Saturday Morning Keynote

The Space Shuttle and Your Fire Department - A Collision Course for Change or Disaster

This high-energy course will cause you to want to be the change agent of your department. The course looks at the evolution of the American Fire Service, its culture, and some of the pitfalls we face and cause ourselves. While we have lived by the motto of 150 Years of Tradition Unimpeded by Progress, that mantra can no longer serve our needs. The world around us has changed, whether it be social media, technology, the built environment, the furnished environment, our gear, and our departmental makeup. Come join the discussion powered by many modern-day fire service case studies.

• Understanding the normalization of deviance
• Understanding drift into failure
• Understanding the root cause of firefighter injury and death
• Understand the NIOSH Top 5
• Learning from LODD reports
• Conduct Safety Investigations within your department

Presented by:

Brian P. Kazmierzak, EFO, CTO has a bachelor’s degree in fire service administration from Southern Illinois University and serves as the Director of Operations for Firefighter Close Calls and the webmaster for the Modern Fire Behavior website. Chief Kazmierzak was the recipient of the 2006 F.O.O.L.S. International Dana Hannon Instructor of the Year Award, the 2008 Indiana Fire Chiefs Training Officer of the Year Award, and the 2011 ISFSI/FDIC George D. Post Fire Instructor of the Year. In addition, Chief Kazmierzak completed the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program in 2006 and is a CPSE-credentialed Chief Training Officer. He was on the UL FSRI PPV Research Study Basement Fire Tactics Study Panels. He has been a student of the fire service since 1991 and has taught and consulted for small departments as well as metro-size departments. Additionally, Chief Kazmierzak serves as a subject matter expert for the NIOSH Firefighter Line of Duty Death program. He currently serves as the Fire Marshal (in charge of all fire operations) for the Benton Harbor, Michigan, Dept. of Public Safety