2008 Missouri Valley Fire, Burn and Life Safety Conference

You Are Invited!

The Ninth Annual Missouri Valley Fire, Burn and Life Safety Conference "Discover Clues to Effective Fire and Burn Prevention Education" will be held in Sheraton Kansas City Sports Complex Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri on June 18-20, 2008.

General Session Speakers:

Donna Forgy is an experienced professional with over 30 years of experience in management, leadership training, and presentation development.
In working with individuals and organizations, she brings high energy with a focus on interpersonal development, strategic-planning, and effective communication. She assesses needs, develops customized training programs that impact the bottom line, and motivates her students to commit to a continuous process of growth, both personally and professionally.
As president of ProSkills Inc., Donna has coached thousands of people to become more effective in all areas of life, to live with more enthusiasm, and embrace challenges with new found confidence. Donna will motivate you to move outside of your comfort zone and take the steps necessary to reach your next level! Her focus is you.
Paul Schwartzman, M.S., L.M.H.C., D.A.P.A. is a licensed mental health counselor, providing counseling services to children, adolescents and families in the Rochester (NY) area for more than twenty five years. His interest in the field of juvenile firesetting developed while on staff at the University of Rochester where he participated with other researchers in the study of juvenile fire play and fire setting. Paul was a member of the original research team that originated the Fire Related Youth Unit for the City of Rochester (NY) Fire Department and the BIC preschool firesafety education curriculum, both award winning programs that address issues of children and fire.

Paul has co-authored books and produced several research articles for professional journals and has written a chapter on treatment of juvenile firesetters in The Handbook of Prescriptive Treatments for Children and Adolescents published by Allyn & Bacon. Paul also authored a chapter on juvenile firesetting for the revised NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, and is working on a book on treating juvenile and adult arson.

Paul is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Education Section and is the co-chairperson of the NFPA Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Committee. He was also a member of the NFPA 1035 Professional Public Life and Fire Safety Educator Standards Committee. He worked with the committee to develop national standards for juvenile firesetter intervention specialists. Paul is also the President of the Finger Lake Regional Burn Association and is a board member of SOSFires.

Paul provides consulting services and educational seminars to fire departments and service agencies throughout North America on juvenile firesetting including: establishing community based programs; interviewing and assessing children involved in fire play and fire setting; and methods of prevention, intervention and treatment. The national and local media often interview Paul for news program coverage of children and fire.

Paul currently maintains a private consulting and counseling practice in Fairport, New York where he resides with his wife. Paul has two grown children.
Marvin Stottlemire, PhD, JD is an experienced litigation attorney, outstanding classroom instructor, and award-winning amateur actor. He is a trained mediator, and experienced group facilitator. Whether on stage, in the classroom, or facilitating a planning session, his warm, vibrant personality makes him a welcome addition to any event.

"A classroom without laughter is a classroom without learning."

Breakout Sessions Speakers include:

Nancy Trench has more than 25 years experience as a fire and life safety educator. She is the Principal Investigator for the U.S. Fire Administration Grant to Oklahoma State University that is funding the National Review of Fire Safety for People With Disabilities. Nancy has extensive experience in training and managing training systems for public sector emergency responders. Her academic background is in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology at Oklahoma State University. Nancy is a former member of the NFPA Board of Directors and the National Fire Academy Board of Visitors. She currently serves as a member of the NFPA Center for High Risk Outreach Presidential Advisory Committee. Nancy has a special interest in studying and promoting the impact of technology, education, and codes and standards in reducing fire and life safety deaths and injuries.
Bill Delaney is the program manager for community safety education at Montgomery County, Md., Fire & Rescue. He has been a member of the fire service for more than 25 years, including 17 years as a career firefighter with the City of Fairfax, Va., Fire & Rescue and two years as a volunteer firefighter with the Burke, Va., Volunteer Fire Department. Delaney received the City Of Fairfax Firefighter of the Year award in 1997 for efforts in the fire and injury prevention arena. For the past seven years, he has managed the Montgomery County department's fire and injury prevention programs. Delaney currently chairs the Washington D.C.– Metro Area Council of Government's Life Safety Educators section, and helps oversee the group's blog at Coglifesafety.blogspot.com.
Cherie Sage is the outreach coordinator for Safe Kids Kansas, a worldwide, non-profit organization dedicated to reducing accidental injuries to children ages 0-14. She has worked for Safe Kids for the past 5 years, and prior to that for AAA Kansas as their Public Relations Coordinator where she was first indoctrinated into the safety field. Cherie is a Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor and holds a Master’s degree in Management from Baker University.
Commander Mark Jackson is a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and works at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mark began his public health career in 1989 with the PHS with the Indian Health Service (IHS) in Fairbanks, Alaska. After 2 years there he spent the next 6 with the IHS in Tucson, Arizona where he served as the Area Injury Prevention Specialist. He transferred to the CDC in 1997 and has served as a Public Health Advisor and Project Officer for the NCIPC smoke alarm installation and fire safety education programs. Since 1998, these programs have installed over 350,000 long-lasting smoke alarms in more than 200,000 homes in 22 states and communities. These programs have been credited with potentially saving more than 1,600 lives by a program installed alarm providing early warning to a dangerous situation in the home.
Mark and his wife Michana have 2 children, Tyler, 20, and Taylor 17.

Other Reasons to Attend

Great networking opportunities
Silent auction with some unique items to bid on
Success Showcase (an opportunity for you to present what works in your community and be eligible for some great prizes). Your Success Showcase Application Form and description must be submitted to a member of the conference planning team before 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18 to be considered. (See special instructions at the bottom of this page for submitting registration form.)
Cash and prize incentives for participation in evaluating conference outcomes
Missouri Valley Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs
Pub Ed Section business meeting
Be among the first to hear about the 2009 conference

More Information / Contacts

Clue "Schedule At A Glance" coming soon.

For more information about the conference please contact

Elena Nuss at 785-296-3403

For Information about Corporate Sponsorships or Exhibiting at the Conference please contact

Elena Nuss at 785-296-3403

Instructions for submitting you Success Showcase Application Form and description:

The Form is a .pdf document. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC to open and view the document. The form is designed to be filled in online with two options for submitting it to the conference planning team. Completed forms must be submitted before 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18 to be considered

Option 1: Print the form after completing online and send or fax the form to:

Elena C. Nuss
KDHE
11000 SW Jackson
Topeka, KS 66612
enuss@kdhe.state.ks.us
785-296-3403
Fax 785-296-0151
Option 2: Click the submit button on the form which will send the form via e-mail. Please follow the on screen instructions for your browser and e-mail software. NOTE: Some users may not be able to use this option because of browser and other software incompatibility.