Last night I had the opportunity to meet the winner of last year's Fire Emergency Manufacturers & Services Association's Survey. Justin MacDonald is a first responder/firefighter with the Egg Harbor (Wis.) Town & Village Fire Department. He told me that he filled out the FEMSA survey online from his home.

MacDonald said he was really surprised when he received the phone call telling him that he had won $5,000 worth of equipment from FEMSA members, just for filling out the survey. His fire chief, Mark Bogenschutz, couldn't believe it either.

Egg Harbor, which has two stations and 41 volunteers on their roster, runs about 80 total calls a year. They assist a local ambulance service but do a lot of extrication work, particularly in the surrounding farmlands.

It was really heartwarming to drive to the department to take a photo for the FEMSA newsletter. As a member of the FEMSA Board of Directors, it was particularly satisfying to see the equipment go to a department that appreciates it after seeing the hard work that the FEMSA committees put into creating the survey and promoting it through the fire media.

Among the items the department selected from the W.S.Darley catalog were luminous on-scene road signs, scene lights and wildland firefighting suits. Bogenschutz was particularly pleased with the two RIT packs and four RIT lines that they received because they would help the department's ongoing safety efforts.

Speaking of safety, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association's Annual Conference & Meeting is scheduled for Oct. 30-Nov. 3 in Orlando, Fla. They are offering two 16-hour pre-conference programs of particular interest: "Incident Safety Officer-Fire Suppression Academy" and "Health & Safety Officer Academy."

The "Incident Safety Officer-Fire Suppression Academy" program is designed to improve a fire officer's effectiveness as an incident safety officer and will help prepare the student to take FDSOA's incident safety officer-fire suppression certification exam. Instructors are Deputy Chief Larry Anderson (Ret.) of the Dallas Fire Department and Asst. Chief John McCarthy of the Ottawa (Ontario) Fire Department.

The "Health & Safety Officer Academy" is for incident safety officers who want to obtain health and safety officer certification. This program is taught by the powerhouse team of Phil Chovan, research and teaching assistant, Georgia Institute of Technology; Sandy Davis, director of homeland security and emergency preparedness for Caddo and Bossier Parishes in Louisiana; and Bttn. Chief Rob McLeod, Chandler (Ariz.) Fire Department.

The two speakers wrapping up this conference are attorney Jim Juneau and recently retired Chief Alan Brunacini. Juneau will include a legal analysis of several recent line-of-duty deaths relating to safety and liability. Brunacini will emphasize the role of the incident commander and highlight eight command functions to combine and integrate safety with command. For more details, contact the FDSOA at 508-881-3114 or visit www.fdsoa.org.

From small volunteer fire departments to the largest metro departments, safety is more critical than ever. Don't miss a chance to learn more about it.

Janet Wilmoth, Editorial Director
janet@firechief.com