A hallmark of the Fire Service which is hard, but necessary is change. New regulations, new ideas, and new ways of doing our jobs. Change is sometimes difficult to embrace, but usually, leads to a more efficient way of completing our everyday tasks.
We here at the Training, Safety and Officers section of the Washington State Fire Chiefs have reached the conclusion that it's time to better align ourselves with today's volunteers and career Firefighters. We are excited to share with you upcoming changes you will see at our 2017 Conference!
First, you will notice a change to the Conference name. We feel there is a gap between the name “Training, Safety, and Officer Conference” and the fact the conference is PUT ON by our group FOR front line Volunteer and Career Firefighters at all levels. Drum roll please: The conference is now the “Washington Fire Symposium” presented by the TSO State Committee. We feel this better represents what and who this conference is for.
Second, we have replaced our Saturday Keynote Speaker day with a jam-packed, quality, contemporary classes. We will still have Opening Ceremonies with a powerful 30-minute talk from a dynamic speaker, but our focus is enabling more firefighters the opportunity to take more classes. We will be offering solid Certification Tracks, more hands-on classes, plus be touching on EMS in the Fire Service.
Make sure you stay tuned to our Facebook Page at (*) to hear about upcoming classes offered at the Conference and around the State. In this instance, growing and changing comes with excitement and no pain!