Listen in to the latest episode of Critical Conversations, featuring guests Chief John Alston of the New Haven Fire Department, Chief Steve Hoffman of the Colchester Fire Department, Chief Dan Krushinski of the East Franklin (NJ) Fire Department, and Assistant Fire Chief Shelly Carter of the Hamden (CT) Fire Department. They will be discussing their experiences and insights in the fire service industry - and the challenges, as well as success, in recruitment and retention among their teams.

Tune in as we talk all things FDIC, Fire Engineering and talk shop with David Rhodes! David has played an instrumental role in coordinating FDIC Hands-on Training for the past 20 years as well as regularly advising and contributing editorial content to our publications. David formally expanded his role with us last year, working in an advisory position supporting Bobby Halton and the rest of the team. Bobby’s sudden passing sped up the timeline for David to take on additional responsibilities. I am confident David is ready for this challenge and the right person to lead our trusted brands. We remain steadfast in our mission and commitment to train the fire service. The fire service and all our customers are in good hands with David leading the educational oversight along with the continued contributions and partnerships we have from the industry’s best instructors and subject matter experts,” commented Eric Schlett, Executive Vice President – Clarion Events Fire & Rescue.

Rhodes is a 37-year fire service veteran who retired after spending his last 17 years as a battalion chief with the Atlanta (GA) Fire Department. He is a Chief Elder for the Georgia Smoke Diver Program and has been a member of the FDIC Educational Advisory Board, a Hands-on-Training coordinator for the FDIC conference, an editorial advisor and author for Fire Engineering and Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment, author of the “Hump Day SOS” column in Fire Rescue, an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy, an Advisory Board Member Emeritus for Underwriters Laboratories Firefighter Safety Research Institute, and a Board Member of the Firefighter Air Coalition. He served as an incident commander for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency – Type III All Hazards Incident Management Team and was a task force leader for the Georgia Search and Rescue Team.

Situational Awareness Matters - A Critical Conversation with Dr. Richard Gasaway

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Richard Gasaway to discuss how flawed situational awareness is one of the leading causes of near-miss events and a leading contributing factor for casualty events. Developing and maintaining strong situational awareness is catastrophically important. Tune in as we talk with Dr. Gasaway about how he is helping people improving situational awareness and decision making and read more in his book at SAMatters.com!