2023 CONFERENCE OF THE ROCKIES AGENDA
Day One – Tuesday, April 4, 2023
| Time | Session | Location |
| 9:00am – 10:00am | Vision 20/20 Partnership Speaker: Steve Hrustich |
Ballroom |
| 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM 2hr workshop Pt. 1 |
Community Risk Assessment Speakers: Steve Hrustich, Meri-K Appy Building a Community Risk Assessment for your organization can be a daunting task and is a critical first step for assessing risk at the local level and creating meaningful CRR programs that hit the mark. Using Vision 20/20 materials and custom CRA template takes the guesswork out of compiling your data into an professional, easy to read document for your organization. During this 4-hour workshop, students are guided by an SME in compiling data on organizational history, community profile, critical infrastructure and weather-related incidents and gain an understanding of the scoring matrix to assess risk for their basic CRA.(Students should bring a laptop with Microsoft Word, Excel, and have internet access for this workshop. Vision 20/20 will provide sample and guiding material as well as our Community Risk Assessment template for students to complete the sections of their CRA.) |
Salon D |
| 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM 2hr workshop Pt. 1 |
NFPA Steps to Safety Speakers: Andrea Vastis, Sherrie Guerrero In this interactive workshop, participants will engage with NFPA’s Steps to Safety™ Prevent Fire and Falls at Home program which pairs Fire/EMS professionals with community partners to educate older adults for home fire and fall safety. Formerly titled Remembering When™ A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults, Steps to Safety™ (STS) has re-tooled for the changes in the social, physical, and technological landscape to include an online professional training curriculum, new videos and social media assets, and updated messaging for use as part of group presentations, home visits, and the creation of a community resource network to support older adults and their caregivers. |
Salon F |
| Lunch | ||
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Choose S.A.F.E., a Guide for High School to Implement Safe Driving Initiatives Speakers: Mindi Ottke, Robert Hayes Choose S.A.F.E., is a collaborative partnership with over 20 community partners and 10 hospitals. This all-in-one guide provides high schools with the resources, contacts, and information needed to design and implement a teen driving program. The presenters will provide an overview of trauma injury data related to teen crashes, the infrastructure and design of the program, the community collaboration, our peer-to-peer approach, and how to join our efforts with this program in the community. |
Salon D |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | IMPAC Tool – Improving Messaging to Promote Action and Change Tool – A free online tool for evaluating and improving your messaging. Speakers: Daniel Chacon |
Salon F |
| 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM | Small Changes with Big Influences – Behavioral Science and Making Your Messages Heard Speakers: Ellie Kazemi, Coral Florian Behavioral change is always the goal in fire and safety – but how can you get there? Behavioral science is a field that focuses on methods that can result in behavioral change, often done by implementing small changes that can have an outsized impact. Learn how you can employ these methods in your outreach and how they were incorporated into the AARBF message checklist and message guide. |
Salon D |
| 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM | Eliminating Silos, Fostering Collaboration, and Maximizing Impact in Communities Speaker: Robert Hayes Guided by a two-year journey in a new operating model, Robert will present ways to eliminate silos, build strong collaborative efforts, and maximize prevention efforts. He will present the important components of a strong strategy that includes goals, objectives, and action plans. Robert will present on important tools including gap analysis, capacity assessment, logic models, and SWOT. The effectiveness of this approach will be demonstrated along with ways to replicate by others. |
Salon F |
| 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Tools of the CRR Trade Speaker: Jason Tharp This presentation will be very interactive and hands-on. It will start with a 30-40 minute slide presentation to go over the tools and aids I’ve invested in over the 4 years I’ve been in the CRR role. I will give pros and cons of each piece of technology I have invested in, like the FiAR Fire Extinguisher trainer, VR Fire Extinguisher headsets, and other tools. The attendees will better understand tools available to assist them. |
Salon D |
| 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Effective Communication Skills for Public Education Programs Speaker: Leslie Girdner Would you like to bring your public education programs to the next level? This class would give firsthand knowledge from managing Frisco Fire Safety Town and the evolution of their programs. The focus will be on tools and methods that will make a positive impact in their communities. |
Salon F |
Day Two – Wednesday, April 5, 2023
| Time | Session | Location |
| 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM | General Session Speaker: Bob Sullivan – NFPA Updates | Ballroom |
| 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM 2hr workshop Pt. 2 |
Community Risk Assessment Speakers: Steve Hrustich, Meri-K Appy |
Salon D |
| 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM 2hr workshop Pt. 2 |
NFPA Steps to Safety Speakers: Andrea Vastis, Sherrie Guerrero In this interactive workshop, participants will engage with NFPA’s Steps to Safety™ Prevent Fire and Falls at Home program which pairs Fire/EMS professionals with community partners to educate older adults for home fire and fall safety. Formerly titled Remembering When™ A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults, Steps to Safety™ (STS) has re-tooled for the changes in the social, physical, and technological landscape to include an online professional training curriculum, new videos and social media assets, and updated messaging for use as part of group presentations, home visits, and the creation of a community resource network to support older adults and their caregivers. |
Salon F |
| Lunch | ||
| 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Your Brand Matters – The purpose of your brand is to represent your purpose Speaker: Sunny Smaldino Do your risk reduction program materials reflect the brand and professionalism of your agency? This interactive session is suited for everyone, regardless of your creative talents and abilities. We will discuss the importance of your agency’s brand in your community and how to design your program brand and content to connect with your audiences. We will walk you through many free and affordable design and production tools, such as Canva, Constant Contact, and Airtable. This is an interactive class, bring your laptop if you would like to get started with your brand management. |
Salon D |
| 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Keeping Emergencies Small-The CRR Opportunities Fire Departments Miss Speaker: Raymond Reynolds The goal of any crisis event is to keep it small and manageable. With 85% of our responses medical, why haven’t we looked at the prevention side of critical events? Finding unusual partnerships like youth sports, doctors offices, food banks, and other places serves as a force multiplier for the fire department. The CRR model is ideal, but in small cash strapped, minimally staffed fire departments, the rubber meets the road with practical ideas designed to reduce risk and not models. |
Salon F |
| 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM | Heart of Hub-Cor Speaker: Katie Harrington Hub-Cor is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional approach to assist in the mitigation of imminent risk to members of our community. It is a weekly meeting to discuss the detected residents in risk, share information, mobilize assets, deploy rapid intervention, follow-thru, updates, and evaluations. This task force has a 3-year success rate. This presentation will give the background of the program, tools to start up a task force in your community, and a needed list of potential resources. |
Salon D |
| 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM | VBFD’s Safety Squad: Fire Safety Education through Action-Based Learning Speaker: Kristin Mauer Virginia Beach Fire Department presents “Safety Squad”, an interactive fire and injury prevention elementary school program that is delivered in 56 elementary schools and reaches 30,000 students in grades K-5. This hybrid-approach offers consistent video instruction as a pre-lesson, combined with in-person active learning stations which are delivered in the PE class by a team of safety educators. Learn how to teach engaging lessons through movements that align with state and national standards. |
Salon F |
| 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Initiating and Maintaining Mental Wellness Programs for First Responders Speaker: Jason Corthell Jason shares with others the hurdles overcome, the selling, and the ideas involved in starting a mental wellness program. Using his own past, personal and professional struggles, along with formal approaches to modern use of mental wellness practices, Chief Corthell delivers a riveting and powerful message that all in attendance can learn from and apply in their own organizations. |
Salon D |
| 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | YFIP – Youth firesetting intervention tips and tricks Speaker: Kathy Osmonson Learn about fire science educational intervention strategies from around the world. Understand how to best work with youth who misuse fire. Utilize more resources in your programs. Brainstorm future needs for our programs |
Salon F |
Day Three – Thursday, April 6, 2023
| Session | Location | |
| 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM | General Session – Vision 20/20 Programs Speaker: Meri-K Appy |
Ballroom |
| 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM | Fire Safety Through History Speaker: Mike Lowe 1) The student shall explain goals for Fire Prevention programs and their effects on the community. 2) The student shall discuss the five “E”’s of Fire Prevention. 3) The student shall explain the fire loss problem within our communities. 4) The student shall to the satisfaction of the instructor be able to discuss historical fires that occurred in America and explain what effects it. |
Salon D |
| 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM | Using Video and Graphic Design to Tell Your Story Speaker: Dirk Clingman Stand out while telling your story with modern tools! Whether it’s a simple cell phone video or advanced drone photography, Use dynamic visuals to reach your audience and share your message. In class we will explore the variety of tools available for the novice or expert. We will discuss free software versus paid options, and explore editing platforms. This dynamic class will inspire agencies ready to try to engage social media, and we will create a video in class to promote the CRRN conference. |
Salon F |
| 11:45 AM – 1:30 PM | General Session + Lunch: CRR from a Chief Brunette / SRA Update Speaker: Chris Brunette – DFPC |
Ballroom |