Steve Carpenter is the Lead Instructor for the Hands-on Extrication Class, Monday, 10/24.  GOT-1

Cristobal Aguirre
Cris is the founder and principal owner of Noble Environmental, a private Hazardous Materials mitigating, training and consulting company located in Miami Florida. Mr. Aguirre is co-owner and developer of HazMatIQ LLC. a HazMatIQ is a training company that delivers easy to understand and impossible to forget Hazardous Materials/WMD training to emergency responders. His work on the "Above the Line Smart Charts" has revolutionized the way responders learn how to respond to Hazardous Materials/WMD emergencies. Cris has been employed with the Miami Dade Fire and Rescue, which is an all hazards response fire and rescue department, for 32 years. He currently holds the rank of Lieutenant with the department.

Jim Antti

Jim Antti has been in the fire service for 21 years. He is currently a Captain with the Tahoe Douglas Fire District. He is a certified bomb technician, graduating from the FBI Hazardous Devices School in 1997 and is the bomb squad commander for the Tahoe Douglas Bomb Squad. He is also trained as a Hazardous Materials Technician/Specialist and is a member of a Quad County Hazardous Materials team. As an instructor he has taught a variety of classes for the fire science program at Lake Tahoe Community College. He is also a staff instructor for the U.S. Department of State Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program and has taught post blast investigation to 1^st responders in the U.S. and around the world.

Tilden Billiter

Tilden Billiter, Sacramento Fire Department. 13 years of service, assigned to Truck10A.  Lead Instructor for the Sacramento and California Regional Fire Academy.  Instructor for “Nobody Gets Left Behind” training group.

Dr. Bryan Bledsoe
Dr. Bryan Bledsoe is an emergency physician and EMS author from Midlothian, Texas. He entered EMS in 1974 as an EMT and attended one of the first paramedic programs in north Texas. Dr. Bledsoe worked for several years in Fort Worth as a paramedic and went on to become an EMS Instructor and Coordinator. Dr. Bledsoe has a B.S. from the University of Texas and a D.O. from the University of North Texas. He completed a residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and at Scott and White Memorial Hospital/Texas A&M College of Medicine. He is board-certified in emergency medicine. Dr. Bledsoe holds medical licenses in Texas and Nevada.

Dr. Bledsoe has served as the Medical Director for two hospital emergency departments as well as for numerous EMS agencies in north Texas. He is the author of numerous EMS textbooks including: Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice, Paramedic Emergency Care, Prehospital Emergency Pharmacology, Anatomy and Physiology for Emergency Care, and many others. He is a frequent contributor to EMS magazines and presenter at national and international EMS conferences. Dr. Bledsoe is often interviewed by the national media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams as well as regional papers and media outlets.

Dr. Bledsoe is Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and the Department of Emergency Medicine at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. He is co-chair of the Curriculum and Evaluation Board (CEB) for the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill AFB, FL. Dr. Bledsoe was recently named a "Hero of Emergency Medicine" by the American College of Emergency Physicians as part of their 40th anniversary celebration. He was also named a "Hero of Health and Fitness" by Men's Health magazine in November of 2008 as part of their 20th Anniversary issue. He is married and lives in Midlothian, Texas as well as Las Vegas, Nevada. He enjoys salt-water fishing.

Jim Bolton
Jim Bolton is currently an Operator for the Reno Fire Department and the current Director for the Department’s Urban Search and Rescue program. He has 23 years of fire service experience. Jim has been a paramedic for the past 20 years; was a member of the Bend (OR) Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team as well as a member of the Bend Fire Department Technical Rescue Team. He has been an instructor for CMC Rescue, Inc. for 15 years as well as the Division Chief in charge of rescue training operations for Fire Management Consulting, Inc. for four years. He also has served on various rescue standards and training committees.

Jim Bowie

Jim Bowie graduated from The Citadel and started his fire service career with the Charleston Fire Department. He later accepted a position with the S.C. Fire Academy and worked there for 16 years ultimately becoming the Director. He also served as Director of Governmental Affairs and Executive Director of the S.C. State Firefighters’ Association.

Dave Buccolo
David Buccolo is the General Manager of the Central California Traction Company, a company jointly owned by the Union Pacific Railroad (two thirds ownership) and by the BNSF Railroad. (one-third ownership). The CCT is the Port of Stockton's neutral rail carrier, which provides access to both the Union Pacific and the BNSF Railways at the Port of Stockton, in addition to the Port’s tenants, Maritime trade partners, and other customers from Stockton to Lodi on the CCT main line. Dave Buccolo began working on the railroad in 1969 to pay for his college, and has continued to devote his career to railroading and transportation for the past 39 years.  He worked with UPRR for 20 years, spending another 19 years in the Shortline and Regional Railroad business.  He has belonged to Transcaer for 24 years, and is an instructor in railroad hazardous materials shipping and emergency response, a 1^st responder, Hazmat Technician and is Trained in the Incident Command System. In 2009 Dave received the Transcaer Chairmen's award.  He has spent 32 years as a presenter for operation lifesaver. He is an instructor for the Grade Crossing collision investigation program.

Josh Calista

Josh Calista has worked for the West Sacramento Fire Department for 8 years.

He is involved with the “Nobody Gets Left Behind” Training Group, focusing on the topics of Engine and Truck Company Operations, Firefighter Survival, Rapid Intervention, and Thermal Imaging Cameras. Josh participated on the committee to develop a Firefighter Survival and Rapid Intervention curriculum for the State of California.

He is an Instructor at the Regional Fire Academy and a member of the Sacramento USAR Team (CA TF-7). Josh received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of San Diego.

Steve Carpenter
Steve Carpenter is a retired Battalion Chief after 34 years of service with the City of Vacaville Fire Department in Northern California. He holds an AS Degree in Fire Science and has a lifetime California State Teaching Credential. His career in extrication began in the 1970's prior to the advancement of hydraulic rescue equipment.  In 1976 after the delivery of the department’s first hydraulic tools, Steve’s interest in extrication augmented and he began teaching extrication techniques through the Local Fire Science programs at Solano Community College in Suisun City, CA.

Jeff Clark

Jeff Clark, Sacramento Fire Department. 12 years of fire service, assigned to Truck 10A. Lead instructor for the Sacramento Regional Fire Academy. Lead instructor for the California Regional Fire Academy for the past 8 years. California State Instructor in Fire control 3 A and B. Fire Fighter Safety and survival. Rapid Crew Tactics

Tom Clawson

Tom Clawson has over 24 years experience in Health Physics and radiological training. For the past 15 years, Tom’s experience has focused on radiological emergency preparedness and training. He helped develop the Department of Energy’s Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training (MERRTT) program. Tom has trained thousands of emergency responders and has presented at conferences throughout the United States. Tom currently serves on the NFPA Technical Committee on Hazardous Materials Response Personnel, which has responsibility for NFPA Standards 472 and 473. Prior to working in the training business, he spent nine years working in Health Physics/Radiation Safety at various commercial nuclear power plants, with the US Navy, and at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

Darryl Cleveland

Darryl Cleveland is a 30 year veteran of Fire and EMS. He is currently the Fire Chief for the North Lyon County Fire Protection District (NV). Darryl is a fire service Master Instructor and teaches numerous fire and EMS topics. Chief Cleveland has been a conference speaker at FDIC, Firehouse World, and several state conferences as both a workshop instructor and general session speaker; he is also a published author.

Ronny J. Coleman
Ronny J. Coleman is the retired State Fire Marshal for the State of California. He possesses a Masters of Arts Degree in Vocational Education from Cal State Long Beach, a Bachelors of Science Degree in Political Science from Cal State Fullerton and an Associate of Arts Degree in Fire Science from Rancho Santiago College. Chief Coleman has served in many elected positions in professional organizations, including President, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Vice President, International Committee for Prevention and Control of Fire (CTIF), and President, California League of Cities, Fire Chiefs Department.  He served on the Public Safety Committee for the League of California Cities for almost 20 years.  He served as Chairman of the Commission on Fire Accreditation from 1984 to 2005. 
               
Chief Coleman has held professional memberships in many other organizations, such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Fire Code Institute, Conference of Building Officials, International Code Council, National Fire Protection Association, and the Institution of Fire Engineers, USA Branch.  He was elected as a Fellow of the IFE by the British Chapter.  In the past he has served as a panel member on the re-constituted "America Burning" panel and was a member of the US Fire Administrations "Stakeholder Committee."  He serves on the Fireman's Fund National Committee and was recently elected as the first president of a new fire organization called The National Fire Heritage Center. This organization is dedicated to preserving the written history of the Fire Profession in the United States.  He is now the Chair of the International Accreditation Services, Technical Advisory Committee on the Accreditation of Fire Prevention Bureaus. He is a columnist for Fire Chief Magazine and Sprinkler Age Magazine.  He has authored over 19 textbooks for the fire community.  His latest endeavor is to co-author a text entitled “Fire Marshal” for Jones and Bartlett Publishers. 

The California Fire Chiefs Association named their annual Fire Chief of the Year Award after Chief Coleman in 2000. Recently the Center for Public Safety Excellence announced that they are naming a perpetual trophy devoted to Excellence in Leadership after Chief Coleman. This award will begin in 2010.  He was recently awarded a special presidential recognition by the President of the International Code Council for his lifetime involvement in the development of fire codes

Sheila Conway, Ph.D.

 With more than 20 years of experience in risk management, vulnerability assessment, public safety impact assessment, socio-economic, fiscal, and environmental impact analysis, Sheila Conway, Ph.D. serves as managing partner of Urban Environmental Research, LLC. In addition to overseeing the company’s Las Vegas offices, Conway is responsible for managing and growing the woman-owned firm, which provides public safety and homeland security; strategic planning and performance measurement; transportation, socio-economic and environmental impact assessment for private and public entities.

Prior to co-founding UER, Conway served as executive director of the Colorado Center for Environmental Management in Denver, where she oversaw the building of a 501c(3) non-profit public/private partnership to demonstrate and commercialize new environmental techniques. She previously served as senior project manager for ICF Kaiser Engineers in Edison, NJ, where she was responsible for building the company’s first regional office from two people to 20, and increasing revenues by more than 350 percent.

Conway earned her BA in geography from University of South Florida and her MA in geography and her doctorate in Environmental Planning and Design from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She has authored three books and numerous articles, provided legislative briefings, and spoken at a number of workshops and conferences.

Currently, Conway is on the International Scientific Advisory Committee for Wessex Institute of Technology and is a 2010 InfraGard Alliance Board Member. She is also a member of the Institute of Business Forecasters, International Institute of Forecasting, International Society for Quality of Life Studies and Balanced Scorecard Collaborative. Conway supports the Lupus Foundation of America and is a member of the Community Philanthropist Circle of the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada.  

Bill Cross
Bill Cross currently serves as a Fire Equipment Operator for the City of Reno Fire Department.

Robert DiPoli

Chief Bob DiPoli (Ret.) joined the Needham Fire Department on September 21, 1971. He graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy on December 6, 1971 and ascended through the ranks to Fire Lieutenant on April 5, 1975, Deputy Fire Chief March 1, 1980 and was appointed as Chief of Department on May 11, 1989. Chief DiPoli holds a degree in Fire Science and is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy.

Chief DiPoli has taken a very active role in the Fire Service, serving as President of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, President of the New England Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and President of The International Association of Fire Chiefs. Chief DiPoli was a early and passionate advocate of State and Federal Funding for the Fire Service and worked closely with The Massachusetts State Legislature, Members of Congress, and The Department of Homeland Security on a number of initiatives, including the FIRE ACT, SAFER ACT, restructuring of DHS and is a strong advocate for Firefighter Safety and the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Foundation.

He retired from the Needham Fire Department on December 16^th 2005 and continues to advocate for the Massachusetts and National Fire Service in a number of roles.

Chief DiPoli is the author of Leadership Under Fire and numerous publications, has appeared on many National television programs and is a lecturer on Leadership and Politics

Tom Dunkelman
Tom Dunkelman has served as On-Scene Coordinator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Emergency Response program for more than twenty years. For the past eight years, Mr. Dunkelman has been located in Carson City, and has focused his work on conducting hazardous materials cleanup actions in Nevada, developing emergency response capabilities in Nevada, and promoting better coordination between local, State and Federal responders.

Karl Early
Karl Early, Sacramento Fire Department. 16 years or fire service, assigned to Truck 6B. Adjunct instructor for ventilation on peaked, flat and commercial roofs, including vent over fire props for the California Regional Fire Academy. Adjunct instructor for “Truck Ops” ventilation and VES for “Nobody Gets Left Behind”.

Jason Emery

Jason Emery is Lieutenant with the Waterbury FD (CT) assigned to the Rescue/Hazmat Company.  He is a 20-year veteran of the fire service and holds a B.S. in fire science from the University of New Haven.  Jason teaches extensively on hybrid and electric vehicles, including the last four years at FDIC.  He is a Subject Matter Expert for the NFPA and is a member of their development team for the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Training program.  He also instructed as part of the Chevrolet Volt training for first responders in locations across the country.  Jason founded Emergency Training Solutions, and designed the PowerPoint materials for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I & II curriculum. 

Frank Frievalt        
Frank Frievalt started his fire service career with the California Department of Forestry Region IV (1979-82), continued on with the Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield District (1983-87), and currently works as the Division Chief of Operations for the Sparks Fire Department (1987 - present). Some of his collateral activities have included serving on the Local Emergency Planning Commission, Chairing the Fire Advisory Board for the Truckee Meadows Community College, being a general partner for the industrial fire protection consulting firm FIRE TRACS, LLC, serving as the acting Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Sparks (1999-2001), working with the Sierra Front Incident Management Team, presenting to the Alliance for Innovation, and publishing his first article in 2006.  He earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire Administration from Cogswell Polytechnic College in 1999, and a Master of Science in Fire and Emergency Management Administration from Oklahoma State University in 2004. 

David Fogerson

David Fogerson serves as the Deputy Fire Chief for Training and Safety with the East Fork Fire and Paramedic Districts, Nevada's second largest combination fire district. He frequently teaches emergency service personnel throughout Northern Nevada. David is a member of numerous fire service committees. He holds a bachelor of fire administration degree, Nevada master instructor, fire officer-4 and is an executive fire officer. His passion is to continue the professionalism of Nevada's fire service through education, training and professional certification.

John Gillenwater

John Gillenwater is the Fire Chief for the Central Lyon County Fire Protection District and has been in the fire service for over 25 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Fire Administration, and a Masters of Science is Disaster Preparedness and Crisis Management. John has participated in Incident Management Teams and is active with the Northern Nevada Fire Chief Association.

Joe Gorman
Joe Gorman currently serves as a Technician for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, a career and volunteer organization providing fire suppression, emergency medical, technical rescue, fire prevention and educational services to more than one million citizens. His 24 years emergency response began at the position of Firefighter where primary duties included fighting structural and wildland fires, providing emergency medical services, and working in the fire prevention field. Mr. Gorman completed his basic Hazardous Materials Technician Certification course for the state of Virginia at the DuPont Chemical facility in Martinsville, Virginia. He has extensively studied the field of Hazardous Materials/ WMD response, and he is a nationally recognized subject matter expert in the field of Hazardous Materials response. Joe serves on the National Fire Protection Association Committee (NFPA) on Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials/WMD Response. This committee consists of leaders in the field of hazardous materials from the response community, industry and manufacturing and is tasked making recommendations on how to best respond to emergencies involving Hazardous Materials or Weapons of Mass Destructions. As a Master Instructor for the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Joe has trained responders in the field of Hazardous materials and WMD all nationally. He has worked with the IAFF on developing numerous courses. Joe has served as a Hazardous Materials Specialist on Virginia Task Force 1, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team. This internationally renowned team has responded on emergencies from earthquakes in Iran to the September 11, 2001 terrorist event at the Pentagon. Mr. Gorman is co- owner and co-developer of HazMatIQ LLC. a HazMatIQ is a training company that delivers easy to understand and impossible to forget Hazardous Materials/WMD training to emergency responders. His work on the “Above the Line Smart Charts” has revolutionized the way responders learn how to respond to Hazardous Materials/WMD emergencies.

Christina Hartman
Christina Hartman, CG(ASCP)^CM_, is employed by the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory  as the Safety Officer and the Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator, positions she had held for over eight years.  She oversees the development, implementation, and management of programs that provide rapid and effective laboratory services in response to biological or chemical terrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other public health threats or emergencies. Prior to working for the State, she worked in private clinical laboratories for eighteen years.  She received her Bachelor of Science in cellular biology from University of Nevada, Reno.

Steve Hermann

Stephen L. Hermann recently retired as the Hazardous Materials Coordinator for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and Arizona's senior State-on-Scene-Coordinator for hazardous materials emergency response. He has supervised over 120 serious hazardous materials highway and rail incidents over the past 35 years; has participated in raiding over 150 clandestine drug laboratories; and has published over 130 articles during the past 20 years in all of the major police, fire, and environmental magazines.

He is a Senior Executive Fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard University. He is a retired Army Chemical Corps Colonel in the USAR. His Bachelor of Science degree is in Explosives Technology, and he is a graduate of the U.S. Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal, United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College. He is a Diplomate of the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security, and is certified in Homeland Security Level V. He is past National Chairman of COHMED, the national organization of state and local hazardous materials enforcement officers, and past chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Hazardous Materials Committee.

Mr. Hermann was a script reviewer and participated in field testing for the National Fire Protection Association’s videotape, "BLEVE Update"; a technical advisor for Argonne National Laboratories for a series of hazardous materials productions for U.S. DOT's Research and Special Programs Administration; a consultant to Los Alamos National Laboratories; and consultant to the Institute of Makers of Explosives for their video “Responding to Trucking Incidents Involving Commercial Explosives”. He is qualified as a hazardous materials expert witness in Superior Court, and United States District Court, as well as having been a court-appointed expert witness. He has testified before subcommittees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate and has also testified before committees of both the House and Senate of the Arizona State Legislature.

Mr. Hermann was appointed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a member of the curriculum development committee for the Contingency Planning Course at the Emergency Management Institute, Emmitsburg, Maryland. He served on the National Governor's Association/National Conference of State Legislatures' Alliance for Uniform HAZMAT Transportation Procedures, and was appointed by the Secretary of Transportation to the Congressionally-established Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Act (HMTUSA) "working group", and participated in the national propane truck negotiated rule-making. He was on the Technical Advisory Group for the Arizona State Emergency Response Commission, and was a script reviewer and the narrator for the National Tank Truck Carrier's video production on new hazardous materials regulations changes. He has been a guest speaker for the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Highway Administration, and a National Transportation Safety Board panelist; and a member of U.S. Department of Energy's WIPP Technical Advisory Group. Mr. Hermann taught at Scottsdale Community College over 20 years, and is the author of three books dealing with hazardous materials accidents and explosives. He was Commandant of the Arizona Military Academy for the Arizona Army National Guard; formerly the State Chemical Officer, and commanded a cobra Attack Helicopter Battalion. He holds the Arizona Medal of Valor and the US Army Legion of Merit. He was an adjunct faculty member of the U.S. Army Logistics Management College, and has guest lectured at the National Fire Academy, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University.

Gary Hunter
Mr. Hunter is President and CEO of leader Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Specialty Vehicles. Leader is a southern California based ambulance manufacturer and distributors for other ASV brands including Horton Ambulance, AEV Ambulance and E-One Fire Apparatus. Prior to founding Leader in 1975, Mr. Hunter served in a variety of executive roles at Chinook Mobilodge, a motor coach and specialty vehicle manufacturer located in Los Angeles and Yakima, Washington. He is a well-recognized automobile authority. His collect ion of antique and vintage vehicles have won numerous awards, include first and second place at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Los Angeles Concours. He has served as a judge at numerous car events, is a board member for the Assistance League Concours, has served as president and board member of numerous car clubs and foundations and is an active supporter of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. His knowledge of vehicle design, engineering and history is noteworthy. Mr. Hunter holds a B.A. in Industrial Studies with a concentration in automotive engineering from California State University and is a board member of Allied Specialty Vehicles.

Jeffrey Johnson

Jeff Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Western Fire Chiefs Association, Past President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and retired as Fire Chief and Chief Executive Officer of Oregon’s Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) following a 32 year fire service career.  Chief Johnson served as TVF&R’s chief executive for over 15 years during which time the organization became recognized as one of the nation’s premier fire and rescue service providers. Jeff is nationally known as an innovator and ambassador for excellence through customer service.  Additionally, he advocates for cooperative initiatives and other business practices that achieve efficiencies and demonstrate smart government while maximizing the value of services provided to the citizens’. He has authored two fire service books and is a featured guest lecturer across the nation. 

In August 2009, Chief Johnson was installed as the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). He also holds membership in the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association and various IAFC Sections. He is the IAFC’s alternate representative to the SAFECOM Executive Committee and a member of the USA Delegation to the Comité Technique International De Prevention Et D’Extinction Du Feu (CTIF), also known as the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services.

In the corporate environment, Jeff sits as Chairman of the Board of two private companies, specifically as a member of the Informed Publishing, Inc. Board and Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCi) Board.  He also is on the Editorial Board of FireRescue Magazine. By gubernatorial appointment, he is the Chair of Oregon’s State Interoperability Executive Council, and a member of the Oregon Homeland Security Council and the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council. He is Past President of both the Western Fire Chiefs Association and the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA), the Past Chair of the Oregon Governor's Fire Service Policy Council, and a charter member of Oregon’s Meritorious Service Committee. Chief Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and Associate Degrees in Fire Science and Criminal Justice Administration. During his leisure time, Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife, Kay, and their two children. As an avid outdoorsman and student of Oregon history, Jeff enjoys camping, fishing, and motorcycling in Oregon’s back country.

Ken Keaton
Ken Keaton has a background in emergency management, emergency response, and 911 Center operations. He served 7 years as Chief of the Savannah River Site (SRS) Fire Department, managed the SRS Operations Center which includes the Emergency Operations Center facilities and the 911 Center. Ken currently manages the DOE Transportation Emergency Preparedness Program (TEPP), serving as contractor coordinator for DOE Regions 1 and 3. Responsibilities include daily management of transportation planning, training activities, coordination of assessments, and developing/coordinating emergency preparedness exercises. Ken currently serves on 2 county Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) and is a South Carolina Fire Instructor.

Kurt Latipow
Chief Kurt Latipow has 30+ years in public safety serving in positions as Fire Chief of Ukiah Fire Department in California as well as Fire Chief in Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, Hesperia Fire Department, and Arroyo Grande, California. He also served as Deputy Chief, Fire and Rescue Branch of the Governor's Office in California.  He currently is the County Fire Services Coordinator for Washoe County in Reno, Nevada.  Kurt has been instrumental in working with in the development of the IAFC VCOS program

Paul LeSage
Bio is forthcoming

Maria Mayes
Maria Mayes is an Account Manager with AristaTek, Inc., the manufacturer of the PEAC-WMD. PEAC-WMD is a software application used by both military and civilian responder personnel. It consolidates technical reference sources with situational analysis and computation tools for TICs/TIMs and CBRNE agents, and automates the communication and reporting of incident data. Maria has been helping government agencies justify and implement software and field automation solutions for the last 12 years. She has a B.S. in Business Administration and prior to joining AristaTek, held positions with Decade Software Company and Harris Corporation.

Mike McKenna
Michael McKenna retired as a fire captain after almost 32 years of professional fire service experience including over 19 years as a fire captain and seven years as a fire district safety officer. He has been instructing Fire Technology, specializing in fire behavior at American River College since 2000. Michael has over 18 years of fire service program management and problem solving and solution development. He has been involved with the NFPA fire service standards development since 1988 and sits as a member of NFPA 1971, NFPA 1851 and NFPA 1801. Michael has published several articles on firefighter issues and contributes as a columnist for FireRescue1.com. As a principle in Michael McKenna & Associates, LLC, he works with fire departments and other organizations on issues of firefighter safety and solutions design. Michael has Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics & Public Policy development and an Associate of Arts degree in Fire Technology.

John Mittendorf
John Mittendorf was a 30 year veteran of the Los Angeles City Fire Department and held the rank of Battalion Chief until his retirement in 1993. He has been a member of the National Fire Protection Research Foundation on Engineered Lightweight Construction Technical Advisory Committee. He has provided training programs for the National Fire Academy, UCLA, and the British Fire Academy in England. He has acted in an advisory capacity for five college fire science advisory boards and is the author of numerous fireground articles for magazines in the United States and Europe. He is the author of the books Ventilation Methods and Techniques, Truck Company Operations, and Facing the Promotional Interview. He currently lectures in the United States and the United Kingdom on strategy and tactics, truck company operations, fireground operations, ventilation operations, and the complete fire officer. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Fire Engineering magazine, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at FDIC 08.

Eugene Ngai

Eugene is President of Chemically Speaking LLC a compressed gas safety and emergency response training and consulting corporation. Chemically Speaking LLC currently has 5 multi-year agreements to advise manufacturers, suppliers and users of specialty compressed gases, primarily in the Semiconductor, LCD or Photovoltaic industries. Eugene has over 35 years of Specialty Gas experience in production, laboratory, R&D, engineering and safety positions. He was Vice President of Corporate Development and Technology for Solkatronic Chemicals Inc. prior to the Air Products acquisition in 1999. He retired in 2009 as Director of ER and Disposal Technology in the Product Safety Group. In these positions he spent considerable time traveling the US, Asia and Europe helping to develop and support the gas business.

He continues to be active in a number of worldwide industry association working groups, CGA G-13, NFPA 55, NFPA 400, SEMI EHS, SESHA and UN TC58 SC2 WG7. He has made numerous presentations worldwide on Emergency Response, Product Safety, Gas Technology and Environment over the last 20 years. His most recent effort is on silane safety. He has chaired and coordinated 1 day silane safety seminars, in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, US, Belgium and Germany starting in 2006. His next effort is in Taiwan in Jan 2011. He continues to conduct compressed gas safety and emergency response classes throughout the world. He has taught numerous courses (1-3 day) on compressed gas safety and emergency response and has trained over 8000 customers, government agencies and employees including over 1500 Firefighters. He has taught at a number of Fire Academies worldwide, including New York, Camden County and Singapore.

Eugene has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Master in Environmental Engineering He was honored with the CGA Lifetime Safety award in 1999, Fire Dept of New York Commissioners award in 2007 and made a SESHA Fellow in 2009. He has 5 US patents for Gas Safety Devices.

Joe Nishikida
Joe Nishikida has been with the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District for ten years as a training and safety officer, Technical Rescue and Regional HazMat Technician.  He joined the Reno Fire eleven years ago and has held  the position of a training captain and a suppression captain as well remaining on the Regional HazMat Team.  He is certified as a Nevada paramedic, an Instructor 1 & 2, Company Officer 1 & 2, and has served in several wildland positions on Great Basin Teams. Joe has a Bachelor of Science in Business and Renewal Natural Resources from University of Nevada, Reno and a Masters in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco.

Jacob Oreshan, III

Jacob Oreshan, III is a Deputy Chief with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, Hazardous Materials / Homeland Security Bureau. He is a New York State Certified Firefighter, Fire Officer, Fire Service Instructor, Code Officer, Fire Investigator and Hazardous Materials Specialist, as well as a National Certified Firefighter and Hazardous Materials Responder. Jake has been a firefighter for 24 years, the last 7 with New York State Fire. Deputy Chief Oreshan began his professional career in 1990, working as a Critical Care Technician at a Level 1 Trauma Center. In 1992, while still working as a CCT, he began working at as a Communications Specialist for the Colonie Police Department, Colonie, NY. In January 2002, Jake accepted a job as the Director of Communications for the City of Cohoes Police Department, Cohoes, NY.

Deputy Chief has developed several specialized courses in the field of Hazardous Materials & Homeland Security, including First Receiver Decontamination; Terrorism, Bombs and Schools; and Chemical Suicides: Information for the First Responder. Deputy Chief Oreshan most recently sat on the National HazMat Fusion Center’s Chemical Assisted Suicide Work Group and helped to write the national guidelines for response to these emergencies. Deputy Chief Oreshan resides in upstate New York, just outside the capital of Albany, with his wife Christine and their daughter, Cara.

John Politis

Jon is an engaging educator who has presented at many state and national conferences across the US and Canada. Starting in emergency services in 1971, he has served in many capacities: firefighter, ski patroller, Paramedic, Paramedic Program Coordinator, State EMS Training Coordinator and EMS Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Registry of EMTs, Committee on Accreditation for the EMS Professions, been co-investigator of original research and authored numerous articles and texts. He holds a BA degree from Castleton State College and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY. He served as the Chief of the Town of Colonie EMS Department from 1989 to 2010 when he retired. During his tenure as Chief, he led Colonie EMS to two national awards, two regional awards and the New York State EMS service of the year for 2010. In 2010 he was the recipient of the NAEMT Rocco V Morando EMS lifetime achievement award. Jon continues to practice as paramedic, is an active volunteer firefighter and alpine ski patroller. He is passionate about the outdoors and is an avid mountaineer, technical climber, cyclist and skier.

John Roberts

Douglas Rohn

Glen Rudner
Glen D. Rudner is a project manager for CRA, Inc. He works with executive and senior management on specific office or corporate issues and under the direction of his program manager. Glen is currently assigned to program management of the South East Pennsylvania Task Force ICS 300/400 contract. He recently retired as a Hazardous Materials Response Officer for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management assigned to the Northern Virginia area and was responsible to provide guidance and assistance to local governments and state agencies during hazardous materials emergencies. He was also one of the Radiation Response Officers for the Commonwealth. If necessary, make entry into hazardous areas for the purpose of assessment or mitigation and assist in the development and maintain a state hazardous materials emergency response program and to enhance local hazardous materials emergency response capabilities. He has 34 years experience in public safety including 12 years as a career firefighter/hazardous materials specialist for the City of Alexandria (VA) Fire Department, as well as a former volunteer EMT, firefighter, and an officer. He has instructed numerous hazardous materials programs and assisted in the development of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management Hazardous Materials Awareness, Operations, Technician, and Advanced Tactical Control Programs. His involvement in the area of terrorism includes assisting in the development of The Virginia Department of Emergency Management Public Safety Response to Terrorism Awareness, Incident Management, Tactical Considerations, and Haz Mat Team Operations programs.

As a subcontractor to he has served as a consultant and assisted in development for many of the FBI hazardous materials training programs. Glen is a technical consultant for the Hazardous Materials Operations, Tactical Operations, and Technician programs and has served as a course manger and lead instructor. He has traveled extensively throughout Central Asia, the Baltics, Balkans, and other countries to instruct for the International Counter-proliferation Program He has been instrumental in the development of many programs that are delivered by the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. He has served as a subject matter expert for the Office of Justice Programs and DHS as well as a third party reviewer for many publications. He has written multiple articles for Fire Engineering, Homeland Preparedness Professional, and Domestic Preparedness magazines as well as being a voting member for the NFPA 472 Hazardous Materials and the IAFC Hazardous Materials Committees. He also serves as the co-chairman of the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition

Glen has worked in the field of training needs assessments in order to build training programs from the bottom up for many of the agencies that he has worked for. The program development includes the use of the Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation. Many of the programs that he has developed and co – developed use Level I evaluations to meet the program’s effectiveness, Level II to seek the level of participant base knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) as well as motor skills, and knowledge assessments post training program, and Level III which is accomplished by annual refresher and KSA testing.

Ben Salo
Benjamin Salo has been the Manager, Hazardous Materials for Union Pacific Railroad, covering Central, Northern California and Northern Nevada for 2 years and with Union Pacific Railroad for 4 years.  Prior to working for Union Pacific, he worked in the fire service since 1998 holding various positions including, Training Officer, Operations Assignments, and Assistant Emergency Services Director.  Ben has also been a California State Fire Instructor for Driver/Operator, Vehicle Extrication, and Hazardous Materials.  In addition to these, Ben has also been an instructor for numerous Wildland Firefighting courses.

Alan Saulsbury
Alan Saulsbury is a fourth generation fire fighter and has been involved with the fire service since early childhood; his career has spanned over 50 years in many facets of the industry. The SAULSBURY Family has been active in the fire service for almost 110 years!  After attending Oklahoma State University School of Fire Protection, he joined Improved Risk Mutual Insurance as a fire protection engineer for 9 years.  He was a firefighter in Stillwater, Oklahoma and is presently a ‘life member’ of the Homer, N.Y. Fire Department.

He has held an active involvement for over 35 years with the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA), served as Technical Committee chair person, President and Board Member.  For over 30

years, has been taken an extremely active role in the NFPA #1901 apparatus committee and chaired and developed the NPFA #1911 Standard for In-Service Fire Apparatus Testing and Maintenance and presently attends all meetings and participates in task committee activities on several standards.   He has a working knowledge of NFPA #1901, #1906, #414, #1911, and #1912 standards.

Over a 65 year period, the Saulsbury Family built one of the 'leading' fire apparatus brands in the industry.   Saulsbury Fire grew from a 1943 fire extinguisher distribution into a $50M and 200 units per year builder of custom fire apparatus...primarily focused on rescue apparatus.  From FDNY, Chicago, Los Angles, San Diego, Miami, Philadelphia to Anchorage....major fire departments depended on Saulsbury apparatus.   SAULSBURY was the leading manufacturer in specialty vehicles and pioneered stainless steel rescues, rear mounted rescue pumpers, and specialty vehicles like Saulsbury...these were the company's trademarks.   

Presently, Alan is President of Fire Apparatus Consulting Services in Homer, New York. The company specializes in professional consulting services for several fire apparatus and fire equipment manufacturers in North America.  Alan has traveled extensively worldwide in the pursuit of new ideas and innovations in the fire industry.   Known as "Mr. Rescue", he has designed and built some of the largest rescue vehicles in world.   Today, his passion and dreams are aimed at making fire apparatus "safer" and bringing leading-edge technology to small and mid-size fire apparatus and equipment manufacturers in around the world!  

Brian Schaeffer
Brian Schaeffer is the Assistant Chief for the Spokane Fire Department. During his 22 year career he has served worked up through the ranks including Flight Paramedic and Fire Chief. Chief Schaeffer has earned a Bachelors Degree in Fire Science and a Masters Degree in Public Administration.  He remains an adjunct instructor for several institutions and lectures frequently—but is truly a lifelong learner.

Major David Sellen

Major David Sellen is currently the commander of the 92nd Civil Support Team (Weapons of Mass Destruction), Nevada National Guard. MAJ Sellen began his service by enlisting in the California Army National Guard, after his junior year of high school on the Split Option Program, on 30 June 1989 and was assigned to D Company 3/160th Infantry (Mechanized). Since that time he has served in the Alabama National Guard with HHC 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and the South Carolina National Guard with 1/118th Infantry (Mechanized) before graduating from The Citadel in Charleston, SC with a BA in History. Upon completion of the Infantry Officer’s Basic Course MAJ Sellen was stationed at Fort Hood, TX as a Bradley Platoon Leader with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He also served as a Company Executive Officer and Battalion Adjutant in 2/7th Cavalry. His next assignment was at Fort Benning, Georgia; where he attended the Infantry Captain’s Career Course, and was then assigned to command C Company, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment. After command he was assigned as the battalion Operations Officer and deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom to augment Third Army. Upon returning from the Middle East MAJ Sellen was assigned as the Battalion Executive Officer for 1/11th Infantry.

MAJ Sellen left active duty in March of 2003 and returned to the California National Guard to serve with 3rd Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized) as the Battalion Adjutant, and later commanded A Company. After a year in command, MAJ Sellen was selected as the Operations Officer for the 92nd Civil Support Team (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and transferred to the Nevada National Guard. After three years as the Operations Officer he was selected to be the Deputy Commander of the 92nd Civil Support Team. MAJ Sellen served with the unit from standup to a fully operational force working regularly with local, state, and federal counterparts in support of numerous exercises and Special Security Events, to include a deployment to New Orleans, LA in support of Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts and most recently the Las Vegas Ricin Incident.

Tim is a 24 – year student and educator of the fire & emergency services currently serving as the Accreditation and ISO Coordinator for the North Las Vegas (NV) Fire Department and the Editor-in-Chief for FireRescue Magazine. Tim is the immediate past president of the International Society of Fire Services Instructors (ISFSI) and has served as Chief of Training for Savannah (GA) Fire & Emergency Services, as Assistant Fire Chief in Missouri City, TX and as a Firefighter/Paramedic in Kansas City, KS. Tim has earned a Masters degree in Leadership from Bellevue University, B.S. degrees in Fire Administration and Arson, and an A.S. degree in Emergency Medical Care from Eastern Kentucky University. Tim has also served as the editor of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) publication The Instructor, and as a contributing author to numerous other publications including: The Volunteer Voice, Firehouse.com Members Zone, National Fire & Rescue, The Atlantic Firefighter, and the Fire & Emergency Television Network (FETN) in which he is the writer/developer of the featured “SURVIVAL!” program. In addition to his numerous accomplishments as a writer, Tim has been a featured speaker in more than forty U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. In July 2002, Tim was awarded the prestigious Innovator of the Year Award from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) for his innovative training ideas and concepts in the area of firefighter safety & survival. In 2001, Tim was awarded the George Hughes Award from the Texas Association of Fire Educators for his accomplishments as a speaker and trainer in the state of Texas. In 2007, Tim presented the keynote address for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in

Indianapolis, Indiana. In August of 2007, Tim was selected by Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. to serve on the City of Charleston Fire Service Enhancement and Review Team. As a member of this team, Tim assisted in the investigative analysis of the Charleston Fire Department and contributed to the investigative reports that were published immediately following.

Keith Silverman, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Silverman has twenty plus years’ experience in emergency services, including nine years as a Chief Officer in Franklin Township (NJ) Fire District No. 1. He is currently working in private industry as an environmental, health, and safety (EHS) director. He also serves as coordinator of the Fire Officer Program at the Somerset County (NJ) Emergency Services Training Academy; a technical specialist with the Franklin Township Office of Emergency Management; consultant with GoldShield TEAM LLC; and as a member of the IAFC’s Eastern Regional Incident Survey Team (RIST) and the IAFC Hazardous Materials Committee. His experience includes municipal and industrial incident response and management, hazardous materials, technical rescue, emergency medical services, and EHS programs.

Nick Vent
Nick Vent currently is a Supervising Environmental Health Specialist with the County of San Diego, Environmental Health Department, Hazardous Materials Division (HMD). He manages the County of San Diego’s Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT), which responds to all hazardous chemical releases in a jurisdiction of 4250 square miles with 18 cities. Mr. Vent is an award winning, state certified hazardous materials response instructor with 30 plus years’ experience training and certifying fire, law enforcement, and environmental professionals who respond to chemical emergencies. He also teaches various environmental health courses at several colleges in California and around the country. Mr. Vent started his career as a laboratory chemist in 1974 for 10 years, managed an environmental cleanup firm and TSDF in the San Diego region for 3 years. Subsequently, he was hired by the County of San Diego, where he started his career in environmental health.. He holds degrees in Environmental and Occupational Health. He is also a California Registered Environmental Health Specialist.