Over the weekend, members of the IAFC Bullying, Harassment, and Workplace Violence Prevention Work Group curriculum sub-group, traveled to the National Fire Academy (NFA) in Emmitsburg, Maryland, to develop an introductory course curriculum and a Train-the-Trainer (TtT) program to be launched as a pre-conference at Fire-Rescue International (FRI) 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Special thanks to NFA leadership, including Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Denis Onieal and Superintendent Tonya Hoover, who welcomed the workgroup and provided invaluable time, feedback and support throughout the weekend.
Over the next several months, the Work Group plans to run several pilots of the awareness course across the country to solicit feedback, revise program content as necessary before delivery at FRI, recruit trainers for FRI, provide updated resources to the digital toolkit, and finalize a model policy document that addresses bullying, harassment and workplace violence prevention in the fire service
This Work Group is a joint collaboration between the IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section (SHSS), IAFC Human Relations Committee (HRC), and Women in Fire, and the curriculum subgroup includes Chief David Emanuel (work group lead), John Brophy, Carol Brown, Katherine Ridenour, Alisa Arnoff, Dan King, and Stan Mettinger, supported by Tim Hopkins, IAFC staff liaison.