Serving in the fire service since 1993, Nathan J. Trauernicht was most recently the Fire Chief for the University of California – Davis, providing overall leadership and direction to a department that serves a population of over 40,000. He currently runs his own consulting firm, Naytron LLC.
Nathan was recognized by the Sacramento Business Journal as one of its 40 Under 40 for 2015, representing the region’s brightest up and coming professionals. In large part this recognition can be attributed to a series of innovative programs he championed including introducing the life-saving smartphone application PulsePoint, the vision behind the multi-agency training division known as the West Valley Regional Fire Training Consortium, developing Fit for Fire which introduces the community to the fire service through a challenging group fitness class, and co-creating/leading the International Association of Fire Chief’s (IAFC) Diversity Executive Leadership Program (iDELP).
Nathan earned his undergraduate degree in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering from Oklahoma State University and holds a master’s degree in public administration. Beyond completing the Executive Leadership and Management Institute (ELMI) at Stanford University, Nathan is a graduate of the UC Davis Executive Program, Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (MIFireE) and is designated as a Chief Fire Officer® (CFO), Chief EMS Officer® (CEMSO), and as a Chief Training Officer® (CTO) by the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Chief Trauernicht is active in a number of professional groups, boards and committees; he currently serves as President of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) United States of America Branch, President of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Assn. – Chief Fire Officers Chapter, Co-Chair of California FirstNet (CalFRN), Secretary on the Board of Directors of the IAFC Safety Health & Survival Section, is a Past President of the California Fire Chiefs Association (CFCA), and two-time Past President of the CFCA – Operations Chiefs Section.
Ian Emmons is the Deputy Chief of Operations for Washington Township Fire Department in Dayton, Ohio. Ian assists the department with its CFAI accreditation, as well as its pursuit of ISO Class 1 status and a CAAS accreditation. He has been with Washington Township for the last eight years, serving previously as a career firefighter paramedic in another area department for nearly 10 years.
Ian holds an AAS in paramedic science and an AS in science from Cincinnati State Community College. He has also earned a BS in neuroscience and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati. Ian is currently both a Ph.D. student, studying Strategic Management and an EFOP student at the National Fire Academy. Having obtained his Chief Fire Officer and Chief Training Officer credentials through the CPC, Ian participates as a peer reviewer for candidates pursuing their credentialing through the CPC as well as a peer assessor for organizational accreditation through CFAI. Ian has also received his MIFireE status through the Institution of Fire Engineers – USA Branch.
Deputy Chief Emmons sits on the Board of Directors for the Safety, Health, and Survival Section of the IAFC as the Treasurer where he is involved in a variety of areas germane to firefighter health and safety. He has also been appointed to the IAFC’s Professional Development Committee and serves as the Vice Chair. As an active member of the Institution of Fire Engineers – USA branch, Ian serves as the Vice President of the branch. He also serves on multiple NFPA technical committees, including NFPA 1010, 1021, and 1580.
Ian has been selected to present at several national and regional conferences, such as the CPSE Excellence Conference, FRI, Ohio Fire Chiefs Conference, and COLS. He has also written articles for various publications and continues to be involved in firefighter and fire officer training at various levels.
Joanne, recently appointed Fire Chief of Baltimore County Fire Department in Maryland (BACOFD), began her career in 1987 in Howard County, Maryland. Baltimore County has a population of 800,000 and a combination department of nearly Two thousand career and volunteer operational firefighters.
As the department’s first permanently appointed female Chief, Joanne manages a staff of uniform and civilian employees. She has served in a leadership role for 26 of her 32 years of service, has held a leadership position in Operations, Administrative Service, Education and training, and the Office of the Fire Chief. Additionally, has served as an instructor. Before joining the career fire service in 1987, Chief Rund served as a Volunteer Emergency Services Provider (EMS) in Carroll County MD, and in 1993 obtained her instructor certification. Additionally, she has served as an instructor evaluator.
Joanne holds numerous certifications in the field of health and safety and is a level 4 certified command officer. She obtained the National Fire Academy’s Advanced Safety Officer Program certification and serves as Associate Faculty at the University of Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute. Also at the State level, Joanne was Committee Chair for the Maryland Metro Chiefs Life Safety Committee, whose mission is to educate all Maryland EMS providers on the 16 Life Safety Initiatives and reduce the line of duty deaths in the state.
At the national level, in 2009 Joanne began working with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation where in 2014 she was named Region III Advocate Coordinator and remains actively on their instructor roster, passionately working toward reducing line of duty deaths throughout our nation. In 2006, Joanne was elected to serve her first term as a Director At Large with the Safety Health and Survival Section where she continues to serve. Since that election Joanne has worked on many initiatives such as the Roadmap to Wellness, budget committee, Strategic plan and has served on the election committee which names the candidates that the section promotes for the selection of the IAFC executive board positions. In 2018 Joanne was accepted into the prestigious International Association of Fire Chief’s Fire Service Executive Development Institute Program.
Beginning his fire service career in 1992, Deputy Fire Chief Darin Wallentine leads the Sarasota County Fire Department Fire Administration Section. Chief Wallentine previously worked for the Tucson Fire Department (TFD) and led the TFD Safety & Wellness Division. Chief Wallentine’s 31-year fire service career brings a broad level of fire service experience and leadership and brings the same to the position of At-large Director for the IAFC Safety, Health, and Survival Section.
Chief Wallentine has earned a Master of Arts degree from Arizona State University in Public Safety Leadership and Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University at Fullerton. He has also completed the Eller Executive Southwest Leadership and Foundations of Public Sector Leadership Program at the University of Arizona.
At SCFD, Chief Wallentine provides administrative oversight in the areas of fire training, logistics, capital projects, fire prevention, and finance. Additionally, Chief Wallentine oversees SCFD safety and wellness programs, including occupational health through annual physicals, cancer research and prevention, behavioral health, and wellness. Lastly, Chief Wallentine is honored to participate in collaborative partnerships with researchers at the University of Arizona, the University of Miami, and NIOSH/CDC and be named a co-author on various peer-reviewed research projects. As a cancer survivor, Chief Wallentine is passionate about firefighter occupational cancer research and prevention and works closely with the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS.org).
Chief Wallentine is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the Safety, Health, and Survival Section (SHS), the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), and a Pro Board Certified Health and Safety Officer (HSO).
Scott Kerwood is a student of the fire service. He currently serves as the Fire Chief for Hutto Fire Rescue in Hutto, Texas. He also works as an adjunct instructor for Capella University where he teaches master’s and Doctoral classes in homeland security, fire, and emergency management operations, and serves as an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. Scott has a bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in Public Administration, and a doctorate degree in Public Policy from Walden University. Scott is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Office Program, is a credentialed chief fire officer, chief emergency medical services officer, and fire marshal from the Center for Public Safety Excellence and is a designated Fellow in the Institution of Fire Engineers. Scott is Chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Safety, Health and Survival Section Executive Board and past Executive Board member of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association. He also serves as the principal member for the IAFC on NFPA 1500: Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program. Scott also currently is a member of the IFSTA Executive Board, being first elected in 2013 and then re-elected in 2016.
Scott began his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter in 1978. He has worked in various locations with various fire departments, served in many fire department roles, has taught for several different organizations and colleges including the NFA, and serves on several fire service professional organizations.
Scott is blessed with a beautiful family that includes his wife Alissa, his son Ahrens (yes, like the fire truck!), daughter-in-law Vanessa, and granddaughter Ivy. Scott, Alissa, and their new baby bulldog Boomer enjoy traveling, genealogy, and American Indian studies. Most importantly, Scott is a cancer survivor! In 2019 Scott was diagnosed with cancer that was directly related to his fire service career. Following surgery and ongoing treatment he is blessed to be standing here today!
Michael Anderson, At-Large Director
Michael Anderson started in the fire service in 1998 as a volunteer in his rural hometown. He has served at Travis County ESD#2-Pflugerville Fire Dept. since 2000, currently holding the rank of Deputy Assistant Chief in Administration. After serving in every position in the Department, most of his experience is within the Safety and Training Division, where he previously served as the Battalion Chief responsible for management of the training and safety programs for the 200+ member, ISO Class 1 department.
With a passion for firefighter health and safety, Michael has been involved with the NFFF Everyone Goes Home Advocate Program since 2012. During this tenure he served as the Western Advocate Manager, working with firefighters and organizations across the United States working to improve the health and safety of firefighters. Three of his contributions during this time were working with the VAP program, the development of the Everyone Goes Home in the Wildland program and working with the NFFF Future Leaders Fellowship Program.
As a member of the SHS section, Michael has worked with section directors on initiatives since 2016 including local and national symposiums. He pledges to bring his passion and energy to the section’s initiatives and work to continue to strengthen the relationships with fire service organizations to pursue improving the health and safety of our firefighters.
Chief Anderson completed his undergraduate studies in Applied Arts and Sciences from Texas A&M University-Commerce and earned a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley. Michael holds Fire Officer IV, Instructor III, Incident Safety Officer and Health & Safety Officer Certifications. In 2019, he Graduated the NFA Managing Officer program and achieved designation as a Chief Fire Officer from the CPSE Commission for Professional Credentialing in 2023.
My name is Matt Clark and I currently serve as the Division Chief of Operations for the Williston Fire Department, Williston North Dakota. Our department is a 4-station combination department with 106 total members. We are located in the heart of the Bakken oil patch in northwest North Dakota. I began in the fire service in 2005 and have worked as both a civilian firefighter and military firefighter for the U.S. Air force. I have been fortunate throughout my career to have worked around the world in the fire service. Throughout my time my goal has always been to improve the fire service and help my fellow firefighters out anyway I can. I ask for your support and to be selected for one of the open At-Large Director positions for the Safety, Health and Survival section of the IAFC. I am committed to bringing my operational experience to the table, along with my educational experience. I currently hold a master’s in public administration and am halfway complete with a second Master's in Occupational Safety and Health.
Dave is a career Fire Chief in Durham, New Hampshire on the campus of the University of New Hampshire, has served on the SHSS Board since 2021, and is a lifetime member of the Stratham Volunteer Fire Department. Since his introduction to the fire service as an Eagle Scout through the BSA Explorer program, he has over thirty years of service with volunteer and career departments.
Dave has contributed to the SHSS with his work on the IAFC Bullying Behavior Prevention Taskforce since 2017 and chaired the Taskforce since 2019. He has been a regular presenter at FRI, collaborator for the 2018 FRI Bullying Prevention Symposium, contributor to the SHSS virtual training programs, and was a facilitator to bring the Workplace Bullying Institute’s train-the-trainer to FRI in 2019 and to the Bullying Prevention program development and pilot deployment in 2021.
Dave is credentialed as a Chief Fire Officer by the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE), a graduate of the NFA Executive Fire Officer Program, an Incident Safety Officer, and holds bachelor’s degrees in business administration and Civil Engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of New Hampshire. He is an instructor for the NH Fire Academy and a nationally recognized leadership speaker.
Having served as both a career and volunteer chief officer, Dave understands that addressing firefighter safety, health, and survival challenges are essential for our first responders in all levels of emergency services. He strives to network and leverage connections on the local, state, and national level to build relationships and forward education and training for industry progress.
Chief Billy Goldfeder, EFO, a firefighter since 1973, serves as a Deputy Fire Chief of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in S.W. Ohio. LSFD is an ISO Class 1, fire & EMS accredited full service advanced life support department providing a full range of traditional and non-traditional emergency & community services. A Chief Officer since 1982, he has served as a Fire Chief in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Chief Goldfeder also served as a Public Fire Protection Engineering representative covering southern New York, for I.S.O. as well as a Company Officer, starting with the Manhasset-Lakeville F.D., on Long Island, N.Y.
A 1993 graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program, he is the former Chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Volunteer & Combination Fire Officers Comm. In 2001, Chief Goldfeder was honored with an appointment of Hon. Battalion Chief of F.D.N.Y. and is a current member of the Board of Directors of: The International Association of Fire Chiefs, the September 11th Families Association, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and is a subject matter expert for the Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program.
Goldfeder is the recipient of numerous operational and administrative awards and recognitions including the Loveland-Symmes FD Departmental Award of Excellence in 2003 and 2010, the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Service Instructors Fire Instructor of The Year Award for 2004, the Dana Hannon Fire Service Training Award for 2004, the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Chiefs Presidential Exemplary Service Award for 2005 & 2013, the 2007 (IFSTA) Int’l Fire Service Training Associations Everett E. Hudiburg Memorial Award for Firefighter Training Excellence, the 2007 Nassau County (N.Y.) Frances X. Pendl Fire Service Humanitarian Award, the 2008 Firefighter Cancer Support Network Dallas Jones Memorial Award and in 2008, the annual “Chief Billy Goldfeder Fire Service Organizational Safety Award” was named and created through the IAFC and is co-sponsored by VFIS. In 2015, Goldfeder was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Loveland City Council and the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department. In 2018, Goldfeder was the recipient of the FDIC International/Fire Engineering Chief Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2019 he received The Pennington School Alumni Achievement Award and in 2021, Chief Goldfeder was the recipient of the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award.
Chief Goldfeder completed a 6 year term limit as a Commissioner on the Commission of Fire Accreditation International (CPSE) and he serves as an Associate/Contributing Editor for FIRE ENGINEERING, FIRE RESCUE, FIREHOUSE Magazines (including several regional fire publications) as well as a news editorial columnist for Fire Engineering.com, FireRescue1.com and Firehouse.Com. He has spoken on, as well as published, numerous articles on subjects such as fire service risk management, leading combination FD's, fire command and tactics, firefighter/fireground safety, apparatus design/deployment and fireground staffing. His monthly columns "Close Calls" appears in FIREHOUSE Magazine and “Fired Up!” along with the “What’s Your Problem?” video series appears in FireRescue1.
Chief Goldfeder has served on several NFPA and IAFC Committees, was Chair of the Int’l Assoc. of Fire Chiefs Safety, Health and Survival Section and also serves on the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting Task Force Board (IAFC). He is and has been an Instructor at all national and North American fire service training conferences including Fire-Rescue International, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, FD Safety Officers Association, the FDNY Fire Officers Management Institute (F.O.M.I.) and at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (F.D.I.C.), where he has instructed for the past 36 years as well as serving as a member of the FDIC Advisory Board. Chief Goldfeder has and does provide consulting services for municipal and private corporations with a single focus on firefighter safety and survival. His work includes leading and/or participating in numerous critical firefighter injury or related close call investigations.
His best-selling book “PASS IT ON…What We Know-What We Want You To Know” is a compilation of stories from 100 fire service contributors sharing their life experiences. 100% of Goldfeder’s royalties are being donated to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Chief Ray Downey Scholarship Fund. In the Spring of 2016, his second book, “Pass it On…The 2nd Alarm” was published by Pennwell/Fire Engineering, adding the Firefighter Cancer Support Network to the above two charities to benefit from the sales. And in the Spring of 2020, the final book in the series, “Pass It On-Making Good Progress” was published, again with over 100 more contributors, with all proceeds going to the above three fire service charities. All three books are consistent best sellers within the fire service professional publishing field. He is currently working on his 4th book which will be a focus on historical firefighter survival for current firefighters.
Chief Goldfeder, along with Gordon Graham, police/fire service risk management expert, and attorney, hosts and sponsors the website: FireFighterCloseCalls.com , a 100% non-commercial, independent and free site with only 1 focus: Firefighter Safety, Survival and Getting Everyone Home. In 2022, Billy also created www.40plusfire.com , a website focused on firefighters & prostate cancer following his own experience with that disease.
Married to his wife Teri, while all the above is cool, by far his greatest source of love and pride are his 5 kids and especially his 6 grandkids, aka “The 6 Pack”
Nathan Hartinger, At-Large Director
There is no higher calling in the fire service than to protect the Health and Safety of firefighters. I believe deeply in the mission and work of the SHS section and its impmiance to not only the public, but the lives and well-being of our country's first responders.
I began my Fire Service career in 1999. Thinking back to the early years on my career shows the stark progress the fire service has made to better understand and adapt to the constant threats that firefighters face on a daily basis. No longer are there bragging rights for having a melted facepiece after a training bum or shame for talking about mental health challenges. The fire service is a better and safer place today. These changes and advancements didn't happen by accident, but rather are the effects of hard and diligent work of members like the SHS section that care about the well-being of all fire service members.
As someone who has managed my department's PPE program, currently manages our NFP A 1582 compliant physicals, and chaired our depaiiment Heath & Wellness committee, I appreciate and have a deep connection to the important work of the SHS section.
I cmTently hold the rank of Deputy Fire Chief at the UC Davis Fire department and oversee Operations and Safety.
Dan Kerrigan, MS, EFO, CFO, Fire Chief (Ret) is a 36-year veteran of emergency services. A staunch firefighter health and wellness advocate, he is the co-author of the best-selling firefighter health and wellness book “Firefighter Functional Fitness” and an international speaker and panelist on a wide range of responder health and wellness topics. He has served as an at-large director for the SHS section for over 7 years and has led efforts to promote section membership, organizational safety and health initiatives, the revitalization of the Safety Stand Down, and acts as PIO for the section. He is a certified Fit to Thrive Instructor and also serves on the First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE) Health and Wellness Advisory Committee.
His career includes serving in volunteer, career, and combination fire departments, and he has an extensive track record of implementing much-needed health and wellness programs in many organizations. Kerrigan’s mission and passion is to reduce preventable line of duty injuries and deaths in the fire service by working diligently to develop and implement comprehensive health and wellness programs that include NFPA medical evaluations, physical fitness, behavioral health, cancer prevention & education, and initiatives targeted at eliminating bullying and harassment in our profession. He believes that all emergency services organizations, regardless of their size, makeup and complexity should have equal access to such programs and will continue to work on behalf of all firefighters to help create a clearinghouse of resources that are available to both individuals and agencies alike.
Chief LeDuc has faithfully served the SHS membership for the past nearly 15 years as both Section Secretary and At Large Director. He retired from Broward County Fire Service as executive assistant fire chief after 30 years and then joined the Country’s largest provider of firefighter physicals as Chief Strategy Officer. He holds a master's degree in fire service executive leadership and is a credentialed fire officer and Fellow in the Institute of Fire Engineers. Chief LeDuc spearheaded the creation of the IAFC SHS Providers Guide to Firefighter physicals, represents the Section as the Chair of the First Responder Center of Excellence advisory board on firefighter physicals and serves on the technical committee of NFPA First Responder Standard on Occupational Health including NFPA 1582. Chief LeDuc also co-chairs the SHS efforts to address repetitive head trauma and concussion injuries in firefighters. He is a peer reviewer both professionally credentialing and agency accreditation with CPSE, is the editor of Fire Engineering’s book Surviving the Fire Service and serves as a fire service advisor to numerous FEMA funded firefighter health studies. Chief LeDuc pledges to continue to work on behalf of the membership of the SHS to address firefighter health, wellness and safety and advance efforts to address preventable health risk. I humbly ask for your consideration and vote to continue work!
John Schmidt, a 35-year fire service veteran, is currently serving as the Fire Chief for McLemore Fire Department.
Chief Schmidt believes in educating firefighters about cancer risks and the ever-increasing engineering processes to reduce that risk. He continually researches opportunities to improve their operation. Protecting the health and safety of our firefighters is his primary focus. Chief Schmidt believes a "holistic" view of firefighter health is as essential to reducing cancer risks as utilizing the on-scene decon process. These include good fitness habits, eating well, and getting proper sleep. He also encourages annual NFPA 1582 physicals and focuses on our members' mental health. His past personal experiences allow him the unique perspective to provide in-depth conversations about changing processes to protect our firefighters.
Chief Schmidt earned his associate degree; additionally, he holds Fire Officer III, Fire Training Instructor, Live Fire Training Instructor, Hazardous Materials Technician, and FDSOA Health and Safety Officer. He maintains a variety of memberships within the industry, including IAFC, Florida Fire Chiefs Association (FFCA), Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA), Florida Firefighter Safety and Health Collaborative (FFSHC), National F.A.C.E. Team and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) to name a few.
Peter Skeris, At-Large Director
Chief Skeris was raised in the fire service family and is the proud son of a retired FDNY firefighter. He's had a career in public safety for the past 32 years, the past 26 with the Charlotte Fire Department. He has had the pleasure of serving in various roles within Operations, Special Operations and Training before his current assignment as the Deputy Chief of Personnel Administration.
In this role he oversees the Health and Safety Office, as well as Training, recruitment, and HR. The CFD has been an active participant in the IAFF/IAFC WFI program since its inception. Chief Skeris has been blessed to have been part of H&S mission expansion. In the past 3 years CFD has opened a dedicated PS Occupational Health Clinic; hired their first Behavioral Health Specialist; and expanded their K-9 program to include two Comfort K-9’s. They have continued to work with cancer prevention initiatives through post-incident PPE cleaning, on-scene decon, issuing two sets of PPE, and placement of PPE washers/extractors throughout the city. As part of cooperation between the Health and Safety Office and Operations, they are dedicated to ensure department training stays current with new construction, building systems, and progressive tactics to keep CFD a risk-smart, aggressive department.
As a member of the board, Chief Skeris continues to push for expansion of the WFI principals of total wellness, advanced medical care, cancer prevention, behavioral health and injury prevention and rehabilitation. The goal should be to develop programs than enhance our members ability to have a long, healthy retirement.