The continued support for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and its annual Fire Rescue International (FRI) conference by presenting workshops, holding meetings of its Board and Commissions, and it’s CPSE Annual Awards Dinner at FRI in Dallas, Texas. The week began with meetings of the CPSE Board of Directors, the Commission on Professional Credentialing (CPC), and the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI.)
The CPC unveiled two new programs at FRI. The first is a new Fire Officer designation for junior officers and others aspiring to become chief fire officers, and to ultimately be eligible for Chief Fire Officer Designation. The first nine Fire Officer designations were awarded to participants of the program beta test process. This program is designed to provide a model for individual professional development and career planning that will ensure leadership succession for the industry and its individual agencies. A second new initiative provides a complete fire officer mentoring program to help all fire officers in need of career counseling and peer mentoring. The program develops a cadre of professionally trained mentors, then creates and monitors the relationship between the protégée and the mentor. Through the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) professional designation programs, the CPC offers emergency services personnel guidance for career planning and development and recognizes lifelong career excellence and achievement. Designation demonstrates that an individual has developed a strategy for continued career improvement and development. There are a total of 660 CFOs and 43 CMOs.
The CFAI awarded accredited agency status to twenty agencies. Fifteen of the agencies were reaccredited, while five were newly accredited including Novato Fire Protection District (CA), Huntley Fire Protection District (IL) Tacoma Fire Department (WA), Fort Drum Fire and Emergency Services (NY), and Vandenberg Air Force Base Fire Department, (CA). The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) is committed to assisting and improving fire and emergency service agencies around the world in achieving organizational and professional excellence through its strategic self-assessment model and accreditation process to provide continuous quality improvement and enhancement of service delivery to the community and the world at large. There are 134 accredited fire and emergency services departments currently recognized by the Commission. There are 49 departments in various stages of their self-assessment and on the track to becoming accredited and an additional 204 departments are registered with the CFAI.
CPSE recognizes nearly 4,000 fire and emergency services professionals or agencies affiliated with the credentialing and accreditation programs.
