Testimonials

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

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“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
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Feedback from course evaluations at the 2011 University of Maryland National Fire Service Staff & Command Program.

• Dr. Gasaway strongly demonstrated how we can get tunnel vision and not realize conditions around us. One of the strongest points I took away was the necessity to be situationally aware at all times and the need for constant evaluation of changing conditions.
  
• Dr. Gasaway delivered an excellent presentation!
  
• I enjoyed instructor and the topic.
  
• This is a very important topic to cover. The instructor was very passionate about the subject. This session will help me make better fireground decisions.
  
• Dr. Gasaway is a great speaker!  He has great passion. This topic needs more time.
  
• This was a great topic with well-backed research.
  
• Dr. Gasaway certainly kept the attention of the group and effectively used humor. I could really sense his passion for the topic.
  
• Dr. Gasaway was VERY energetic. He definitely knew his material.
  
• This was the first time I have had the opportunity to hear Dr. Gasaway speak. I was very impressed!
  
• I loved this session! I especially enjoyed the real life scenarios cited.
  
• This was a very good topic and that is not normally discussed. The presentation was very good.
  
• A great man!  He needs to continue his mission. I wish him much success.
  
• This was a great class and a great topic!
  
• The program had good participation and provided good information.
  
• This program is good training for all levels of officers.
  
• This was a very interesting topic.
  
• Dr. Gasaway demonstrated that if we don’t training realistically, we won’t perform well.
  
• This program was FUN! Even though it was a very serious topic. The exercises definitely reinforced the information.
  
• I enjoyed the visual aids used and Dr. Gasaway is a very good speaker.
  
• Thank you for sharing your work.  This was a very valuable topic.
  
• Dr. Gasaway is a very good speaker. This was a very interesting topic.
  
• This was a good class. I would like to see the full-day program.
  
• This was a GREAT program!  Every member can benefit from this information.
  
• Give Dr. Gasaway a full-day to deliver his message.
  
• Dr. Gasaway is a VERY dynamic and interesting speaker. I was so impressed I purchased his DVDs on the spot!
  

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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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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.

• Excellent presenter who put on a interesting, informative, and applicable spin to information and knowledge covered from
  previous years and various trainings.  His outlook was fresh and his presentation style was interesting.

• Rich Gasaway was good.  We should have used the whole day just for him.  We as fire operations need to do some training
  with this guy.  ICT3 and maybe ICT4 – He really hit home we are not training enough at ICT3 too much supervision and
  paperwork and meaningless training driving – EEO – CC – ITC – etc.

• I enjoyed Chief Gasaway’s humor and personality.

• Rich Gasway presentation was really good.  He had passion and it showed in his presentation. There were good takeaway
  points.  The program was very interactive and used real life scenarios.

• Rich Gasway was an outstanding presenter!  He did a great job presenting a topic that is not new to many of us.  His
  material was good. His message was good. His presentation skills are great!

• Rich Gasaway was a fabulous speaker! – captivating, really hit home, very relevant to all levels and positions represented in
  the attendees.

• Rich Gasaway theme was right on as far as subject matter!

• Rich Gasaway’s presentation was dynamite!  Good energy, good examples!  I would have been able to listen to him the rest
  of the day.

• Rich Gasaway has amazing passion. Where does that energy come from?

• Rich Gasaway’s presentation was great.  His discussion on tunnel vision really hit home for me.

• Rich Gasaway very good speaker. He did a great job of keeping everyone involved.

• Rich Gasaway‘s program was excellent! It really hit home for me. He made more sense of situational awareness than any
  other speaker I’ve heard. I liked the way he got the audience involved.  

• Rich Gasaway did a good job of relating situational awareness and human psychology to the wildland community.  He is an
  excellent, engaging speaker!  I really liked his sense of humor.

• I would like to have a longer training with Dr. Gasaway.

• Mr. Gasaway is a very dynamic speaker and, as he stated, the program was “2 days worth of material compressed into 2
  hours.”  I think his program was well worth my time and money.  I would recommend him over others who have presented
  same material in the past.

• Rich Gasaway‘s presentation was very powerful, educational and pertinent.

• Dr. Gasaway’s Mental Management of Decision Making made many interesting points from the standpoint of how our minds
  function under stress.  Impressive!
  

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” 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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“Dr. Gasaway, It was great meeting you today!  The class was awesome!”

Peter Hahn
American Red Cross
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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.

• I appreciate the time you took to teach us how to be better leaders. I have spent many hours in classes learning many
  different things but your class was, by leaps and bounds, better than any I have taken. Thank you for the skills and insight.

• Thank you for expanding my narrow leadership skills. This class was great!

• Thanks for lighting a fire under an officer who had become complacent in his duties and interactions. You have given me
  some tools to make myself and my crew better.

• As painful as it was, you have knocked the rust off the axles and the wheels are turning again. Thank you for some help to
  be successful in the last half of my career.

• Thanks for teaching this class. I am confident it will be very helpful whenever I get promoted. I have already started using
  some of your advice and it worked!

• Thank you for the opportunity to attend your class. I have truly reevaluated my leadership style and have taken ownership of
  the problems with my crew and will seek to make positive changes.

• I have taken a lot of classes in my 15 years on the fire department. This was the best I’ve ever had.

• Thanks for reminding me that it’s ok to laugh at work again!

• The information from this class will help me be a better company officer. You have given me that “spank” to continue
  improving myself, my company and my department.

• I appreciate your teaching style so much – a priority placed on class involvement and group discussion. This was a great
  class. Thank you for the time and effort you gave to helping us and for the opportunity to learn about leadership.

• Thank you for the insight and motivation. Some MBAs can’t count change. Hopefully this MBA will make change count!

• Thanks for sharing your knowledge and making us think. This was a very good class. I promise I will use the information to
  become a better officer.

• Thanks for one of the best classes I’ve ever attended.

• Thank you for your time and effort. I really enjoyed the class. The best information came from our open discussion on what
  challenges other officers have experienced and what they did to handle the situation.

• Thanks for creating an environment where the officers could share ideas. We rarely get the opportunity to have these open
  and honest discussions about what we are doing and how to solve our problems. We will become a better department as a
  result of this class!

• Thank you. I believe you have changed how I will lead for the rest of my career.

• Thank you for making a one-day-old lieutenant feel more confident to do the tasks that lay ahead.
  

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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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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
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“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.

• “Thank you for motivating us to always reach for the sky. This was a great class!”
  
• “Thank you for sharing your time, passion and wisdom. ‘What we allow, we endorse.’ As a leader I promise I will not hesitate
  to step out and speak up.”
  
• “I had a great time in this class and I will definitely take a lot of this information back and use it in my station.”
  
• “Thank you for taking your time to help provide us with skills needed to become stronger leaders”
  
• “This was the best certification class I have ever taken – you know your material! Our department will be better for this class.”
  
• “Thank you for all the information. It will be very helpful in advancing my career.”
  
• “Thanks for the inspiration to help me realize I can be a better leader and for providing the tools to get the job done.”
  
• “Thank you for sharing your experience, time and passion. This was a great class!”
  
• “This class was a great investment of my time!”
  
• “Thanks for your commitment to advance the quality and safety of the fire service. Great class!”
  
• “This was a great learning experience. The class participation that you achieved was very inspiring to me as an instructor.”
  
• “I truly believe that what I learned this week will help me throughout my career.”
  
• “Thank you for your insight and advice. I appreciate your dedication to the fire service.”
  
• “Your lessons and examples will make Fort Wayne a better department.”
  
• “I appreciate the class was run in  a way that allowed us to freely participate. I enjoyed the class and will use thing from the
  class in my station.”
  
• “Thank you for the uplifting, positive and motivating start to my career!”
  

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feedback from participants of the Indiana Company Officer Institute program hosted by the Evansville Fire Department.

• “Great class. Excellent instructor.”
  
• “Leadership rocks!”
  
• “You showed us everyone can make a difference, but we have to do it!”
  
• “Thanks for the excellent class.”
  
• “Best class to date.”
  
• “This was an excellent class. I hope I can use what I have learned to become a better leader.”
  
• “Thanks for the great leadership class (ethics too).”
  
• “Thanks for showing that all ranks have challenges but we all have a common goal.”
  
• “Amazing class. Fun to find leadership is learning. Keep your tops spinning!”
  
• “One of the best classes ever. Thanks!”
  
• “Plenty of insight and well-presented. Thanks for helping us make a difference.”
  
• “You opened my eyes on many issues.”
  
• “Your class will stay with me for a long time.”
  
• “I believe you have made a difference in all of us.”
  
• “The class was a wonderful beginning to this department’s transformation.”
  
• “This class helped us understand that we are all leaders. Thank you for helping us look in the mirror.”
  
• “Thanks for the great class. I learned a great deal.”
  
• “This class was one of the best I have attended. It seemed to be developed just for our department.”
  
• “Thank you for the privilege of being part of this class.”
  

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“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).

• “Speaker and topic were excellent.  Should be done every year.”
  
• “Great job, very informative, and a great benefit to all in fire service.”
  
• “Keep him coming back every year.”
  
• “Excellent presentation!  Great “flow”, knowledgeable!”
  
• “I will be purchasing DVD set!”
  
• “Very passionate presentation, great info, great presenter.”
  
• “Cutting edge curriculum!”
  
• “Instructor would be better utilized with more time. He has a lot of good information to share if given more time.”
  
• “A very dynamic presentation on an interesting and important topic.”
  
• “Great subject.  Probably at a level above what we expected.”
  
• “Articulate and dynamic presenter.  This program should consider him for a full day presentation.”
  
• “Well put together topic, was great but class was too short.”
  
• “He needed more time; he should be a 1-day speaker.”
  
• “Thoroughly enjoyed his presentation.”
  
• “Excellent lecture and useful information!”
  
• “Great job!”
  
• “Finest of all the speakers.”
  
• “I am going to go back and request my department sponsor this course!”
  
• “Very good class!”
  
• “Excellent presentation!”
  
• “I will be looking to hire Mr. Gasaway in the future at home!  Excellent!”
  
• “Could’ve used more time with Dr. G.”
  
• “Outstanding!  Must keep in the program!”
  
• “Great presentation!  Should be included in future classes.”
  
• “Richard did a great job!”
  
• “The best overall presentation to this point in the program!  
  
• “Consider turning this program into a full day session, or continue it into the evening (optional after a dinner break).”
  
• “The fire service needs more educated advocates like Mr. Gasaway!”
  
• This was by far the best topic and the best speaker of the week!”
  
• “I think that you should dedicate a full day to this topic and speaker.”
  
• “Would like to see him allotted a full day.”
  
• “Great speaker, kept my attention, great subject.”
  
• “A great presentation!”
  
• “This program really helped in my situation awareness!”
  
• “This program really impacted a key part of my job.”
  
• “Chief Gasaway taught to our level and challenged us.”
  
• “Very good job, very good presentation!”
  
• “Awesome – should have been a full 8 hours.  
  
• “Great class, should be done every year!”
  

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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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

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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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.
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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.
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“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.
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“Your class was, by far, the best I have ever attended. Thanks again!”

Lieutenant Raymond Costain
Valley Grove VFD
Ref: Emergency Services Leadership Program
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“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
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“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
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“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.
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“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