Sweating the Small Stuff: Keeping your People Safe and Alive

Chief Rick Lasky | Chief's Issues Track | 2021 Annual Conference

Session Description
For those in the private sector the practice of “sweating the small stuff” may come as a nuisance and seem unnecessary, but for those of us in the fire service it’s often the “small stuff” that leads to a firefighter’s injury or worse yet death. In this program Chief Lasky will examine the areas our fire service needs to once again place emphasis if firefighter safety is to remain paramount.

Chief Rick Lasky
Chief Rick Lasky (ret.) a 40-plus year veteran of the fire service, served as chief of the Lewisville (TX) Fire Department for 12 years, prior to that as Fire Chief in Coeur d'Alene Idaho. Rick followed in his father’s footsteps beginning his career as a firefighter in the suburbs on the southwest side of Chicago and while in Illinois received the 1996 International Society of Fire Service Instructors “Innovator of the Year”award for his part in developing the “Saving Our Own” program. He served as the co-lead instructor for the H.O.T. Firefighter Survival program at FDIC for over 10 years, is a long-standing editorial advisory board member for Fire Engineering Magazine and also serves on the FDIC advisory board. Rick is the author of the best-selling books “Pride & Ownership: A Firefighter’s Love of the Job” and “Five Alarm Leadership: From the Firehouse to the Fireground” published by Fire Engineering Books & Videos and is the co-host for the podcast “The Command Post” heard on FireEngineering.com as well as the podcast “Old School” heard on i-Tunes. Rick has served as both a career and volunteer firefighter and in 2017 was the recipient of the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.