This is just a small sampling of the amazing feedback I have received based on programs, books, videos, podcasts and webinars on my situational awareness, decision making and leadership topics. Thank you so much for sharing your kind words and support. Your feedback affirms my message and delivery hits the mark and inspires me to work even hard to improve responder safety and leadership. CLICK HERE to view my Linkedin recommendations _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for providing your presentation to our department. I thoroughly enjoyed your sessions that I attended at the recent Fire Chiefs’ Conference. Your style of lecturing was both entertaining and informative while driving home the very important lessons. I was made to ponder and think hard about many of the situations and points you brought forward. Once again thank you and I too hope to meet with you again." Fire Chief Dean Spry City of Campbell River British Columbia _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feedback from course evaluations at the 2011 University of Maryland National Fire Service Staff & Command Program.
"Chief Gasaway, I was at the North Carolina Instructor’s Conference in Asheville this weekend, I enjoyed your class very much! Would it be possible to have you send me the power point presentation. I want to share it with my department. Thanks for coming to our Conference it was a pleasure to hear you speak! Lieutenant Keith Williams Fire Inspector Eden Fire Department Eden, North Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Good Morning Chief, I want to say thank you for the program you presented at the NC Fire & Rescue Instructor’s Conference. The presentation was VERY informative and true. I hope it touched everyone else as much as it did myself. Thank you again and have a safe day." Training Officer Jason McEntire Riceville VFD _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I enjoyed your presentation at the NC instructors conference. You hit the nail on the head. All fire and rescue people in my area need to be aware of the mistakes made everyday and the solutions. Your program will open people's eyes and remind us how many dangers we face everyday." Alan Mcwilliams NC Level II Fire Instructor NC Live Burn Instructor _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for a great session !! My Training Officer excited about viewing the CDs and working the concepts into our training program. Your presentation validated many of the 'gut feelings' we have been discussing. We're looking forward to hearing / seeing your suggested solutions that we can incorporate into our program and improve our incident decision making. In addition, I already have had 2 other FD Chiefs that ask to view the CDs. Cool. There is hope for us yet!!" Fire Chief Stephen Keegan Whispering Pines VFD _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for your presentations on Wednesday and Thursday. I now have a better understanding of how and why certain memories get triggered when I am under extreme stress. Hopefully this will help me keep those in need safe. Thank you!" Neal H. Hodges II Information Technology Services South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Rapid City, South Dakota _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I want to say thanks for both of your presentations. I enjoyed them very much. I have 23 years with Law Enforcement and also served 13 years on our local Volunteer Fire Department. I am very proud to have had the opportunity to serve on both entities. Your training gave some very good insight to things I have seen over my years in Public Service. Your training provides some very good lessons that managers can use to understand how we should train and the effects of misguided training. Thanks again for coming to South Dakota your training is something I will always use and promote with in my agency, and any others that will listen. Thanks Rich!" Lieutenant Curt Jacobs Spearfish Police Dept. Spearfish, South Dakota _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for sharing great lessons for life. Your presentation was excellent! Based on your presentation, I can see many opportunities for improving our disaster management approach. I plan to share your website with several other NW Tribes and contacts in hopes that you can visit those regional conferences and provide them with the same information. Once again, thank you for following up. Yes, I do hope our traplines cross again!" Jerry BigEagle Homeland Security Coordinator Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for your time presenting in South Dakota. I was not the traditional person at this conference. We see the opportunity for disaster in the field of agriculture growing all the time and we have been taking steps to be prepared in South Dakota. My attendance at the conference helps me be prepared to direct the agency in a time of crisis. I was not sure what to expect from your session but must say I was glad I chose it. It really opened my eyes to how I can and will prepare on a day to day basis for the big and little things I approach as well as in a time of emergency. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and personal experiences with the attendees, well done!!" Jon Farris, Deputy Secretary South Dakota Department of Agriculture Pierre, South Dakota _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I took a week's vacation from my full-time job just to take your class. I was a little nervous about taking the class, but that all subsided by lunch on the first day and I was glad to be in the class. I learned a lot from the class. I learned that some of the things I do as a leader and instructor are correct. I also learned there are some things I need to change so I can continue to improve on being a better leader and instructor. Thanks again for a great class!" Bruce McBride Company Officer Development Instutute Hosted by Fort Wayne (IN) Fire Department _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway, Your presentations last year and this year have been the highlight of my career in the area of classroom training. Your approach assumes an intelligent audience and I truly appreciated that. As you know, there are some very smart folks in the fire service and I think instructors sometimes dumb their programs down so much that those folks are left frustrated. Your assumption of intelligence combined with your expertise to handle any questions is impressive. I hope that we get you back in Fort Wayne for another class very soon. I have heard nothing but compliments about your program from my peers in the class last week. Thanks again!" Captain Brett Brown Fort Wayne Fire Department _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I attend the North Carolina Fire & Rescue Instructor conference in Asheville, North Carolina. That was a great class! I enjoy it very much. Thanks!" Training & Safety Officer Keith Allen Franklin Fire & Rescue Department Franklin, North Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feedback from participants of the U.S. Forest Service-Bureau of Land Management Safety Conference. This program focused on situational awareness and decision making for wildland fire managers.
" Dr. Gasaway, Thank you again for coming to Evansville to teach the leadership class. I learned so much and I have actually started to put in practice many of the things that you taught in class. During a recent flood I had an opportunity to prove my leadership. I was so excited to receive so many nice compliments on my leadership. Thank you so much for teaching me about leadership! Sincerely," Ricardo Zacarias McCutchanville Fire Department Ohio Valley Search and Rescue _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, I am almost done reading On Fire About Leadership and I love it! It's easy, down to earth answers/explanations on issues facing the fire service and, more importantly, my department. I like the background behind why we make certain decisions and how our minds work. Thanks again for the books and all you have done for our firefighters! Keep up the good work." Fire Chief Joseph C. Spicciati Glenburn Fire Protection District Glenburn, North Dakota _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for what you do! It was a great day of training. I really appreciate the examples used and the interaction you use to bring home your lessons." Captain Kim Robinson Indianapolis Fire Department Department of Public Safety _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I really enjoyed your class last Tuesday in Carmel, Indiana. I found the information very interesting and very valuable. So interesting that I shared with my family at dinner time to the point of being reminded they are not in the fire service at this time! I am also sharing some of this information with the rest of our staff and hope to be able to take some actions to improve our service delivery and safety. Again, thank you very much." Division Chief Pedro Cáceres Training / Safety Wayne Township Fire Department _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you again for the class this past Tuesday. It was very informative and I'm sure all appreciated your time. I'm writing to ask if the article you attached (with the .pdf of your presentation) is the same 2-part article you had published and mentioned in your class? I don't recall what magazine you said it was in... but I was hoping to read that as well (if its different than the one you already shared). Thank you again for you time and knowledge! Be safe." Jacob Humphrey Decatur Twp. FD _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway, It was great meeting you today! The class was awesome!" Peter Hahn American Red Cross _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feedback from participants of the Indiana Company Officer Institute sponsored by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and hosted by the Evansville Fire Department. This program is designed to help build the bench strength for leadership and develop skills that will help company officers be successful.
"Dr. Gasaway, You delivered a fantastic seminar yesterday. I was very impressed with your knowledge and ability to articulate your experience and teachings in an easy to understand manner. I look forward to meeting you again in the future and will be happy to keep you abreast of other opportunities in our region as they arise. Regards," Deputy Chief Shane Christensen Leduc Fire Services Leduc, Alberta, Canada _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I just listened to your latest Leader's Toolbox podcast on Firehouse.com! Great Stuff! Thank you for sharing. It was good information with great take-aways." Captain Kris Mola Tri Lakes Monument Fire Protection District Monument, Colorado _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for coming in and doing what you do. I know it takes a lot of time away from your family. The role of the Dane Co. Fire Training Officers Association has really progressed over the past five years. Our goal is to keep bringing in experts on topics that can help us. I think that we were successful again this time. Thank you. I have to say that I very much enjoyed the presentation. It was very different from what I thought it would be. You took a very academic, research based set of ideas and presented them in a way that will no doubt made a difference. I'm working on my MBA right now and I've always wondered how I can get through it and give back to the fire service. I've done a lot with RIT for my EFO projects, but my real passion is training and seeing new members become firefighters. I purchased the video set because I need our officers that couldn't attend to be able to see what was presented. For me, I'm constantly looking for ways to improve how I deliver training. For the first time in a long while, I have a resource that will allow me to audit myself. Your words, research and efforts will help us move forward. Thanks again. Stay safe and God bless. Very Respectfully," Jess Robinson, Captain/Training Officer Cottage Grove Fire Department Cottage Grove, Wisconsin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Richard, Thank you for a very informative and helpful session at FDIC on Situational Awareness. Could you please forward a copy of your powerpoint presentation/notes as discussed during the presentation. Thanks again for a wonderful session." Lieutenant Michael D Norman Redwood Meadows Emergency Services Redwood Meadows, AB Canada _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed your program on Saturday. I took away a lot of great information. Thank you" Lieutenant Rob Kunze City of Fitchburg Fire Department Fitchburg, Wisconsin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I enjoyed your class very much. Thank you for sharing all of your experience and knowledge in a way that was both appropriate and easy to follow." Craig Ratz, Fire Inspector Portage Fire Department Portage, Wisconsin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I would just like to thank you for giving up your time to teach me and my fellow Dane County Firefighters today. It was a honor to be there and to learn from you. I plan on becoming a Fire Chief someday and I feel that the information you gave me today is the first step to achieve that goal. I will definitely suggest that they invite you to come speak at my department! I just wanted to tell you how much of an honor it was to be there today. And I would also like to thank you for everything you've done for the Fire Service and also for signing my book! Thanks again." Firefighter/EMT Blake Karnitz Shorewood Hills Fire Department Madison, Wisconsin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway, You hit a homerun with the crowd! It was refreshing and new to most everyone in the room. Based on the number of text messages I received from attendees, I am confident they will be taking "the word" forward. It also helped with a large contingent of Fitchburg guys who "get it". I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed your seminar, but then again you mentioned how "eager" i was when we met at FRI. Again, a great presentation and a HUGE Thank You!!!" Division Chief Lance Langer City of Fitchburg Fire Department Fitchburg, Wisconsin _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Just a note to thank you for helping to make FDIC 2011 a huge success. We set a record-breaking attendance of more than 28,700 people. It is in no small part because of you and the incomparable education you helped to present. Please take a few moments to visit www.fdic.com and submit a presentation for next year. Next year’s show is April 16-21, 2012. Hope to see you there!" Diane Feldman, Executive Editor, Fire Engineering Conference Director, FDIC _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I have been in the fire service for the last 32 years and currently serve as chief of a small combination fire department. We average around 1,000 responses per year. In addition I am the lead instructor for fire and hazmat training for Duke Energy’s three nuclear plants. Currently we have 7 units and have approximately 500 fire and hazmat responders we are responsible for training. I attended your “Situation Awareness” class at FDIC last week and must say that you are absolutely on target with this class. You are bringing to the fire service information that should have been a standard several years ago. Actually Situational Awareness, Human Performance and Human Error training are common terms in my business. Thanks again for bring topics to the fire service that really will make a difference. You are probably the only person on the national level that has a true grasp on the things we really need to be looking at. I will keep up with you and use your materials every chance I get." Robert Jackson, CFPS Nuclear Instructor Catawba Nuclear Station York County, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I have to let you know how much I enjoyed your program and what it has to offer. I personally experienced an incident where I almost lost my life and the life of two of my Firefighters because a Chief Officer refused to pay attention to the signs. As I laid in the ER I strongly considered giving up my rank; I did not want the responsibility of losing a Firefighter. After deep discussions with a lot of experienced Officers, I realized that incident gave me insight that a lot of Officers may never get. As a result I grew as an Officer and moved through the ranks until I became the training chief. I now had an opportunity to make a difference in the way we operated and looked out for our personnel. I always thought a lot of our problems involved egos and ignorance. I realize now that it is a mental process that requires attention to detail, composure and added insight from other on scene personnel. I really appreciate your efforts in the study and development of the program. We do plan on trying to bring you in to talk to our entire department. I feel this will open a lot of eyes and make all our personnel safer. Thanks for your dedication to saving our Firefighters." Name Withheld (due to sensitive nature of the feedback) Attendee of "Mental Management of Emergencies" program _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for the great seminar. I am anxious to read through your book and go through the DVD's to pass on information to my team. Keep up the good work in delivering your message!" Fire Chief Barry Carter West Hempfield Fire & Rescue Company Silver Spring, Pennsylvania _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, That was a fantastic course at Southeast Fire School this weekend! I appreciate all the information and I know we will have you back to South Carolina soon. Thanks again and have a safe time in Oregon!" Fire Chief Dennis K. Ray Lugoff Fire Department Lugoff, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thanks for the book, it is pretty impressive so far. I am certainly enjoying it. Thanks again and I look forward to perhaps talking to you again about your research and Neuroscience." Ivan A. Mustafa EMT/P, MSN, ARNP-C, CMO Division Chief, EMS Seminole County Fire Department _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for your program. I could tell from the very start that you were passionate about what you were doing, it showed." George McCoy Alligator Fire District Hartsville, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I was in attendance in your class at the Southeastern Fire School at the South Carolina Fire Academy. Wonderful job!! A lot of data to cover in such a short time. Looking forward to taking more classes under your instruction in the future." Michael Johnson Clarendon County Fire Department Manning, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, The Class that you taught at Southeastern Fire School was very informative, interesting, and just overall amazing. I feel that I learned alot from it, and hope that I can Pay it Forward with the same emphasis as you did." Mike Reece Roebuck FD Spartanburg, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: Thank you again for your dedication to educating us. You have helped me tremendously. Words are simply not enough. You have opened my eyes and helped me open others." Firefighter Ryan Stormer Summerville Fire Department Summerville, South Carolina _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I want to thank you for the excellent training seminar you gave on Saturday March 5, 2011 at the LCPSTC in Lancaster County. I am the Deputy Chief with the Witmer Fire Co. I have 30 years in the fire service, serving 6 years as Lt., 6 years as Deputy Chief, 9 years as Fire Chief and I am currently serving my second term as Deputy Chief to support our new Chief who had previously served under me as Deputy Chief for 9 years. I was fortunate enough to have our 2nd Assistant Chief and 2nd and 3rd Lieutenants at the seminar with me. I know that they all took a lot of good information home with them as well. One of my biggest issues with the information I obtain at these seminars is how to pass the information on to our officers and firefighters back home who were unable to attend. Passing it on is not the problem, but achieving this with the same kind of impact that you present it with is always very challenging. We purchased your 3 DVD set and your decision making book as training aids for our department and I will assure you that the training committee incorporates this aspect of training into our program in a timely manner. Thanks again for all of your research and hard work. You provide a most valuable resource for the fire service today. Keep up the great work and God Bless." Deputy Chief John R. Latschar Witmer Fire Protective Association Witmer, Pennsylvania _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to travel to Lancaster County. It was pleasure taking your class. I have learned some valuable information to put into my memory bank." Deputy Chief Troy Slaymaker MTFR - Neffsville Manheim Township, PA _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I want to thank you again for the excellent class. Science has always fascinated me so I can say I truly learned a lot today. May God continue to bless you in your future travels." Firefighter Benjamin Esh Witmer Fire Protective Association Witmer, Pennsylvania _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I very much enjoy your presentation and the wealth of information you gave us. I can not wait to go through your book and DVD series with my Team. The Lieutenant I brought along was so thrilled and excited by your information it may have created a monster in him, which is a good thing. I can't thank you enough for your dedication to protecting and teaching firefighters. It was also very touching that you asked us to pray for our soldiers. My son is in the USAF basic training program now in his sixth week, I am a very proud father as he is going to be a Firefighter that I had the pleasure of training as a Jr. Firefighter and EMT. I pray everyday that God may watch over all our troops. With sincere respect," Fire Chief Brian K. Mentzer Columbia Consolidated Fire Department Columbia, Pennsylvania _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I wanted to say thanks for your presentation this past Saturday in Lancaster. It was valuable information. I have recently been promoted to a battalion chief's position and the transition has been ok but I haven't had that incident with "the pucker factor" yet. The information you presented hit home for me because, like you, in the beginning when I went from a firefighter to serving as a line officer I also had that different mindset that now I have a crew to worry about instead of every man for himself when things are going south. This most recent change in my career his brought on even another new thought process where the biggest thing I need to work on is keeping back and keeping the big picture in mind. Thanks again - looks like I'll have plenty of reading material with your resources in the days to come." Darryl Keiser Batt Chf 3-9 Liberty Fire Company New Holland, PA _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Thank you for the class you taught on Saturday morning in Columbia. I hope that the people at home watching on the Webcast enjoyed the program as much as I did being there in person and getting to be a part of it. I have to say that out of all of the classes that I have taken at the Missouri University Fire-Rescue Training Institute Winter Fire School, I took more information away from your class than all the others I have taken in the past. Thanks Again!" Levi Dennis Attendee of the MUFRTI Winter Fire School Columbia, Missouri _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway, Thank you again for the insightful and informative lecture, our members would all benefit from the inspiring wake up call you discuss. Also, thanks again for the company during our humorous dinner I really appreciated the ability to have that contact with instructors of your caliber." Captain Todd McNeal City of Sonora Fire Department Sonora, California _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ This isn't a testimonial about a program, but it was one of the nicest compliments I have ever received and wanted to share it. "Hey Chief, How are you doing? I enjoy watching and learning from the work you do in the fire service. Fire fighters need what you bring. I am so privileged and thankful that I spent my early years in the fire service with you as a leader and Chief. Your integrity, knowledge, and unwavering conviction that you were going to do what was best for your city and firefighters has left a career long impression on my character, knowledge and viewpoint. The care, concern and training that you insured to be certain that we, fire fighters, were as trained and prepared as possible was second to none. I didn't know it then. But I certainly look back on my time in Roseville as an example of how to lead young men and women in this difficult, demanding, and unpredictable profession. I just wanted to let you know that, when you retired, you did not loose Roseville. Rather, Roseville lost the best Chief I have had the great privilege of working with." Name withheld A former Roseville (MN) firefighter _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, It was a pleasure and delight to have you at the Chiefs’ Conference and all the feedback has been excellent. You were the hit of the conference!" Donna Love Director - Student Services Alabama Fire College Tuscaloosa, Alabama _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, I wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you how much I appreciated your presentation. I was very pleased with the reception by the attendees and know that your presentation will continue to be a hit out here in California. I will let you know when we are ready for future presentations. Hopefully we can get going on this sooner rather than later. Take care my friend and I wish you continued success with your speaking engagements. You are truly making a difference!" Ted Corporandy, Host Fire Nuggets Professional Development Series _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief, I was at the Fire Nuggets program in Pleasanton, California. I would like to purchase your book and the DVD series. I liked your presentation and have enjoyed your online articles. Thanks." Mike Teslar _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I attended your class at Lenexa Fire Station on December 10th. Thank you for the class. I learned a lot from your presentation. Also, I purchased one of your books and would like for you to email me a receipt. Thanks Again!" Assistant Chief Dennis W. Hubbel Bonner Springs Fire Department Bonner Springs, Kansas _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dear Rich, On behalf of the Alabama Fire Chiefs, I want to thank you for your presentation at our conference. Your presentation was exactly what we needed to hear. I have been saying for many years its not so much the number of firefighters and trucks you have, it's the decisions we make when we deploy them. Again, great job and I look forward to seeing you again soon." President A. J. Martin Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs Tuscaloosa, Alabama _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I want to thank you for your excellent presentation today. I could feel your passion towards this subject matter. You presented us with some great knowledge that I look forward to passing on to my crew. Also, please send me a receipt for the book I purchased. Once again thanks for your time and knowledge." Jim Watson Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department Livermore-Pleasanton, California _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I attended your class to day in Pleasanton California. Thank you. It was a great message and I will pay it forward to my crews here in San Francisco. I wanted to buy the book but they were sold out by the time I was going to walk up to you. Please send me a copy. Thanks again!" Jose Velo Battalion Chief San Francisco Fire Department San Francisco, California _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Hey Rich: I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your presentation to the Alabama Fire Chiefs. You brought up tremendously valuable information that has been overlooked. Again thanks for your efforts to promote safety within the fire service." Fire Chief Billy Black Monroeville Fire/Rescue Department Monroeville, Alabama _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I was in your class today, January 30, in Boardman. It was the best class I think I've ever been to. It's 10:30 PM and I am still talking about it! Thanks" Barb Fink Perry Township Fire Department Perry Township (Ohio) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I attended your program in Boardman Ohio. Was a great presentation and the second class I have taken of yours. The last one was many years ago. Thanks for helping the fire service to GET IT. I just finished teaching an instructor class - I hope that I can help them with this material." Tim Thomas Howland Fire Department Howland, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Hi Rich! I just wanted to send you a quick email to thank you for speaking with us yesterday in Boardman, Ohio. My husband has been a FF/EMT-B for 10 years and I have been a FF/EMT-I for 6 years. We really enjoyed what you had to say and your "take away" message! We have listened to a lot of speakers in the past and we were very impressed with what you had to say and how you said it! Also, please thank your son for serving for us. We could not be where we are today if we did not have men and women willing to risk it all to protect us! WE ARE VERY THANKFUL FOR HIS DEDICATION! Thank you again!" Firefighter EMT-I Sara Greier Canfield, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ " Chief Gasaway, I was at your class today in Boardman, Ohio and I thought it was great! The way you made it fun and educational kept my attention. Being a young fireman you have taught me to look more at the bigger picture not just look at one section of the picture. You know as young kids start out we get tunnel vision, which I tend to do. You taught me to zoom out and focus on the whole situation. I would like to say thank you for your time today and for your service to fire departments. God Bless your son for serving in the U.S Marines. Firefighter Kevin Minamyer Negley, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I just wanted to thank you for providing us with an awesome presentation today in Boardman. And yes... I remember the days of tail board riding and MSA 401 SCBAs. I keep telling our guys they have it too easy and that they should spend their probation period wearing the old Cotton Duck coats, Plastic Helmets and, of course, the old Fireball orange gloves. On another note, you're right that we definitely slow down with age. In May I'll be 52 yrs old and will have spent the last 36 years in my Fire Department. Again, Thank You Sir. I hope to see you again." Bill Bennett Glenmoor Volunteer Fire Department Glenmoor, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I attended your class today in Poland. I am a 53 year-old student of the fire service. I was expecting something totally opposite of what you presented. You blew me away!! I am going to get your book so I can complete my need to know the whole story. I could have stayed there all night and took it all in. You have to understand I am consumed with training and promoting awareness about limiting LODD's. Keep getting the message out! Thanks again." Dan Suttles Brookfield Fire-EMS Brookfield, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Good Morning Rich, I hope you had a good flight home to the cold north? I got home around 6 pm Sunday Evening. Just a note to tell you that is was a great class, good job. I want to follow up on our conversation about an evening class for the Lake County Fire Chiefs. If you look on a map of Ohio, find Cleveland and follow I 90 East to SR 44. This is the center of Lake County and Concord Twp. Could you send me some dates for late Sept or anytime in October? I would like to have a dinner and then your program that should not be more than 3.5 hours long. A condensed version of the program you did in Mahoning county would work great. I look forward to working with you on this project. Please tell your son that I appreciate his service to our country." Fire Chief Mike Warner Concord Fire Department Concord, Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief, I would like to thank you for your class delivery today in Lakewood, Washington. I was actually a last minute invite 0700 after shift change. I have read your columns and I changed my plans for the day to attend. I would like to echo my Chief's message about your sincerity. I agree with the emotion needed to make a subject or experience memorable. You definitely show your passion and I appreciate that. Thank you also for recognizing our military members today. There isn't enough of that going around these days. This was one of the best classes I've ever attended! Thanks again Captain Todd Magliocca Tacoma Fire Department Tacoma, Washington _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway: We are all very appreciative of your work in firefighter safety. Thank you for the awesome presentation." Fire Chief Gary Seidel Training Chief Sam Phillips Hillsboro Fire & Rescue Hillsboro, Oregon _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway: As always, I really enjoyed your presentation. You are one of my “fire-service heroes”…, because, as Chief Siedel expressed, you are not only in the fire service, but the fire service is in you. I love your perspective and ways of expressing it – I will definitely “pay it forward” starting with our local CTC training this month!" Paul Sullivan Deputy Chief Weber Fire District Farr West, Utah _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, I just finished reading your article in the January issue of Firehouse Magazine 'Firefighting: It’s a Whole New Ballgame.' Excellent! I like your baseball analogy. I touch upon alternative strategies in the Fireground Aggressiveness and Safety: Can they Coexist course and (with your permission) may include aspects of the baseball analogy into this course. Again great article." Fire Chief Rick Kline Plymouth Fire Department Plymouth, Minnesota _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I just wanted to thank you for your time and what you do to bring light on the dangers firefighters face.We will be talking about the mistakes we made and the ways to better train for the future and what we retained from spending the day with you. Great Job!" Rocky Palmisano Parowan Fire Department Parowan, Utah _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, I wanted to take a moment and let you know how much I enjoyed your column in the January 2011 issue of Firehouse magazine. I absolutely could not have come in a more timely fashion for me. I am currently attempting to justify keeping two positions on the department. (I have been operating understaffed for seven months now. The two positions I am trying to keep opened up due to retirements immediately following my appointment to chief.) Needless to say, I plan on following your advice and begin with the non-core service appraisal. I would like to gain your permission to reference your baseball team analogy, as I believe it shows in understandable terms as to how any reduction in the number of players impacts team performance. I am to give a presentation to our new city manager sometime in February, and then to council at large, in early March. I believe if I could incorporate your work into my presentation, I may be able to salvage any cuts in manpower. Again, thanks for the article and the advice within. The information I’ve received from you through your books, podcasts, etc., have aided me greatly in my transition to a chief officer." Fire Chief Mark Caravasos Morgantown Fire Department Morgantown, West Virginia _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: Thanks so much for coming out for Winter Fire School in St George, I thoroughly enjoyed your Saturday classes and would take another class from you in a heart beat. You gave me a lot of info to take back to my department and I appreciate you taking the time from your family to share from your experiences. Thanks to your son for being willing to help protect freedoms as a Marine. I have adopted deployed service members 1 or 2 at a time to supply care packages and extra mail call since 2003, some I have known through family and friends, some have been complete strangers adopted through a few different online organizations. Just something I have always felt the need to do to let them know they are being remembered while they serve. If, in the future regardless of where and when, your son should deploy somewhere and you'd like him supported with extra mail call, let me know and I would gladly take on sending extra goodies as it's not any harder shopping for 2 deployed service members than the one I normally shop for. Thanks again for 2 great classes today and I look forward to ordering your books to read and browsing your powerpoints for more information." Connie Jellison Ivins City Fire-Rescue Ivins City, Utah _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: It was a pleasure meeting you in Lenexa last Friday and taking your course. Wish we could have had more of our people there. I particularly like the use of your dissertation in presenting the data for supporting decisions that we need to start making. Thank you for a great class. Hope to see in at the Missouri WFS in February. If you ever needing a research base in future studies please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m sure we would be glad to participate." Gary Wilson Training Chief Overland Park Fire Department Overland Park, Kansas _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: It was indeed a pleasurable opportunity to visit with you and we enjoyed your Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder program in Lenexa, Kansas last Friday. Not only was it educational, but entertaining as well! Thanks in advance and for the knowledge you shared with us. Fraternally," Paul DeWalt Assistant Fire Chief/Training Division Belton Emergency Services Belton, Missouri _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I attended your seminar at the Montgomery County Fire Academy in Pennsylvania on November 15 2010. I am a captain on a Boeing 777, a flight instructor and an active firefighter for over 20 years. I presently run with 2 companies. I thought your seminar was excellent and well presented. Your knowledge of aviation safety was obvious and hit home with me. The passion you have, to express safety factors, is obvious. Some things I liked about your seminar included: Facts, like the time to switch from conscious thought to instinctive action 1/4 second 25 ft @ 60 mph; Standard radio terminology and specifics like 360 walk around complete followed by a report; The fact that your brain must visualize and expect things happening but are never really sure because of being removed from the scene as incident commander. Of particular interest was the similarities between aviation safety and fire ground safety." Captain Patrick Scanlon Continental Airlines Serving with Station 35 Lingohocken Fire Co. in Wycombe, PA and Newtown Fire Assn. Station 45/55 in Newtown, Pa. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, God has given you a gift to teach. I am glad you left your chief's job to do what you are doing. I bet that was a big leap of faith. You are doing what the Lord has called you to do. Keep up the great work and thank you!" Rob Fireground Command Decision Making Class Lenexa, Kansas _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feedback from program evaluations at the Kentucky Officer Leadership Symposium: "Excellent presentation. I especially like the science behind the reason why we sometimes make bad decisions. The experiments really were eye opening to me and made me want to strive to do a better job taking all the information in when I am on a fire scene." " SUPER presentation! Thanks for getting such a great presenter with valuable information right here in our back yard!" "Great lecture. All fire officers should have a good knowledge base on decision making and situational awareness. The only way to stop the LODDs and injuries is to understand why humans make mistakes. Chief Gasaway offers some good information to begin to understand this." "Very good class. This could have easily been a two day program with the amount of information." "The speaker work black sneakers. That was unprofessional." (Rich's note: Sorry my footwear disappointed you. I have arthritis in my feet and those are the only comfortable shoes I have that support my standing and moving around a classroom for 8 consecutive hours. Just goes to show you... you can't please everyone!) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder is need-to-know information for any person in the fire service. This was a great class!" Lieutenant Nick Russell Training Coordinator Edgewood Fire/EMS Edgewood, Kentucky _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ “I attended the Fire Rescue International Conference (FRI), held in Chicago, where Dr Gasaway was a keynote speaker. He presented two informative classes on situation awareness and decision making; important factors for creating successful outcomes on the emergency scene, or in business. I highly recommend Dr Gasaway to help your organization become safer and more effective." Billy M Schmidt Columnist and Editorial Board Member FireRescue Magazine _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, You taught me that the human brain can handle up to 7 different pieces of information at once, to remember your situation awareness and don't miss the gorilla! I have totally enjoyed the experience of learning about Situational Awareness, and we have devoted three training nights for the department to watch "50 Ways to Kill Your Brother" DVDs. At last years VCOS conference, our President bought your book "On Fire: About Leadership," which I read cover to cover. Then I lent it to someone and it got lost. I want to add your other book to the Department's Training Library. We're going to put it in the "Gasaway Section." We anxiously await your next publication. Thanks." Deputy Fire Chief Jarad J. Charpentier Paradis Volunteer Fire Department Paradis, Louisiana _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich, I was glad that I could attend your class. I really like the message you are bringing to everyone and feel it is very important. I will definitely stay in contact with you and keep you abreast of new developments that may arise here at IFD. I look forward to seeing you again soon. I am sure that our paths will cross once again soon. Take care and God bless you, brother!" Captain Don Dyer Indianapolis Fire Department Indianapolis, Indiana _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway: I just wanted to take a minute and thank you once again for coming to Northern Colorado and providing a great two days of training for our folks; I have heard great comments about the class. Also, Rich, thanks for sending me the extra books with my order. I will be distributing them to two fire chiefs this week that did not have a chance to make it to the classes. Rich, stay safe, keep fighting the good fight and know that you are making a difference in the American Fire Service. You have a great message and you do an outstanding job of delivering it.I wish you much success in the future and I hope our paths cross again someday soon." Randy Mirowski, Fire Chief Loveland Fire and Rescue Loveland, Colorado _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, That was an excellent class you held at the Buckley Fire Department in October. I went back to Yakima to try to get you to our area. If we could save one life or prevent firefighter injury or even prevent a near miss, it would be well worth it. I have told others about your web site and they have said "boy we need to get him here!!!". I received your book and have started reading it - too much good information. I hope to see next year in Yakima at the West Valley Fire department. Thanks." Walter Lindsey West Valley Fire-Rescue Yakima County Fire District 12 Yakima, Washington _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I want to thank you for the excellent podcasts you put out with firehouse. This is great training. Looking forward to the future ones." Firefighter Bob Washburn Presidio Fire Department Seaside, California _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Hi Rich, I hope all is well in Wyoming before you head to Colorado. Thanks again for a great couple of days. I'm really enjoying the energy you helped to create. Our next Command Staff meeting is scheduled for November 2nd. I put the call out yesterday morning for agenda items and it's been exciting to see the items coming in for the agenda - many related to the discussions we had during our Friday afternoon session with the Officers. It was purely enjoyable yesterday and last night as I walked around the station and heard ongoing discussions about the materials presented in Saturday's class. I stopped by our EMT class last night and caught a little bit of the instructor lecturing about scene size-up of motor vehicle crashes & incorporating material she had heard on Saturday. Awesome! Thanks again & looking forward to our next opportunity. (I'm really liking the idea of a future leadership training based program .... maybe next year!)" Fire Chief Alan Predmore Buckley Fire Department Buckley, Washington _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dear Chief Gasaway, Thank you for the great class and the informative book! We are teaching Management of MCI’s statewide in Colorado. All of your information helps to highlight and support our courses. Best of luck with your course and thank Cameron again for all he is doing for the USA! Best regards, John." John F. Putt Evergreen Fire Department Evergreen, Colorado _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thanks so much for this example of a true gift. I always make a point of thanking a person for their time, no matter the circumstance. I had forgotten the value of the simple statement but thanks to reading your column I have been reminded of the importance of demonstrating this form of gratitude. Best Wishes, and thanks for the leadership." Brantly Westfall FF/Engineer City of Larkspur Fire Department Lakespur, California [Feedback based on blog post for Fire & Emergency Services Leadership Initiative(FESLI) blog.] There's a link to this blog on the home page. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ " Dr. Gasaway, I would like to say thank you again for coming to Casper and instructing. I think that you are doing an awesome job at getting the message out on how to protect firefighters." Shift Commander Jeff Kuhn A platoon Casper Fire- Ems Department Casper, Wyoming _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief, This was an outstanding class! You kept my attention the entire day. Your passion is contagious!! I hope to see you again in the future." Carl Hendrickson Yakima County Fire District Yakama, Washington _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief, I attended you Situational Awareness and decision Making class last week in Eureka MO. Excellent material to which I will be utilizing in future training and leadership classes. Thanks you very much for sharing your knowledge with us." Rob Odenwald Deputy Chief of Training Fenton Fire Protection District _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rest assured you are on our short list of guest speakers, your message was precisely the right topic at the right time. Nothing but positive feedback! We would be honored to see you again in the future!" Ricky N. Brockman, EFO, CFO Deputy Director Navy Fire & Emergency Services Programs Commander, Navy Installations Command Operating Forces (N30) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ A sampling of the feedback received from the Fire Engineering Webcast in August, 2010 on Fireground Situation Awareness "Thanks for the great information for upcoming company officers." Firefighter Marcus Goss Jackson County Fire District 5 Medford, Oregon ________________________ "Great Presentation" Deputy Chief (ret.) John K. Murphy, J.D. Sammamish, Washington ________________________ "Great Speaker!" Firefighter/EMT Michael Handoga St. Pete Beach Fire Department St. Pete Beach, Florida ________________________ "This was great!" Chris Herman, Emergency Response Specialist British Petroleum, North America ________________________ "Great Job!" Gregory Witek, Fire Chief Little Rock-Fox Fire Protection District Plano, Illinois ________________________ "Thanks Chief Gasaway. Excellent presentation! This was very helpful for me as a new Officer." Reid Martin, Firefigher/Acting Officer Surrey Fire Service Surrey, British Columbia _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I just returned from the Fire Rescue International (FRI) conference held in Chicago where Dr Gasaway was a keynote speaker. He presented two informative classes on situation awareness and decision making; important factors for creating successful outcomes on the emergency scene, or in business. I highly recommend Dr. Gasaway to help your organization become safer and more effective." District Chief Billy M. Schmidt Palm Beach County Fire & Rescue Palm Beach County, Florida _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you for adding us to your long list of missions. I always tell the 'Top Shelf' people in our industry (the ones who continually make a contribution), that it is easy to quantify firefighter injuries and line of duty deaths but it's not so easy to quantify injuries and line of duty deaths prevented. For you, that 'difficult to quantify' number is likely a VERY large figure, and growing... Keep up the great work!" District Chief Dave McGrail Denver Fire Department Denver, Colorado _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I really enjoyed your class and plan to use elements of your class in my upcoming Shift Officer meeting. I am a newly promoted Battalion Chief, and this was a great class to attend after this promotion. I understand my chief is working on getting you to teach a session for northern Colorado. I hope to see you again." Battalion Chief Michael Cerovski Loveland Fire Department Loveland, Colorado _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feedback from participants of the Indiana Company Officer Institute program hosted by the Fort Wayne Fire Department.
Feedback from participants of the Indiana Company Officer Institute program hosted by the Evansville Fire Department.
"I have to say, that was the best IC seminar I have attended in the Last 5 years. Makes you think back over what you have accomplished and gives me a better insight into why I reacted certain ways to emergencies in the past. For example: I am an incident commander in a Petrochemical Plant, I have no issue in dealing with Hydro Carbon releases, Fires, explosions, Rescues etc. My hardest response to deal with was a grass fire in rail. I had no subconscious memories to help me deal with that one, kind of like doing the alphabet backwards. We had no water, no resources, and it was frustrating. I finally had my crew grab a bunch of snow shovels and rakes to get it out the old fashioned way. While doing the seminar I had to chuckle because it all made sense." Roger McPherson, Shift Supervisor Nova Chemicals Sarnia, Ontario, Canada _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gassaway, I appreciated the fact that you were up all night and presented so well. Your presentation was excellent. Your book Fire Ground Decision Making, Understanding the Barriers, Challenging command Situation Awareness is excellent and sits along side my other Command books." Bruce Morrison Sarnia, Ontario, Canada _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "This type of comprehensive program has long been missing from our industry. Only once or twice I became a bit defensive but your message quickly drew me back to accepting certain factors of human nature we all possess. The challenge of striking the right cord in your message had to be enormous. I congratulate you for hitting every note perfectly. Thank you again for your time and efforts. This morning at shift briefing I began the discussion to “pay it forward” the lessons we learned from you. Best of luck and may you be blessed in the future." Robert W. Eick CFO Fire Chief & Emergency Manager Port Huron Fire Department Port Huron, Michigan _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ A sampling of evaluation comments from the 2010 National Fire Service Staff & Command Program Sponsored by: The Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (NOTE: Evaluations are submitted anonymously by the program participants).
"Rich, I am so impressed with your seminar I just wanted to say thank you. As you know our department suffered the loss of two brothers last February and when we received the information on the seminar we were skeptical about attending, but after we realized what your message was we were very happy we did. You asked that we pay forward and to let you know this coming Monday I have set-up a training for my department using the information I received from you. As a matter of fact I would like for you to send information to set-up a seminar for our county, I think it is a good thing and would like to share it with all my fellow fire departments as well. I was so excited to be able to tell you all this that I almost forgot why I am sending you this e-mail, I got the invoice (for books and videos) and the check will be in the mail tomorrow. Once again thank you so much for your teachings and thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us." Patti Blake C.B.C. Volunteer Fire Department REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a Firefighter program, Gilmer County, WV _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Having worked in public safety for most of my life, I joined the corporate world 5 years ago. While my current position is very similar, the methods in which I handle direct reports are very different. I have had to adapt my management style into one that emulates corporate needs. Recently, I experienced a communication problem with my direct reports; one that caused me to question if I was cutout for the corporate management role. I spoke with Dr. Gasaway who was able to provide me with clear direction thus resolving my communications problem with my staff. Through Gasaway’s coaching and expertise, I was able to prevent my own “crash and burn” and get my staff back on par. Today, we are a more productive Team not only due to this coaching but through suggested methods in identifying and heading off future communications issues. Thank you Dr. Gasaway!" Mike Mudrick Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "You are right on target when you focus on situational awareness as the most important strategic and tactical lesson from Charleston... Keep on spreading the word. There are still lives to be saved!" Gordon Routley, Fire Service Consultant Montreal Fire Department Montreal, Canada Project Leader, Charleston Sofa Super Store Firefighter Fatality Investigation Report _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I really enjoyed your class. It sure made a lot of sense out of what we see everyday but don’t completely understand how or why we decide certain things." Mike Woelke REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder at Spokane, Washington _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Gasaway, You are an inspiration. I loved your class. I wish we had more chief officers in there. I will pay it forward to our chiefs. Thanks so much for your contribution to fire fighter safety." Andreas “AJ” Johansson, Firefighter-Paramedic City of Corona Fire Dept. REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder, California Fire Chiefs Training Officer's Symposium. Fresno, California _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Sir it was a great presentation and an honor to hear you speak with in depth knowledge. I read half the Fireground Command book on my way home yesterday. We'll keep you in mind for our county school next May. I wish you a happy holiday season and stay safe. Fire Chief Gary Sacco New Gloucester Fire & Rescue REF: Fireground Command Decision Making, VCOS Symposium, Clearwater Beach, Florida _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dr. Rich: I was reading some of your articles on Firehouse today, I was very impressed you truly are on the leading edge in the fire service too long we have used the old adage "we have always done it this way". Every officer should be required to take your leadership course before they become a chief officer, our younger generation will not respond to the old ways of doing it and the fire service is going to have to find new ways of attracting volunteers or volunteer fire departments will be a think of the past. Wishing you success in everything you do, you have truly earned it." Fire Chief (ret.) Ron Boman Brooklyn Center Fire Department _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Chief Gasaway, I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and walked away more observant. I will consider you when we do our training. I looked at your calendar and you are pretty booked. Great job and keep up the great work. Thanks again." Jonathan D. Howard, Sr., Deputy Fire Chief 16A Bowie Volunteer Fire Department REF: Fireground Command Decision Making program, VCOS Symposium, Clearwater Beach, Florida _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I wanted to drop you a note and say thanks for coming to the RESA conference with your presentation. Seminars such as yours help me to "re energize" myself, and help remind me what the big picture really contains. (It amazing how easy it is to lose that vision as the years progress). Classes such as yours help me put it in perspective. I also just finished your "On Fire, About Leadership" book. Great piece of work......I'm sure I will wear the cover off of it over the next few years. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to make the ESCAPE conference next year. I'd enjoy that chance to hear you speak again." Mark Caravasos Morgantown Fire Department REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder presented at the ASSET Conference _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you, I appreciate you sharing your research and allowing me to use the information within my training division. I will add your presentation (Sierra Fire) information to our training memos and put it on our training schedule. I will contact Chief Greene to inquire about availability within the class. Thanks again, and we will absolutely keep you in mind for future presentations." Chief Tamara Lopes Reno Fire Department REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder presented at the VCOS Symposium _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you for sending your presentation so that I can share it with my department. I have enjoyed listening to you speak the past two years, and hope to hear you speak again in future Symposiums. Besides being the state Director for our IAFC Division, I'm also the Chairman of the Training & Education Committee for our state conference. Our Committee is constantly looking to bring speakers to our annual conference each year, plus provide seminars across the state on various topics. If you are interested in being a speaker at one of our conferences, please provide me with a list of your programs." Chief Paul Whorrall Manlius Fire Department REF: Fifty Ways to Kill a First Responder presented at the VCOS Symposium _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "This presentation stopped me dead in my tracks! So many things that I was not aware of. Great presentation!" "Wow what an eye opener this presentation was! Great speaker and presentation. Material was excellent and brought up some outstanding points on situational awareness." "Very powerful! Very thought provoking." "Dr. Gasaway is an excellent presenter with an excellent message. I wish more commanders could see and hear this topic." "Energetic speaker and the material was very interesting. This instructor and topic is a "must attend" class! Excellent class participation too." "Great presentation. Nice to see command/leadership based on research, not just experience of a single individual." "Good presentation. Very enjoyable. Made me evaluate my direction and consideration when decisions are being made, and how well I am listening to things that are being transmitted or relayed." "Dr. Gasaway is an excellent and dynamic speaker. His material is pertinent to every fire officer holding fire ground command responsibility. Top notch!" "Dr. Gasaway has a real passion for this subject matter." "Very good presentation. Very polished." "Dynamic speaker, excellent topic." "Of all the classes I attended for this program, I felt this class had the most to offer in terms of impacting the methods I will use to lead my agency. Good demonstration of how difficult it really is to pay attention and how easily you can be distracted." Feedback from program evaluations Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute National Fire Service Staff & Command Program _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I have been in the fire service for 32 years and I learned more about how to command a fireground from this program than from any other training I have had since I joined the fire service." Participant feedback from Fire Department Instructor's Conference ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you for speaking with me yesterday. The advice you have given me has opened my eyes. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I looking forward to rebuilding what I have lost. Words cannot explain the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. I look forward to speaking with you again." Feedback from a personal coaching session _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "This was a great class. Not only did our new officers benefit but, the Chief had some take-aways as well. Kudos!" Tim McClung, Training Officer King County Sheriff's Office, Special Operations Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Your help this weekend was exactly what I was looking for. I heard nothing but fun and excitement as well as praise since you left. Excellent work! I look forward to having you back. Thanks again. The time you spent here helped to reform a very neat department that will bring us to new heights." Fire Chief Jerry Streich Centennial Fire Protection District Ref: Mission, Vision, Core Values Development _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Rich's research and presentation about barriers to "Situational Awareness" on the fireground is excellent. Rich has done a great job of bringing the material to the audience in a well balanced and interesting manner. I would highly recommend Rich's program and the corresponding materials to anyone in the fire service, from firefighters to Chief Officers." George Esbensen Fire Chief Eden Prairie Fire Department Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother & The Fire Service Perfect Storm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "This program will make your department more aware of how small actions can have a big impact, from the fireground to the station.... A great program and one I would recommend." Andy Beck, FF, EMT, Training Officer Manda City (ND) Fire Department Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother & The Leader's Toolbox programs. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I would like to comment how much I enjoyed listening to your presentation on Thursday 13 November at the 2008 Research Event at the British Fire Service College." Dr. Margaret Crichton Industrial Psychologist People Factor Consultants Ltd Aberdeen, Scotland _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "For me to be able to sit in a 13-hour, two-day class, and not once have a feeling of boredom was very refreshing and rewarding." Fire Chief Jack Swinehart Carroll County Volunteer Fire Department Ref: Fire Officers Leadership Symposium _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I blame you for not being able to sleep for the three days following your seminar. Now I just have to decide where I want to start." David Lloyd Ref: University of Maryland Executive Development Series _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you for an excellent class! Many of the points you discussed really hit home with our department." Lieutenant Greg M. Renko, Vice-President Monroeville VFC #1 Ref: Fire Office Development Program presented at Upper Ohio Valley Fire & Rescue School _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. You certainly opened my eyes to many command issues." Fire Chief John F. Tallent Madisonville Fire-Rescue Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother presented at the VCOS Symposium in the Sun. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I learned a great deal from your program. Thank you for helping me get one step closer towards achieving my goals." Sara S. (a Hennepin Technical College student) Ref: How To Get The Job You Really Want. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "You did an outstanding job! This was our 4th annual officer development seminar and it was the best presentation that we have offered! Thank you for presenting such timely information that many indicated that they can, and will, take back to their respective fire departments." W. Parker Browne, CFPS Staff Support Officer Medina Township Fire Department Ref: The Medina Fire Officer's Development Symposium _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I wanted to thank you for caring enough about us to do all of the research and present this program. There is no doubt that I will use this and I am sure many other officers will also. You are doing a great thing and you are saving lives. One doesn't go in pursuit of the knowledge that you have for any other reason then to benefit their fellow man. You should be proud of your work. Thank you! I thank you and my Fire Fighters thank you." Mike Schneider Captain/EMS Coordinator Garrison Fire & Rescue Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother & The Fire Service Perfect Storm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Your program was the first time I ever walked out of class and said WOW! The members of my fire department have all come home with a whole new attitude. We left your class with so much motivation and determination. During my career I have been to numerous conferences and training seminars and I will say that you are an excellent instructor, both in your teachings and your ability to keep the class motivated. We will be looking for other courses that you will be instructing in the future. We will be there! Great work!" Firefighter Scott Beltz Ref: Fire Officer Leadership Development Program _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Your class was, by far, the best I have ever attended. Thanks again!" Lieutenant Raymond Costain Valley Grove VFD Ref: Emergency Services Leadership Program _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Your presentation was one of the brightest classes I have been to in a very long time. Great Job!" Assistant Chief Jeff Smith Galveston Fire Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother, presented at Fire-Rescue International _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I want to express how fascinated I was by your research and presentation." Richard A. French Chief of Response New York State Emergency Management Office Ref: Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother, presented at the Fire Department Instructor's Conference _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "After 37 years in public service, 20 years career law enforcement and 20 years volunteer fire/rescue/EMS, I found your style of presentation honest and refreshing and the course content integral to our beloved fire service so that Everyone Goes Home." Craig R. Sjoberg Training Coordinator Mandan (ND) Rural Fire Department Ref: Company Officer Leadership and Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother programs. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I recently went to my first VCOS conference where I heard you speak on Fifty Ways to Kill Your Brother. It was, in my opinion, the best class of the conference. We are having our annual conference in August and was hoping you would be interested in speaking." Michael J. Reason Deputy Fire Chief Ref: Symposium in the Sun, Clearwater, Florida _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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