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ALAN SAULSBURY, of Fire Spec Services and formerly of Saulsbury Fire Apparatus, received the 2006 Joe Fishelson Award, presented annually for excellence in customer service to the fire protection industry. According to Sam Goldwater, chair of the award’s board of directors, in Saulsbury’s efforts to provide customer service to the heavy rescue community, he “singlehandedly changed the definition of what a heavy rescue vehicle is today. Alan’s continuing contributions include training and an ongoing mission to make fire apparatus safer and more functional.” The award, named after Joe Fishelson, a pioneer in fire equipment manufacturing and proponent of customer service, is funded by Action Coupling in memory of Fishelson, and was presented at the FDIC in April.
RICHARD “DICK” OTTE, 69, passed away on April 30, 2006. An expert on rescue tools and motor sports safety, he worked with George Hurst to promote and sell the original “Jaws of Life.” In his fire/emergency industry career, he worked for Ansul, TRW, American Godiva Fire Pumps, LTI, PemFab, FireOut, Code 3 Res-Q, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Curtiss-Wright Power Hawk Rescue Systems, from which he retired in 2004, after 11 years as director of marketing. He also served as consultant to several fire/rescue equipment manufacturers and distributors. Otte was one of the originating National Fire Protection Association technical committee members for NFPA 1936, Standard on Powered Rescue Tools, and NFPA 610, Guide for Emergency and Safety Operations at Motorsports Venues.
EDWARD H. McCORMACK, JR., 67, passed away April 11, 2006. He spent more than 40 years in fire training and education. He he began as a volunteer firefighter with the Hopkinton (MA) Fire Department and later served as chief of fire and security at Cushing Hospital in Framingham, Massachusestts, where he instituted an emergency evacuation and disaster preparedness program. As president of the Massachusetts Institute of Fire Instructors, he promoted the creation of the Massachusetts Fire Training Academy. He also served as the director and chief of fire training for the state.
In his affiliation with the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), McCormack was involved in the transfer of the operation of the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Memphis, Tennessee, from the Insurance Services Offices (ISO) to ISFSI, which conducted its first FDIC in 1979. The conference moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1984, and to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1995. Fire Engineering, a division of the Pennwell Fire Group, purchased FDIC from the ISFSI in 1996.
With the ISFSI board, McCormack in 1989 helped create the Alliance for Fire and Emergency Management, consisting of nine smaller associations, including the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA).
