From left to right: O2X Human Performance (HP) Specialist Maria Trozzi, O2X Co-Founder Adam La Reau, HP Development Member Eamonn Burke, HP Specialist Maria Urso, HP Development Member John Hall, and HP Specialist Mike Sanders. (Photo by author.)

By Derek Rosenfeld

FDIC International 2017 continued its high-level firefighter education on Tuesday afternoon, April 25, as several members of the O2X Human Performance group led this heavily attended preconference workshop on the importance of firefighter physical fitness, diet, and rest through superior education and training.

Marking their first appearence at FDIC, the group said they were excited to meet firefighters from around the country.

Here, La Reau introduces the O2X curriculum to students:

"O2X was started in 2014. We've been training tactical athletes for three years, covering thousands of first responders across the United States and Canada," said co-founder Adam La Reau. "O2X is revolutionizing tactical athlete performance."

Next, O2X Human Performance (HP) Specialist Maria Trozzi discusses stress, sleep problems, and endurance issues in the firefighting profession:

La Reau continued, "Our team has a combined experience of 50 years in the special operation community. Our passion of helping others was formed from our past careers and wanting to perform at the highest levels."

Here, O2X HP Specialist Maria Urso talks about the need to not be too serious about your diet:

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"Small incremental changes in your mental, physical, and emotional state each day leads to large impact in your performance over time," La Reau said.

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Here, Urso talks about the basic rules of performance nutrition:

La Reau concluded, "Just remember the O2X 'Eat, Sweat, Thrive' methodology and you'll be on your way to maximizing human performance."

Excellance, manufacturer of high quality custom ambulances and emergency vehicles, today announced its presence at FDIC International 2017 in Indianapolis, IN.  Excellance, Inc. will be at booth #5049 showing the custom-built ambulance for Frankfort Fire & EMS located in Frankfort, KY. 

No matter where you are, when your patient needs medical care, quality support you can count on becomes as critical as the life involved. You expect excellence of your emergency support personnel, and you expect it of your emergency vehicles. At Excellance, we build excellence from the ground up.

"We always have a strong presence at trade shows, and this year is going to be no exception. We're showing some of the most powerful, technologically advanced innovations in the industry at great prices," states Head of Marketing, PR and Digital Communications for Excellance, Amanda Dyar.

For more information about Excellance's presence at FDIC, contact Amanda Dyar at (800) 882-9799, or visit the official website at www.excellance.com

Regardless of the number of fire scene investigations you do annually─as many as 100 or less than 10─a fire investigaton must ensure his investigation process is thorough, systematic, comprehensive, and complete every time, Buddy Cales told students at his “Essentials of Fire Investigation” workshop Tuesday morning.

To ensure a fire investigation covers all the bases, Cales strongly recommended that investigators adhere to latest edition of National Fire Protection Association 921, Guideline on Fire and Explosion Investigations (NFPA 921). Although not yet a standard, it is the measure against which which fire investigation actions will be compared in a legal action. He noted that past arson convictions have sometimes been overturned based on investigations at the time that were later found to be based on outdated fire science. 

It is important to preplan fire investigations and discover and cultivate relationships with experts who specialize in specific areas such as fiber and DNA evidence. 

Investigation conclusions must be based on the scientific analysis of the scene, Cales continued. Although information obtained from witnesses on the scene may be useful, it may not match what the on-scene evidence reveals regarding the fire’s origin. The investigator must also beware of prejudging the case based on other  information. For example, he said, knowing that a store that burned down had not been doing well financially before the fire should not be allowed to prejudice one’s investigation from the start. The conclusions of the fire investigation must be based on valid fire science, Cales said.