To make FDIC fresh for our long-time, repeat customers, we ask our “old favorites,” names you flock to see, names like Dodson, Goldfeder, Norman, Lasky, and Gustin, to rotate their preconference workshop topics every few years. We also mix in fresh, new talent to offer a wide range of subject matter, names like Alston, Walker, Dunne, Martin, and Stroud, names that you may have read in the pages of Fire Engineering or heard in a regular classroom but who are new to the workshops.
Here are a few of the many four- and eight-hour workshop offerings for 2011:
Instructor John Alston: “Time and Tide wait for no Man” (or Woman). Nor truer words have been spoken, but who said it and what does it mean for us? Was it St. Maher, ca. 1225; Geoffrey Chaucer, ca. 1400; or Ed Norton of the Honeymooners? Ddiscover this powerful tool and its place in your toolbox.”
Effective Time Management for the Executive Fire Officer
Captain John Alston, Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department
This primer uses hands-on training aids, video clips, and PowerPoint® presentations to show participants the importance of effective time management. Students will identify the effects of poor time management on fire department administration. This subject is often taken for granted or overlooked, but the slightest adjustment can reap tremendous benefits. Students will discuss critical functions of the fire department and the role that effective time management plays in them and learn how to prioritize communications and tasks in their organization.
Instructor Michael Walker: “Sometimes the incident commander implements a plan that initially fails. This class will discuss what causes those failures and what to when it happens.”
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 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 real 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.
Instructor Thomas Dunne: “I expanded ‘Think Like an Incident Commander’ from a two-hour class to a four-hour workshop to give students more hands-on fire scenarios to work with. When it comes to fire lectures, ‘listening to’ is OK, but ‘doing’ is best.”
Think Like an Incident Commander
Deputy Chief Thomas Dunne, Fire Department of New York
What is an incident commander seeing, thinking, and feeling when he supervises a fire operation? Staffing, tactics, geography, and construction may vary at different incidents, but the one constant is the incident commander’s thought process. How is his view of a fire different, and how can his perspective make you a more effective chief, company officer, or firefighter? This workshop is designed to share this information and develop vital fireground skills. The material is geared to illustrate key points in preparation, size-up, fireground decision making, and communications. The goal is to help fire personnel of all ranks make more confident and effective decisions at an emergency operation.
Instructor Nicholas A. Martin: “Basement fires are a leading cause of operational line of duty deaths; learn multiple techniques on how to recognize and fight these fires.”
Basement Fires
Firefighter Nicholas A. Martin, District of Columbia Fire Department
Basement fires are among the most hazardous incidents that you respond to, primarily because of delayed recognition and limited access. This workshop will discuss techniques for size-up and attack of basement fires, including considerations for the truck company, engine company, and incident commander. Learn about the hazards, size-up techniques to improve early recognition of the fire’s actual location, various methods of fire attack, the construction and contents of typical basements with the corresponding effects on fire behavior, structural stability, and tactical options.
Instructor Matthew G. Stroud: “There’s too much misinformation about hybrid and new technology vehicles trickling down to our first responders, so our mission is simple: present the facts, not the hype.”
Hybrid Safety for First Responders
Matthew G. Stroud, Owner/President, MGS TECH Incorporated
This workshop includes discussions about hybrid parts locations, high voltage hazards, power down procedures, and fire and submersion tactics. It will dispel myths and misinformation about these vehicles and operating around them. Learn about air bag (SRS) systems, what a hybrid is and how to identify it, basic electrical theory, parts location and identification, and the hybrid’s future.
ALL LEVELS
