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I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know(repeats in second session)
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Firefighters have two families: one at work, one at home. Managing these complex relationships is a challenge for the firefighter and her family. Drawing on three years of research, this workshop will cover:
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What firefighter families need to know about the givens and realities of the fire service (shift work, danger, worry, playing second fiddle to the job) |
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How the job spills over to home, and what to do about it (communication problems, humor, preoccupation with work) |
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The firefighter personality |
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Special challenges for women firefighters and their families |
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Special challenges for firefighter couples |
Note: Conference attendees may purchase special registrations for this workshop only, for family and friends. The fee is $10.
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| Faculty: Ellen Kirschman is the author of I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know and I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know. She has been a public safety psychologist for 25 years, twelve of those with the fire service. Most of her professional time is spent in training and public speaking. Some of the research for her book on firefighters was done at the last WFS conference, in Denver. |
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| The Baby Boomers are Coming! The Baby Boomers are Coming! |
| The baby boomers are coming. What is in store for the fire service, and how can public education lessen the present and future strain on our service? This workshop will present information about national trends in the aging population, and discuss the challengs these changes will pose for the fire service over the next 25 years. We will also offer public education resources that are available to the fire service, and discuss options for implementing appropriate and practical public education programs to address the impact of the needs of an increasingly large cohort of seniors on the fire service. |
| Faculty: Scott R. Stokes is a Master Firefighter and paramedic with the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, where he has worked for 18 years. He is the public education outreach coordinator for seniors, and is chair of the AMA's Operation Stroke public education committee for the D.C. metropolitan region. |
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| Update on the IAFF/IAFC Wellness-Fitness Initiative |
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| [Description forthcoming] |
| Faculty: IAFF staff |
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| Women, Firefighting and Faith |
| Firefighting is a dangerous profession that places many demands on firefighters every day. Firefighters are exposed to stressful situations on a regular basis, and women are not immune to this stress. During this lecture, we will look at the history women have had in the fire service, the struggles they still face, and how religious faith can play a significant role in coping with stress. |
| Faculty: Lt. Craig W. Duck has been involved in the fire service for some 25 years, as both a career firefighter and a volunteer. He has worked for the D.C. Fire and EMS Department for the past 18 years, and is currently detailed to its training academy. He has also been involved in his church for 18 years, serving as deacon, Sunday school teacher, and summer camp director. He is president of the D.C. Fire and EMS Department's Christian firefighters association |
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| Handling a White Powder Response |
| This workshop will address guidelines for performing a field test when handling an incident involving a white powder. Program content will include scene assessment, threat assessment, field testing, protection and packaging. Attendees should have a minimum training level of Hazardous Materials Operations. |
| Faculty: Captain Gregory Socks is the Hazardous Materials Training Coordinator with the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services |
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| Humor is Good for your Health |
| In this workshop, we will talk about the importance of humor in dealing with the challenges and difficulties of life. Research has shown that a good belly laugh will expand your lungs, increase the oxygen in your body, and lower your blood pressure. Through handouts and experiental activities, participants will discover appropriate places for humor and ways to incorporate humor into your work life and private life. |
| Faculty: Madeleine Greene, AFC, CFCS, is a faculty member of the University of Maryland and an educator with the Maryland Cooperative Extension. She was named National Extension Educator of the Year in 2000. |
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| Bringing it Back Home: Planning Local Conferences of Women Firefighters |
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If you have attended a women firefighters' conference before, you know how they can bolster your self-image, your enthusiasm for the job, and even your sanity. Many women leave wanting to be able to sustain those feelings as long as possible, and to share them with others. At the same time, for hundreds of women firefighters across the country, a national conference is simply out of reach, for financial or other reasons.
One solution is to create local conferences, training days, or state weekends for women firefighters. These events bring the networking and energy to the local level, where travel costs and often registration fees can be minimized. Come and learn how to make a conference like this happen in your area!
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| Faculty: Terese Floren, Executive Director, Women in the Fire Service; Jackaline Ring, Chief Marketing Administrator, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control |
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| Opportunities for Avoiding Accidents and Disasters |
| In order to prevent injurious situations in activities such as wildland fire, we must be able to differentiate between the precursors leading to an accident, as opposed to a disaster. This workshop will discuss applications of Barry Turner's sequential model for the origin of disasters to the wildland fire environment, including the wildland urban interface. It is designed to train fire behavior analysts to predict the growth and movement of wildland fires, and especially to ensure the safety of crews working in the wildland fire environment. |
| Faculty: Risa G. Lange-Navarro is a Fire Use and Fuels Management Training Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service at the Northern Rockies Training Center in Missoula, Montana. She is a former Fire Management Officer with more than 23 years' experience with wildland fire agencies. |
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| Latina firefighters' networking session |
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This session will be an opportunity for Latina firefighters to meet to discuss issues of common concern and share success strategies. Please see information about networking sessions.
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