HURST Jaws of Life, Inc. has added Barry Hopper as southeast regional sales manager. Hopper brings 30 years of public safety experience to HURST’s sales team, including teaching extrication and supervisory/management courses.
“We’re thrilled to add Barry to our sales team,” said Mike Canon, director of rescue sales for HURST Jaws of Life, Inc. “His passion for, and experience in, public service is not only impressive, but also vital to a sales role. We’re excited to see what he’s able to accomplish in his region.”
Hopper comes to HURST from GPSTC, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, where he served as an instructor, teaching courses or demonstrations in extrication, technical rescue, management and health and safety. Before this role, he retired as battalion chief after serving more than 20 years as a firefighter. During his service, Hopper is most proud of the 21 days he spent helping with search and rescue at the Louisiana/Mississippi border in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
For more information on Hurst, please visit www.jawsoflife.com.
Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company (Midwest Fire) is a finalist for the Best in Class Small Company Award at the Minnesota Business Manufacturing Awards. The award recognizes a small company (1–50 employees) for overall excellence in the manufacturing industry in Minnesota.
The awards event celebrating the finalists was held September 29th in Minneapolis. Winners and finalists will be honored in an upcoming feature story of an all-manufacturing issue of Minnesota Business.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” said Sarah Atchison, president & chief executive officer of Midwest Fire. “We were honored to be considered a finalist with so many other great companies in our category. It was a great evening to celebrate with our team members at the awards ceremony. We would not have received this nomination without the hard work, dedication and commitment to customer service by the entire team at Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company.”
TargetSolutions has launched two new online courses for first responders. The new titles, “EMS Incident Command System” and “Fire Service: Health and Safety,” join TargetSolutions’ catalog of more than 250 hours of Fire and EMS recertification training.
“These courses are key additions to our course library because they address two extremely vital areas for emergency responders,” said Lauren Crosby, TargetSolutions’ director of content. “We are always looking to add valuable content to our library and these two courses do exactly that for fire and EMS agencies.”
“EMS Incident Command System” delivers an essential overview of best practices for any public safety organization that might be involved in responding to a mass-casualty or multiple-agency response incident. “Established by emergency management professionals as a way to create leadership during emergencies, this course brings the essentials of ICS straight to your fingertips,” said Crosby. “This is an exciting course for EMS professionals because it’s such an important area of focus. We’re thrilled to make it available for those seeking EMS continuing education.”
“Fire Service: Health and Safety,” presents the concepts, science, and economics of fire service-related health and safety. This course outlines why firefighter wellness is critical to the fire service and the various risks associated with the profession.
“After completing this course, users will know the common types of line-of-duty-deaths among firefighters, common diseases suffered by firefighters, and why these diseases are so prevalent,” said Crosby. “Members of the fire service know their professional world is different than the rest of us. This course discusses issues that impact firefighters’ wellbeing and how firefighters can reduce their risks.”
This 60-minute training course, featuring interactive lessons and engaging content, delivers 10 learning modules with a 10-question exam.
If you would like more information about TargetSolutions’ online training catalog for first responders, please call (800) 840-8046.
Polaris Industries Inc. has hired John M. Olson as vice president and general manager for Polaris Defense, effective immediately. Reporting directly to Bob Mack, president, Global Adjacent Markets, Olson will execute complete Polaris Defense P&L responsibility, lead and develop the long-term strategy for the organization, and build it into a top supplier of innovative customer solutions to the Department of Defense and other Government agencies.
“John is incredibly accomplished, is highly conversant with cutting-edge technology, and has decades of experience with the Department of Defense, having both worked within that organization and conducted business with it as a contractor," said Scott Wine, Polaris chairman and chief executive officer. "His combination of energy and expertise will be a boon to our Defense business and our company as a whole. Polaris Defense has made strides in recent years and has significant untapped potential. I am confident John is the right person to help us realize it.”
Olson joins Polaris from Sierra Nevada Corporation, where as vice president of their Space Systems business he was responsible for space-exploration systems, including the innovative Dream Chaser reusable spacecraft.
Firehouse Staff
Content written and created by Firehouse Magazine editors.
