NEW YORK – Local union leaders of the International Association of Fire Fighters from across North America will get the latest training on health, safety and EMS issues at one of the largest first responder educational forums in the nation. More than 2,000 union leaders will attend the John P. Redmond Symposium/Dominick Barbera EMS Conference, a biennial event of the IAFF that reflects its commitment to reduce fire fighter deaths, injuries and illness and improve public safety.
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger will deliver remarks during the opening session on Monday, August 15, and President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, will follow with a keynote address. Among the many initiatives he supported, President Clinton signed the FIRE Act, providing fire departments with much-needed funding for equipment and other resources, and signed an executive order mandating federal investigations of all line-of-duty deaths.
“We are truly honored to welcome President Clinton, who did so much for fire fighters during his presidency,” Schaitberger said.
The Redmond Symposium and Barbera EMS Conference will provide IAFF leadership with vital training and educational opportunities, including the IAFF’s Fire Ground Survival course, designed to train fire fighters how to get out of a “Mayday” situation alive. Fire fighters from Toronto Local 3888 will discuss how the Fire Ground Survival course helped them avoid severe injury and death during a six-alarm fire in January. The conference also includes a workshop to teach fire fighters to safely disable electric cars and a discussion by the IAFF members who responded to the January shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
On Thursday, August 18, the conference will conclude with a somber tribute to the 343 members of the FDNY who died in the 9/11 terror attacks nearly a decade ago. A conference agenda is here: http://www.iaff.org/Events/2011Redmond/index.htm
The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 300,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics and is the leading advocate for the health and safety of first responders. Members of the IAFF protect 85 percent of the nation’s population.
More information is available at www.iaff.org
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