F.F.A.M.

A Quick Update

National Volunteer Fire Council

Welcome to the National Volunteer Fire Council report. One very quick housekeeping item, it took a very long time (years) but the NVFC name and logo have just been officially Trademarked!

I want to lead off by referencing the closing paragraph in my last article from January-February which referenced Chief Billy Goldfeder attending the US Fire Administrator’s 2022 Summit.

He restated a comment from IAFF General President Ed “Edzo” Kelly to NVFC Vice Chair Kevin Quinn “I don’t think we have that many differences, and we certainly have a whole lot of common challenges that we will work on together.” I am pleased to report there is a series of next steps in all of this.

President Kelly will be one of the two featured keynote guest speakers in the NVFC Spring Meeting on May 19-21 in Arlington, VA. Together as one, we are stronger in most things.

Updated Fact Sheet: The NVFC’s Volunteer Fire Service Fact Sheet (nvfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NVFC-Volunteer-Fire-Service-Fact-Sheet.pdf ) has been updated. This is a great tool to use if you’re talking to the media, local government, or just looking for some high-level stats about the volunteer fire service.

For those of you who are individual members, they have added 3-new classes in the NVFC Virtual Classroom.

They are “The Fire Service – A History,” this course helps students understand the history of the fire service, where it has been, and where it is going, as well as highlights common fire service acronyms and organizations that support fire, EMS, and rescue personnel. The second is “Recruit to White Helmet.” This program is designed to help newly recruited firefighters and existing firefighters create a road map for a desired career path in their department and the fire service, including key considerations at each phase in the journey. The third is “Risk Management Principles for New Volunteer Firefighters.” An overview of why risk management is important, not just to those in leadership positions within the fire service, but to all firefighters and EMS personnel.

For those attending the FFAM Convention this year in Springfield, NVFC is offering each State Conference two free memberships as a raffle. Please come by the table and apply. The raffle ticket is free.

Firefighter Registry
You may have heard some rumblings about the firefighter cancer registry in recent days. CDC/NIOSH has done a soft launch of the registry but has asked NVFC to hold tight on promoting anything until they are ready to do a bigger push in late February/early March. NVFC will be releasing additional information as it becomes available.

Coming Soon: R&R Coffee Talks!
The R&R Committee met recently and made a motion to move forward with the concept of holding monthly R&R Coffee Talks. They will be 30-minute virtual sessions, open to all NVFC members and held on a Saturday at noon eastern time (11:00 a.m. central). More information will be sent when ready to launch the first event.

New R&R Materials!
Looking for new videos and PSAs to use in your fire department recruitment initiatives? The NVFC and Cottage Lane Productions have partnered to produce additional episodes of the “Ride with Us” series as well as new recruitment-focused PSAs. Find them at: bit.ly/3ANZeNF

Thank you for your time and for allowing Rob and me to serve on your behalf with NVFC.