F.I.E.R.O. PPE Symposium & Pre-Symposium Training Seminar

Hyatt Regency Downtown Greenville

Greenville, SC

Early bird pricing ends February 3rd!

The 2023 PPE Symposium is being held in beautiful downtown Greenville, SC. We are hosting a pre-symposium seminar Sunday, March 19 that will feature both classroom and hands-on-training (HOT) sessions. The $595 Early Bird Registration includes:

• Sunday Night Welcome Reception
• Monday Night Exhibit Hall Grand Opening Reception
• Breakfast on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
• Lunch on Monday and Tuesday
• Snacks and refreshments during all breaks
• Full access to the exhibit hall with dedicated, scheduled times
• Professionally published Resource Guide full of information to take back to your department
• Electronic access to all presentations at the end of the event

Pre-Symposium HOT Session - Gear Inspection & Maintenance (FULL DAY) - $195 Please note: This experience is limited to the first 25 registrants.

• Chief Bruce Varner and Engineer/Paramedic Tim Tomlinson will lead an all-day hands-on seminar on how to thoroughly and properly conduct an inspection of your PPE. Very few firefighters know how to conduct an inspection that is compliant with NFPA 1851 to provide the level of protection their members deserve. Participants will have clean gear available to conduct an inspection under the guidance of Bruce and Tim. Every fire department should have a few members that are properly trained to conduct an inspection. They will also cover other pertinent parts of caring for your PPE. This is a tremendous opportunity. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Pre-Symposium HOT Session - PPE Fundamentals & Decontamination (FULL DAY) - $195

• PPE Contamination Control (Morning) - For years we have focused on PPE as the contamination control spotlight, but where else should we focus? Our other equipment and apparatus are also in need of exposure and contamination control. We will discuss and demonstrate the necessity of widening our approach to on-scene exposure remediation as well as creating a more controlled and healthy environment from the rig to the station. We will discuss techniques and points to consider with the varying types of materials we contaminate on every scene. This conversation will take the processes and science behind our growing understanding and acceptance in the industry for PPE contamination control to expand into a more holistic reduction in the overall contamination matrix. There are many challenges in protecting our personnel from continued exposures but it can be reduced with an expanded understanding of how our current processes can be improved. We aim for this to provide simple but effective takeaways that can be implemented at any department, large or small. We don't have to wait...there are solutions we can implement now for the better health of our responders!
• Fundamentals of PPE Assessment (Tuesday) - The purpose of this seminar is to provide you with the basics to understand the data that is presented for the remainder of the symposium. The discussion will include the fundamentals of material-level and composite tests for thermal protection, thermal comfort, and penetration/permeation/filtration. This will be followed by an introduction of more of the system-level assessments. Then information on how cleaning is evaluated will be presented. The seminar will conclude with insight into future directions in PPE assessments (possibly new things coming to the standards).

Pre-symposium attendees are welcome to attend the Networking Reception immediately following the end of class on Sunday.