Ohio Fire and EMS Expo in Columbus (Recap)

Sorry for a little delay in this post so here you go! The Ohio Fire and EMS Expo in Columbus was a great event.  One perk of presenting at the Expo was getting a pass to attend some of the other classes available.  There was no shortage of national fire service instructors presenting so great classes.  Ryan Pennington presented Hoarder Homes: Piles of Hazards for EMS and Back the Truck Up, Paul Hasenmeier presented For Here or To Go – It’s Your Command, and, Steve Robertson presented Risk vs. Benefit! Critical Decision Making in Firefighter Safety and Survival and Jason Hoevelmann presented The Genesis of Successful Training Program.  No small list of topics or instructors.

The meet and greet at the Ohio Fire and EMS Expo supported the Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation, Inc. which directly helped two Ohio Fire Families.  The family of Bryan E. Oiler from the Columbus Fire Department and Christine Pabst, Wife of Lt. Chris Pabst, Plain Township Fire Department, she was recently diagnosed with lymphoma.  A Corn Hole Tournament was held to raise money and the grand prize was a very cool set of IAFF Corn Hole Boards.  Check out Firefighter Wife for more information.

Friday morning I presented New Vehicle Technology: This isn’t your Father’s Olds Mobile.  This is an evolving class based off of the Hidden Hazards Webcast I did for FireRescue back in April.  The class started out great until my laptop automatically rebooted to install Windows updates.  After a few very long minutes I got the laptop booted and the PowerPoint loaded.  However, that was not before Paul Hasenmeier texted a picture of me trying to get my laptop working to my wife.  You have to keep an eye on these First Due Tackle guys! One of the Rescue Methods guys from central Ohio stopped in during my class for a little bit. I was hoping to get out to their booth before I headed out, but unfortunately I was not able to. In case you haven’t heard of Rescue Methods, they created an online visual classroom that presents a constantly evolving curriculum that is accessible online and easy to use.

Great conference Mark Zambito!  Hope I get an invite back next year!