Fire Industry News

Conver-White Named 2015 Safety Officer of the Year

Sayshan L. Conver-White has been named the 2015 Safety Officer of the Year. Conver-White, a battalion chief with Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department, was presented with the award by the International Association of Fire Chief Safety Health & Survival Section and the Fire Department Safety Officers Association at Fire-Rescue International in Atlanta. The award is presented annually to a safety officer in a fire department (any size or composition) who has made a significant contribution to their organization and/or the fire service as a whole in the area of health and safety.

In nominating her for the award, Assistant Fire Chief Erroll George, manager of the Department’s Safety and Risk Management Office, wrote, “In 2007, Sayshan became the department’s first on duty Safety Officer. Her passion for firefighter safety led the department to establish an Operational Safety office that now includes both a career and volunteer safety officers around the clock.” Chief George added, “Her passion for firefighter safety has dramatically changed the safety culture within the Department…since 2013, the number of firefighter injuries has been reduced by 16 percent.”

When Conver-White was appointed the department’s first on-duty safety officer, she had no idea what to do, but was told to identify the training and the department would send her. “I Googled ‘safety officer’ and found the FDSOA Safety Forum,” Conver-White said. “From that one conference, it lit my fire! I was like a sponge taking it all in and was almost overwhelmed with all I learned.”

In creating the Operational Safety Objectives for Prince George’s department, Conver-White wrote the mission statement: “To develop programs that enable, or increase the likelihood of, all Fire/EMS personnel returning home safely and without injury.”

“Safety touches every aspect of the department,” Conver-White stated and believes the position of safety officer needs to be someone who cares and wants to be in the role, not just appointed.

Asked for advice to new safety officers, she replied, “Changing a culture means making incremental changes over time. Stay organized; focus on the goal and on the mission at hand.”

FDSOA Combines Apparatus Symposium and Safety Forum

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) is holding two events concurrently January 18-22, 2016, in Scottsdale, AZ.

The FDSOA 28^th Annual Apparatus Specification and Maintenance Symposium will be held Jan. 18-20, while the 2016 Annual Safety Forum will begin Jan. 18-19 with two Safety Officer Academies and continue with the Safety Forum conference Jan. 20-22.

The Apparatus Symposium will offer 25 programs focused on emergency vehicles and presented by experts in the fire industry. Programs range from apparatus specification writing, electronics and diesel issues to NFPA 2016 highlights and new ambulance standards.

The combined events will also feature three of the fire services’ most popular—and sometimes controversial—keynote speakers:

Monday, Jan. 18—James J. Juneau, Juneau, Boll, Stacy & Ucherek, Dallas, TX
Wednesday, Jan. 20—Gordon Graham, Graham Research Consultants, Long Beach, CA
Friday, Jan. 22—Billy Goldfeder, Deputy Chief, Loveland-Symmes, OH

The Safety Forum portion of the week will begin with the two-day Incident Safety Officer and the Health and Safety Officer Academies. Dave Dodson and Shadd Whitehead will present the ISO class. Stu Rodeffer and Doug Cline will present the HSO Academy. Upon completion of either 16-hour academy, attendees will be eligible to take the exam for National Certification onsite either Tuesday or Wednesday evening, or by using an approved local proctor at a later date.

Details on registration and complete agendas are available on www.fdsoa.org.

For more information regarding the FDSOA Apparatus Symposium and Safety Forum, January 18-22, 2016, contact Rich Marinucci, Executive Director, at [email protected] or visit www.fdsoa.org.

Line-of-duty deaths

7 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Five deaths were health related and two were the result of firefighting operations. This edition of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.

FIREFIGHTER SEAN BENSON, 50, with the Paramus, NJ, Fire Department was found unresponsive at home on Sept. 23, several hours after responding to a local restaurant for a fire alarm activation. Benson was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

FIREFIGHTER LARRY LEGGIO, 43, and FIREFIGHTER JOHN MESH, 39, with the Kansas City, MO, Fire Department, were killed Oct. 12 when a wall collapsed at a structure fire.

LIEUTENANT ANTONIO SMITH, 47, with the Memphis, TN, Fire Department, was found dead Oct. 7 in his vehicle less than 24 hours after his last response.

CAPTAIN CHARLES HORNING, 54, with the Townsend Township, OH, Fire Department, was found slumped over the wheel of his vehicle about eight hours after his final alarm on Oct. 13.

FIRE POLICE OFFICER GERALD “BEAR” CELECKI, 70, with South Amboy, NJ, Fire Department, collapsed Oct. 14 while directing traffic at an incident. Celecki, who was also chief of the Middlesex County Fire Police, was treated on-scene by fellow responders and transported to the hospital but was pronounced dead.

FIREFIGHTER LARRY O’NEIL, 58, with Palo Pinto, TX, Fire Department, collapsed shortly after arriving at an emergency medical incident on Oct. 25.

Firehouse World 2016: Focus on Fitness

The upcoming Firehouse World—which will be held Jan. 31–Feb. 4, 2016, in San Diego—will feature firefighter fitness, health and wellness.

MAIN CONFERENCE PROGRAMS

Firefighter Fitness

The Fundamentals of Firefighter Functional Fitness — J. Moss / D. Kerrigan
Fit to Fight: 360. 365 — Sarah Apgar
We are not an Athletic Profession, Developing High Performance — Mike O’Brian
Creating a Healthy and Fit Culture in Your Department — Aaron Zamzow

Health & Wellness Research/Injury Prevention

Firefighter’s Leading Health Risks on the Modern Fireground — Gavin Horn/Denise Smith
Sudden Cardiac Death in the Fire Service — Denise Smith
Firehouse Injury Prevention: Quality versus Quantity — John Hoffman

Firefighter Behavioral Health