What's New in Workshops

To make FDIC fresh for our long-time, repeat customers, we ask our “old favorites,” names you flock to see, names like Dodson, Goldfeder, Montagna, Norman, Lasky, and Gustin, to rotate their topics every few years. We also mix in fresh, new talent to offer a wide range of subject matter, names like Dugan, Walsh, Devita, Kreis, and Burns, names that you may have read in the pages of Fire Engineering or heard in a regular classroom but who are new to eight-hour workshops. Again, as with the H.O.T. evolutions, you may have noticed that this year, we eliminated 16-hour workshops to give you more choices on how to spend your two preconference days.

 Here are a few of the new offerings for 2009:

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 training, safety, and performance of the members you supervise. ALL LEVELS

ROBERT T. BURNS is a 34-year veteran of FDNY, serving as a battalion chief for the past 16 years. In addition to being an adjunct instructor, teaching leadership, at John Jay College, he also heads the curriculum development group responsible for designing and delivering the leadership modules of FDNY promotional training courses for lieutenants, captains, and battalion chiefs. Burns is also the director of the New York State First Line Supervisor’s training program at FDNY Fire Academy. AL HAGAN has been a member of FDNY for 35 years, where he is a captain and has worked the vast majority of this time in Harlem and the South Bronx. He has been a member of the curriculum development group for the Leadership modules for lieutenants and captains. He taught the Leadership segments in the First Line Supervisors program for newly promoted New York State fire officers and FDNY captains.

Building the Training Field: Fire Prop Construction

Chief Nicholas Devita and Captain Scott Abston, Ocala (FL) Fire Rescue Department/Florida State Fire College

Learn techniques in prop design, construction, and use that will facilitate student and instructor safety while creating a realistic training environment. The emphasis is on low cost and ease of construction as well as functionality. Identify characteristics in prop design that facilitate rapid resetting and turnaround time, the tools needed for construction, resource material available, uses for scrap materials generated in construction and training, and factors that cause props to be unsafe. ALL LEVELS

NICHOLAS F. DEVITA, a 26-year veteran of the fire service, is a battalion chief with the Ocala (FL) Fire Rescue Department. He coordinates the firefighter training programs at the Florida State Fire College and is a member of FL-TF-8, which responds to disasters nationwide. He instructs in live-fire training, RIT, firefighter survival, USAR operations, and technician-level classes. SCOTT M. ABSTON, who has 15 years of experience in fire and rescue operations, is a captain in the Ocala (FL) Fire Rescue Department and a member of FL-TF-8. He is a lead instructor at the Florida State Fire College, where he teaches and develops props for firefighter I and II, RIT, firefighter survival, USAR operations, and technician-level classes.

Simulation Training for Instructors

Battalion Chief Frank Montagna and Captain John Miles, Fire Department of New York

This workshop will introduce you to fire simulation training, describe the various types, explain how to create them, and demonstrate the many ways to use this extraordinary training tool in your department. Several simulation programs will be demonstrated and discussed, including Fire Engineering.com’s online simulations. See how fire simulation training has developed from the chalkboard to today’s computer simulation programs and how to build a simulation from the ground up, including scripting the dialogue and running the simulation. Learn the types of incidents and problems you can integrate into simulations. Demonstrations of several different uses of simulations will involve the audience members as live simulations are run in the class to demonstrate their possibilities. The intent is to show that all of the featured programs can be used regardless of the department’s size, tactics, apparatus, or staffing. Your department’s tactics will be integrated into the simulation. ALL LEVELS

FRANK MONTAGNA, a 39-year Fire Department of New York veteran and a battalion chief for 22 years, is assigned to FDNY’s Training Academy and is responsible for curriculum development. He has created numerous courses for his department, and his fire simulations are used in FDNY’s promotion courses. He has a B.S. in fire science and lectures on various fire-related topics, including those covered in his book, Responding to Routine Emergencies and its Workbook (Fire Engineering 1999, 2005 respectively). JOHN MILES is a 20-year member of FDNY, where he is captain of Ladder 35 in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan. He served as a lieutenant of Ladder 35 and as a firefighter with Ladder 34 and Engine 82. He teaches at the New York City Fire Academy and is an adjunct professor in the fire science program at Rockland Community College and an instructor at the Rockland County (NY) Fire Training Center. He also served for 20 years as a volunteer firefighter with the Spring Valley (NY) and the River Vale (NJ) Fire Departments.

Vehicles, Technology, and You

David Dalrymple, Education Chair, Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee-US; and Captain Mark S. Uttley, Windsor (Ontario, Canada) Fire Rescue Services

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

DAVID DALRYMPLE, a 26-year veteran of the emergency services, is a career EMS provider for the RWJUH Emergency Services in New Brunswick, NJ, and a volunteer rescue services lieutenant for Clinton (NJ) EMS/Rescue. He is the education chair of the Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee - US (TERC), a certified international level extrication assessor, a road traffic accident advisor to IETRI, and a member of the IAFC Specialized Technical Rescue Committee. He is a NJ-certified fire service instructor, an ICET-certified registered international SAVER instructor, the lead instructor for vehicle rescue programs at the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center, and the executive educator for Roadway Rescue LLC. He writes for the Extrication Tactics column for Fire Engineering and a contributing author for Fire Engineering's Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009).

•  See all workshops