February 26th – 28th (0800hrs – 1700hrs)
Friday Morning
Leave it Better
Chris Logan
How can we affect the future for the better? What can we do to leave our mark for the better in the fire service? Lastly, how can we create the best environment to develop strong fire companies, future leaders, and great people? This presentation can show you the way.
Friday Afternoon
Leadership From the Bottom Up!
Dr. Candace Ashby (Battalion Chief, Indianapolis Fire Department)
Micromanagement, lack of direction, poor communication, and no accountability can lead to low morale, lack of trust, and complacency issues which leave most people feeling tired, frustrated, and stressed.
This fun and engaging personal leadership development class is designed to be a swift kick in the ass whether you are a new hire or 40+ year Fire Chief! No matter your time or rank or type of department, if you truly love this job, you will walk away from this class fired up to help bring positive change!
This no-nonsense lecture discusses real issues plaguing the fire service along with tactics on how to improve communications, build morale, increase productivity, enhance innovation, and provide better customer service! Warning: This is not your typical leadership class or for the faint of heart.
Saturday Morning
Tactical Athlete
Bryan Reid
Not Every Workout is Created Equal…for the Fire Service
This session explores firefighter fitness through the lens of tactical performance, health, and longevity. We’ll examine the unique demands of the fireground, define what it means to be a “tactical athlete,” and contrast traditional training models with those tailored for operational readiness.
Topics include:
- Firefighter fitness standards and health trends
- Tactical vs. traditional athletic training
- Sport-specific fitness vs. fireground performance
- Program design to prevent injury and burnout
- Macro-based nutrition for performance and body composition
The class concludes with a 30-minute Firefighter Fitness Workout and is interwoven with real stories of line-of-duty health losses—reminders of why this work matters.
Saturday Afternoon
9 Minutes, Life Changing, Department Changing
Andrew Sauder
Imagine being dispatched to your ever day ordinary “Ill” person EMS call only to show up to not only a working fire but a victim trapped inside of the residence! Are you ready for a call like this? Don’t think it can happen at your department or in your area? Well, when it does what tools do you have in your toolbox to operate at an incident like this? Do you as a command officer have the ability to switch from EMS to Fire in a second while lives are hanging in the balance? As a backstep firefighter, are you ready to search without a hose line? These are just 2 of many topics that will be discussed during this class. This class is a fire hand account of a run that my crew and I faced one hot September afternoon. I will give a firsthand account of everything that happened that day from start to finish with only the truth being told.
There are 2 different sets of audio files that we will listen to. The first all has to deal with “call takers, and dispatching”. Not throwing these people under the bus by any means but giving an intimate view of what their everyday lives are like. Have you ever considered what is happening prior to you being notified of the call? The first set of audio tapes shows the enormous amount of work that has to go into dispatching a call when technology fails. The audio will cover the 3 calls to 911 and paint the picture on why my Medic unit was dispatched that day instead of an Engine.
The second audio file will be the fire ground audio that transpired that day. This just helps complete the picture that is vividly painted. Along with the audio files, multiple pictures of the residence and gear will be available to again show what the painted picture truly looks like.
Then we get to the 2nd part of my presentation that I have entitled “After the Call”. This is me personally going into a deep descriptive discussion on the mental toll a call like this takes. I will walk the class through my mental anguish, trials, and tribulations that I personally endured. My main goal with sharing my story isn’t to say, “LOOK AT WHAT I WENT THROUGH” not at all, it’s to truly break the stigma of “Mental Health in the fire service”. This has truly become one of my top passions because it happened to me, it can happen to anyone. If we truly are a “brotherhood/sisterhood” then why are we not taking care of one another? How has suicide crept to the top of the #1 killer of Fire service personnel throughout the country? Our services need to understand that it is ok to not be ok! I will bring to light the resources that are available throughout the nation, and most likely in every single department through EAP.
Truthfully, this mental health portion has become my favorite part of the session because I see so many people in the audience relate and so many lightbulb moments of that individual FINALLY realizing that they are not alone in their struggles! We all have skeletons and things we have seen but are too afraid to talk about. I hope by sharing my personal story and my ability to overcome mental illness that it will inspire others to seek help, and collectively we can remove the #1 killer of our service members!