Speakers Selected for FDIC, March 16-19
Key issues facing the nation’s fire service will be discussed by speakers at the plenary sessions of the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Memphis March 16-19. The 53rd annual conference, sponsored by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and hosted by the Memphis Fire Department, will also feature workshops on 38 subjects.
Hazardous materials and arson are the hottest topics in the fire service, as indicated by the number of courses being offered throughout the country. To meet this interest, Charles J. Wright, supervisor of hazardous materials training for the Union Pacific Railroad, will talk about “Meeting the Hazardous Materials Challenge.” He conducts hazardous materials courses for fire departments in the Union Pacific’s service area.
W. G. O’Neill, special agent for the Insurance Crime Prevention Institute, Cary, N.C., will outline an “Arson Training Program” with suggestions for increasing fire department involvement in combatting arson. “Juvenile Firesetters” will be the topic of Patricia Miezala, R.N., of the Cook County Hospital Burn Center in Chicago.
Apparatus specifications
The effects of inflation on fire department budgets will be recognized by Bob Barraclough, vice president, marketing, Hale Fire Pump Company, Conshohocken, Pa., who will talk about “Apparatus Specification Writing: Get Your Dollar Value.” The gist of his discussion will be how to obtain the type of apparatus needed in your department while avoiding specifications that add more cost than usefulness.
The relationship between “Industry and the Municipal Fire Service” will be defined by Don Eckenfelder, manager of loss prevention, Chesebrough-Pond’s, Inc., of Greenwich, Conn. Assistant Chief James Dalton, fire marshal, Montgomery County, Md., Fire and Rescue Services, who speaks extensively on public fire safety education, will tell “The Way It Was, The Way It Is.”
Although the speaker has not yet been selected, a talk about the MGM Hotel fire in Las Vegas has been scheduled, and Louis J. Amabili, director of the Delaware State Fire School, will discuss the “Amoco Chemical Plant Fire.”
“Search and Rescue” is the topic Assistant Chief Robert McLeod of Sarasota will handle, and Chief Alan Brunacini of Phoenix will answer the question, “What Is the Company Officer?”
Aircraft incidents
Assistant Chief Miles Young of Andrews Air Force Base in Virginia will discuss “Aircraft Incidents,” and Dr. Alan Davidson, a psychologist with the Academy of San D.iego, will talk about “Psychological Stress in Large Disasters.” Sherman Pickard, director of services of the North Carolina League of Municipalities, Raleigh, will enlighten the instructors about “Understanding Yourself,” and Inspector James Dolan of the Dover Township Board of Fire Commissioners, Toms River, N.J., will explain ways of “Implementing Standard 1001.”
On Sunday, March 15, there will be an FDIC first timers’ orientation session at 6 p.m., and starting at 7 p.m., the various ISFSI sections will hold their meetings.
