-and-butter hands-on skills of company operations. This workshop addresses some of the hurdles you may encounter when implementing such a program and the solutions to overcome them. Video interviews with past participants as well as key players who brought this level of training to life are part of the presentation. Skills and Drills is a must-see for trainers, administrators, and training chiefs interested in breathing a new level of enthusiasm into their Officer Development Program. BASIC
Tactical Considerations and Size-Up
Battalion Chief Michael L. Walker, Oklahoma City (OK) Fire Department
This workshop will show how to deal with the ever-changing dynamics of actual scene management at a structure fire and what to do when the initial plan isn’t working. Using footage taken from a helmet camera, students will learn from actual fires the instructor has commanded. They will learn how the tactical decisions affected the outcome of the event, namely an unusual house fire and two different multialarm apartment fires. The captured footage from the helmet camera has proven to be invaluable for personnel to learn from during critiques. INTERMEDIATE
Taxpayer and Strip Mall Fires
Deputy Assistant Chief (Ret.) John Norman, Fire Department of New York
Fires in stores and other commercial occupancies are severe threats to our firefighters. More firefighters are killed per alarm in commercial fires than in any other commonly encountered fire. The toll on a community is often staggering when a block of Main Street is gutted by fire or a major local employer is burned out. The reason many of the fires end up so destructive is often traceable to the fire department’s lack of preparedness. Fortunately, major store fires are not everyday occurrences but, as a consequence, many departments try to apply house fire tactics to commercial fires. Learn the differences between residential and commercial fires and the tactics that have proven effective in dealing with taxpayers. Topics include construction deficiencies common to stores; hoseline selection, stretching, and placement; gaining entry/exit; cockloft fires–roof operations; trusses and other lightweight roofs; cellar fires–the firefighter trap; parapet collapse, and hidden dangers. This class focuses heavily on some of the more common causes of firefighter deaths and injuries in these dangerous structures and offers useful tips on how to keep from falling prey to these common dangers. BASIC
Truck Company Priorities
Battalion Chief Curt Isakson, Escambia County (FL) Fire Rescue
This workshop will begin with an overview of truck company operations and break them down in order of priority. The order will deviate depending on occupancy, stage of fire, and overall strategy decided by the incident commander. The class will cover every aspect of truck company operations that two properly equipped firefighters can perform and then expand when two teams of two are paired as one team. The truck operations will be divided into the first 15 minutes at a fire and then the second 15 minutes at a fire. Students will leave with written seat assignments and the knowledge of how to establish truck company operations at their fires, even when staffing is an issue. They will also receive the entire training program so they can immediately implement and start training their department. BASIC
Understanding Hostile Fire Behavior
Deputy Chief (Ret.) Ted Nee, Albuquerque (NM) Fire Department
This fast-paced interactive workshop will examine flashover, backdraft, smoke explosion, and wind-driven fire dynamics from both a theoretical and a fireground point of view. The goal of the course is to build better mental models of fire phenomena and the strategy and tactics necessary to operate safely and effectively on the modern fireground. Emphasis is on recognizing the critical fireground cues and factors predictive of extreme fire behavior. Students will receive a detailed instructor guide, copies of the student handouts, and a copy of the presentation to take back to their department. BASIC
What Can Go Wrong?
Battalion Chief Frank C. Montagna, Fire Department of New York
A well-kept little secret is that “routine” responses are often mishandled to the detriment of both responders and civilians. Frequently, word-of-mouth training on “routine” responses leaves out crucial facts and sometimes is just plain wrong. This workshop offers a plain-language explanation of the hazards you may encounter at these responses, tried and true tactics, and safety precautions designed to keep firefighters and civilians safe, as well as an explanation of how things can go wrong. The topics covered include routine and some not-so-routine carbon monoxide emergencies; natural gas, oil burner, and electrical emergencies and fires; and car, kitchen, and mattress fires. It will be useful to firefighters and newly promoted company officers and will serve as a refresher for everyone else. BASIC
Wood-Frame and Ordinary Construction Principles and Hazards
Paul T. Dansbach, Fire Marshal, Bureau of Fire Safety, Rutherford, NJ
This workshop covers the materials used in construction, the forces applied to a structure, the structural hierarchy of buildings, and the impact of renovations on structures. It reviews the materials used in wood-frame and ordinary construction, including modern construction materials; the construction methods employed in each type of construction; the fire spread potential and collapse potential of each type of construction; and the effect renovations have on these types of construction. It also covers proper size-up techniques to identify the type of construction for a given building and focuses on safe fireground operations in each of the five types of construction. Using case studies of buildings under construction or renovation, you will learn how buildings are constructed, how fire spreads through buildings, and how and why structural components fail under fire conditions. The program also includes a review of several fires where firefighters died in the line of duty and building construction was a factor in their deaths. BASIC
4-Hour Workshops, Tuesday, April 20, 1:00 pm–5:00 pm NEW!
Complex Large-Area Searches
Firefighter Jeff Seaton, San Jose (CA) Fire Department
Today’s fire service is in desperate need of ensuring that effective and efficient fireground search operations in complex (multistory/high-rise) and large-area occupancies are implemented daily. The intent of this program is to assist in “preventing the next 100” line-of-duty deaths by providing an increased level of operational safety and capability at the task, tactical, and strategic levels while searching for life or fire in such an occupancy. This program will simplify these low-frequency/extremely high-risk fireground search operations so that nobody gets left behind! Intermediate/Advanced
Fireground Air Management
Captain Casey Phillips, Seattle (WA) Fire Department
“We have got to do a better job of air management!” This is the common finding of most LODD reports, and yet the fire service continues to take a reactive posture. This dynamic video-driven workshop introduces and reinforces the idea of air management and the Point of No Return. It will provide the tools you need to implement air management in your department. It gets firefighters back to being proactive instead of hoping things turn out OK. Some of the areas covered include why our current air management practices are killing us, how firefighters are dying on the fireground and what can be done about it, the Point of No Return—how it draws us in and how to avoid its pull, the Rule of Air Management (ROAM)—the cornerstone of progressive air management programs, and what out of air looks like. Air management can be implemented in departments of all sizes, and it doesn’t take a lot of extra money, staffing, or new equipment. ALL LEVELS
Fireground Officer Development
Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo, North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire & Rescue
This presentation will challenge officers and prospective officers with regard to their preparation, attitude, philosophical approach, and operational and organizational skills in the hard environment (on the fireground) and in the soft environment (when you are preparing yourself and your members for the fireground). Officers will look inside themselves and at their departments and answer the questions: What kind of officer am I? What type of organization do I work for? Am I really an officer who looks out for his subordinates, or do I use lip service and then not practice what I preach? The program discusses why the insignias on the officer’s collar stand for “conflict and confrontation” and helps them to see that these seemingly negative connotations are actually leadership virtues for the effective officer. It will explore setting expectations and setting proper example as well as discuss the skills of resolving subordinate issues, the rules of engagement, the art of command presence, street-command organization, and officer accountability. This will hopefully be a wake-up call for many officers who have become complacent and allowed their subordinates to follow that path as well. INTERMEDIATE
Ice and Water Rescue
Andrea Zaferes, Instructor and Vice President, Lifeguard Systems, Shokan, NY
Anyone who has a retention pond, a lake, or still water in their jurisdiction will find this workshop useful. Topics include patient handling, suit maintenance and setup, proper personal protective equipment for such rescues, how to walk on ice, self-rescue techniques, using ice poles, establishing buoyancy in water, transporting patients without a transport device, animal rescue, knot tying and line handling, using the rope rescue throw bag, and the proper use of swim fins. ALL LEVELS
Managing Storage Tank Fires
Gregory G. Noll, Senior Partner, Hildebrand and Noll Associates, Inc., Lancaster, PA
This workshop will provide municipal fire department officers with the background knowledge and skills necessary to safely and effectively manage a flammable liquid storage tank emergency. Workshop materials are based on the textbook Storage Tank Emergencies: Guidelines and Procedures© and related nationally recognized engineering standards and safe operating practices. Workshop objectives are based on the knowledge objectives contained in NFPA 472, Annex E-Competencies for Technicians with a Flammable Liquids Bulk Storage Specialty. Topics include storage tank design and construction andfirefighting foam and foam protection systems. INTERMEDIATE
Mass Casualty Incident Management
Karen Owens, Emergency Operations Assistant Manager, Virginia Office of EMS
Large-scale incidents are becoming more and more prevalent in every locality. Mass casualty incidents (MCI) have many causes: transportation crashes, natural disasters, criminal/terrorist incidents, technical hazards, and civil disobedience. Regardless of the cause, an MCI taxes first responders and resources. Appropriate incident management begins with the first on-scene and continues until the incident is cleared. Since traditional methods of patient assessment will not ensure that the largest number of patients survive, triage must be quickly initiated to do the greatest good for the greatest number. First responders can apply the scene management techniques taught here to any MCI, regardless of the triage method used. This workshop will discuss appropriate methods to set up and perform patient triage, treatment, and transport. The procedures are designed for incidents where there are more injured than you can handle with available resources. INTERMEDIATE
Not Everyone Goes Home
Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, Loveland-Symmes (OH) Fire Department
Real-life, and very current, case studies are used to help participants distinguish between firefighter behaviors that are heroic, involve taking calculated risks, and may end with tragic results and behaviors that are “hardly heroic” and may even border on “stupid.” ALL LEVELS
Officer Development Programs
Assistant Chief Rudy Horist, Elgin (IL) Fire Department
Beyond NFPA 1021 certification programs lies the answer to successful officer training. Arming the next generation of officers with the information and skills they need and building an ongoing continuing education program for existing officers can be major challenges for training developers and officers. This workshop will link certification training with realistic job requirement training through a professional development process. It will provide guidance and experience in completing a training needs assessment of developing newly promoted officer training programs and ongoing (continuing education) training programs. Students will learn essential skills and competenciesand solutions for training program management and development. INTERMEDIATE
Pride and Ownership: The Love for the Job
Chief Rick Lasky, Lewisville (TX) Fire Department
This hard look at the fire service finds it short on the one element that makes it effective: passion. This is an upfront and honest criticism about the need to reignite the love for the job on every level, from chief on down. Revisit the proud history and tradition of the fire service and reflect on the family values and brotherhood that have made firefighting the best job in the world. Topics include our mission, the firefighter, the company officer, the chief, our two families, sweating the small stuff, the promotion, what September 11 did to us and for us, ceremonies, marketing, and making it all happen. ALL LEVELS
Single Engine Company Operations
Lieutenant Mark J. Cotter, Salisbury (MD) Fire Department
This is an idea that grew out of the need for a comprehensive firefighting method that could be accomplished by a small crew of firefighters. The concept is to organize a small team (as few as five firefighters) to address, but not necessarily carry out, all standard fireground tactics. While initially developed with the objective of addressing the personnel shortages small volunteer fire companies face with their limited availability of trained firefighters, it has application to virtually any fire company that may from time to time arrive at the scene of an emergency incident with a small contingent. It is the best way to use a limited number of firefighters to accomplish emergency incident management. Students will develop competency in prioritizing and assigning fireground activities in a manner that recognizes their department’s capabilities and limitations. ALL LEVELS
Suburban/Rural Fire Tactics
Chief John M. Buckman III, Indiana Firefighter Training System
This presentation will discuss the strategic and tactical challenges suburban/rural departments face when staffed with combination or volunteer personnel. It will discuss operational techniques and application of tactics with limited staffing. Topics include water supply, defensive and offensive operations, staffing requirements, command expectations, and residential and light commercial occupancy firefighting techniques. BASIC
Tactical Safety
Lieutenant Ray McCormack, Fire Department of New York
This class examines several dozen tactical safety procedures you can incorporate into your daily fireground operations. These procedures will increase your operational safety and reduce fireground injuries. Through the use of video, discussion, case histories, and shared experiences, you’ll be able to quickly incorporate marketable safety into your department’s training and tactical operations. Tactical Safety was designed to segment operations that occur at the majority of structural fires and emergencies and improve their safety. The topics covered represent not only a cross-section of common operational tactics but, more importantly, they offer a safer method of implementation. Tactical Safety is not theoretical; it is based on actual fireground tasks that place firefighters at risk for injury. The solutions offered are based on sound training principles and operational efficiency. Tactical Safety does not just tell you to do something; it explains how and why to do tasks, which increases your personal safety on the fireground. BASIC
Truck Company A to Z
Captain Michael M. Dugan, Fire Department of New York
Learn about everything truck–from apparatus to staffing, tools selection from basic to advanced, riding assignments and associated tasks, and standard operating guidelines and how to implement them. Does your department have an aerial ladder, a tower ladder, a platform, or a ladder pumper combination? Each apparatus has different operational considerations. Do you know the importance of proper tools and the need to have them available on the fireground? Do you know how to make the best of available staffing and set their priorities on the fireground? SOPs are needed to accomplish the required ventilation and entry and search of the fire building in a coordinated and controlled manner to ensure safety of operating forces and the public.
ALL LEVELS
Truck Placement and Operations
Lieutenant Michael Wilbur, Fire Department of New York
Aerial apparatus represent a large investment, yet most departments that have them underutilize them and really don’t understand their proper use. This workshop covers such topics as the operational differences and limitations between light-duty and heavy-duty aerials; how using the apparatus beyond their limitations can cause catastrophic failures; the importance of conducting annual testing to reduce failures; and the proper positioning, placement, and operations of aerial and tower ladders. ALL LEVELS
8-Hour Workshops, Tuesday, April 20, 8:00 am–5:00 pm
Chief Officer Development
Battalion Chief John Salka, Fire Department of New York
This program is geared toward chief officers and company officers preparing to move up into the chief’s ranks who want to develop the professional skills, abilities, and attitudes of a chief. It describes some of the best methods for handling various fireground situations including strategy and tactics, command operations, safety and accountability, progress reports and fire control estimates, search procedures and results, offensive/defensive operations, multiple-alarm management, and fire officer responsibilities. Whether you are a seasoned chief officer or in your first year as a chief, you will take away some great lessons and be better prepared for your next challenging operation. INTERMEDIATE
Command Training Workshop
Chief (Ret.) Alan Brunacini, Deputy Chief Nick Brunacini, and Captain (Ret.) John Brunacini, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department
Command training should focus on the job you do every day in the streets. The end product of training should produce incident commanders who make better decisions that provide for a safer and more efficient operation. Learn how to make command training realistic and applicable within your system, the command training curricula other organizations use, and ways to build simulations that are applicable to a command training program. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
Improving Incident Safety Officer Effectiveness
David Dodson, Lead Instructor, Response Solutions, LLC
This practical, street-tested program can help an incident safety officer (ISO) make a difference on the fireground. Learn how an ISO can apply a proactive approach to predicting hostile fire events, building collapses, hazardous energy releases, and firefighter injury traps. The workshop can also serve as a study tool for those seeking ISO certification. Case studies, best practices, and group exercises (using raw fireground footage) emphasize situational awareness and intelligent risk assessment. Topics include predicting hostile fire events like flashover and backdraft, the five-step approach to predicting building collapse, reading firefighters and firefighter risks, spotting command dysfunction, and video practice (four group projects).
ADVANCED
Leadership for the First-Line Supervisor
Battalion Chief Robert Burns and Captain Al Hagan, Fire Department of New York
This is a systematic review of the role of leadership in today’s fire service. Although the material presented is valid for officers of all ranks and assignments, it is of particular interest to newly promoted officers or members anticipating promotion in the near future. The workshop will identify the characteristics and traits of successful leaders and the skill sets required to manage effectively in the modern emergency service workplace. Leadership is basically a function of the extent to which our behavior encourages others to act in accordance with our directions or suggestions. Leadership training, therefore, is primarily a matter of learning how our behavior affects other people. Gain insight into the theory and practice of effective leadership and an increased awareness of the factors that influence human and organizational behavior. The skill sets developed in the class will enable you to have a positive impact on the training, safety, and performance of the members you supervise. ALL LEVELS
Modern Residential Fire Tactics
Captain Bill Gustin, Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue
Firefighters who use the same tactics for fighting fires in modern, lightweight construction as they would for older residences of conventional construction place themselves at risk for sudden, early collapse of the structure. Examine why lightweight construction methods and materials demand that firefighters modify some of their conventional tactics when operating at fires in modern, single-family homes and garden apartments and other multiple dwellings. Most departments are suburban and seriously understaffed; consequently, they cannot implement some of the personnel-intensive tactics big city departments use. Learn how to conduct size-up before committing limited resources; water supply options; apparatus positioning; hoseline selection and placement; how to fight fires in attics, basements, attached garages, and old balloon-frame construction; and techniques to get hoselines to the upper floors of multiple dwellings when there are insufficient personnel to perform a conventional stairway stretch. INTERMEDIATE
Training Program Management for Small Departments
Chief Devon Wells, Hood River (OR) Fire Department; and Battalion Chief Robert Stumpf, Bloomington (IN) Fire Department
Training is the backbone of the fire service, and it is an ever-changing environment. This workshop, presented by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors, will offer new ways to manage a training program. Topics include managing daily shift training, volunteer drills, creating a training schedule, and using training to create “buy-in” at all levels of the organization. It will also cover the Training Passport used by the Bloomington (IN) Fire Department, which has found great success and is a model program for fire departments nationwide. ALL LEVELS
Training Tricks of the Trade: Make Every Class/Drill a Home Run
David Walsh, Fire Science Program Chairperson/Instructor, Dutchess Community College Fire Science Program, Poughkeepsie, NY
Today’s fire instructors are challenged with providing top-notch training that is effective, safe, and time-sensitive. Learn how to make even the most boring training topic interesting. Presented are dozens of tried-and-proven, easy-to-accomplish “tricks” for transforming lessons on the most mundane topics into exciting and successful educational experiences. INTERMEDIATE
Classroom Sessions
State CEU Requirements
Shuttle Schedule
