IAFF Redmond Symposium

For the last three days , I’ve had the pleasure of attending the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) John P. Redmond Health and Safety Symposium and the Dominick F. Barbera EMS Symposium in Denver.  For the non-fire folks who may be reading this, the IAFF is the firefighter’s union and it is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.  The symposium wasn’t about ‘union’ stuff however.  Instead, it was three solid days of plenary sessions and workshops focused on firefighter fitness, safety, and emergency medical services.

Unlike last week in Chicago at FRI where every minute of every day was spoken for, I actually had the opportunity to sit in some sessions in Denver and learn.  The biggest takeaway, for me, was the progress we are making in truly understanding – from a science perspective – fire behavior.  The folks at NIST, NIOSH, and UL are doing incredible work studying the science of fire behavior and they are breaking new ground in what they are learning about how we use ventilation and water application in our suppression tactics.  They are learning valuable things about how air (and heat and flames) travel through fire structures (flow path) and how we can use that knowledge to help us in our suppression efforts.  Good stuff that will eventually translate into significant new tools in our toolbox for fighting fire and keeping our people safe.  As I was leaving, my question was, how will we go about getting this new and important information out to our firefighters and fire officers who really need it?  It’s a challenge that we are all going to have to tackle.

I taught two workshops with Lori Moore from the IAFF on how to have a conversation with your policy makers about the benefits of a fire-based EMS system.  On a Saturday morning – early – on the last day of the conference, we had a packed room for both sessions.  I’m impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the firefighters and officers in attendance at the symposium.  They were here to get some serious education about health, safety, and EMS.  It was enjoyable to spend time with such dedicated professionals!