Friday: In-Class Session Descriptions
In-Class Session Descriptions
Friday, October 27
Effective Command: How to Implement Incident Command Strategies
Instructor(s): Dr. Katherine Lamb
As a junior officer or aspiring junior officer, you should attend this program. Using table-top scenarios and virtual simulation you will be provided with multiple incidents to discuss, practice, and implement incident command strategies. This session will focus on developing rational decision makers who can appropriately manage incident risk, implement appropriate strategies and tactics, and importantly can justify the why behind their decisions.
Dr. Katherine Lamb is a respected authority on the training and assessment of Incident Command decision making. Katherine worked as an accomplished research academic before joining the Fire Service in 2004. During her Fire Service career, Katherine served in multiple UK Fire departments, her final post was Lead Officer for incident command training and assessment.
In 2015, Katherine developed Effective Command, a behavioral marking system for the assessment and recording of incident command competence. This development tool is accredited and endorsed by professional bodies and used Internationally as the Best Practice methodology to train and assess incident command competence.
Crucial Conversations - Mastering Dialogue
Instructor(s): Kelly Holden and Stephanie Haldane
Whenever you’re not getting the results you want, it’s likely an important conversation either hasn’t happened or hasn’t been handled well. In fact, both individual and organizational success are largely determined by how quickly, directly, and effectively we speak up when it matters most. At the heart of healthy and high-performance organizations are people willing and able to hold Crucial Conversations.
This course will introduce you to Crucial Conversations® for Mastering Dialogue and the skills to step into disagreement—rather than over or around it—and turn disagreement into dialogue for improved relationships and results.
Kelly Holden is the first Dean of FESTI, (Fire and Emergency Training Institute). Responsible for the strategic plans, and operational goals of the school, Kelly focuses on establishing a strong ecosystem of diversity, inclusion and success. Over four years, Kelly has transformed FESTI into a learning organization with a culture of team support, student success and fun! Kelly holds a degree in Woman’s Studies as well as a Certificate in Adult Learning. As a certified EQI (Emotional Intelligence) Coach, she understands what it takes to get the best out of her people. Kelly is also a certified Crucial Learning Trainer with a specialization in high-risk conversations. Kelly’s energy and fun-loving personality along with her “say it how it is” attitude will have you on the edge of your seat as you learn what it takes to move from silence to action in a conversation.
Stephanie Haldane brings the 3 Es (energy, enthusiasm and excitement) to everything she does. Prior to FESTI Stephanie worked in the corporate world as part of a Learning and Development team, building learning and training for employees and managers. Stephanie has a certificate in Adult Learning with a specialization in eLearning development from the University of Calgary. As a certified EQi (Emotional Intelligence) Coach she understands that ability to identify and regulate one's emotions and understand the emotions the others. helps you to build relationships, reduce team stress, defuse conflict and improve job satisfaction. Stephanie is also a certified Crucial Learning Trainer with a specialization in conversations that involve high-stakes and high emotion. Stephanie looks forward to introducing you to the concepts and skills of having the right conversations and the right time to get what you need.
Firefighting is More Than a Spectator Sport: Navigating and Advocating For a Safe, Diverse and Inclusive Fire Service
Session Moderator: LLP Karen Simpson, Panelists: Staff Sargent Rebecca Moran, Acting Platoon Chief Sofie Lasiuk, FSWBC VP Darcie Sibbald
Join our leading panel of experts who will share their insight, expertise and experiences in learning how to successfully navigate and advocate for a safe, diverse and inclusive workspace that eliminates inequity and harassment in the fire service.
This panel will include an overview of a developing grassroots program that FSWO has initiated alongside Fire Service Women British Columbia. It aims to provide education and training to help understand how to better support organizational and cultural shifts towards a more welcoming, healthy, safe and respectful workplace spaces in the fire service. It includes improving awareness as to the many forms of bullying, harassment, and even violence, that has been known to occur in the fire service.
Karen Simpson is a lawyer at Lerners LLP in London. Karen’s practice is primarily focused on plaintiff personal injury. She is particularly interested in educating first responders about the importance of being properly insured, third party claims that may arise in the course of employment and WSIB eligibility. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Karen served the citizens of Chatham-Kent for 10 years as a career firefighter. While in the fire service, Karen sat on the Board of Directors for iWomen (now Women in Fire) and FSWO for seven and six years respectively. Karen is former winner of FSWO's President's Trailblazer Award.
Sergeant Rebecca (Becky) Moran is a former Toronto paramedic who became a police officer for the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) in 2011. In 2019, Sergeant Moran recognized the need for a 2S&LGBTQIA liaison officer for the queer community and helped create, develop and implement the role, a first ever for the HPS. Sergeant Moran has worked in uniform patrol, criminal investigative branch, community mobilization branch and is one of only two hate crime investigators for her police service. In addition to her liaison and hate crime duties, Sergeant Moran is also a crisis and hostage negotiator, coordinator of the Police Liaison Team (PLT), a member of the provincial Hate Crime and Extremism Investigative Team (HCEIT) and is the co-chair for the Hamilton Police 2S&LGBTQIA Internal Support Network. Sergeant Moran is a regular presenter at the Ontario Police College and Humber College.
Sofie Lasiuk is an Acting Platoon Chief in the Operations Division of Toronto Fire Services. She began her fire service career with the Etobicoke Fire Dept. in 1990 and is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy, having served as a ship's diver. She is a graduate of Dalhousie University's Fire Service Administration and Leadership programs, with a specialty in Strategic Planning.
Sofie is dedicated to improving Diversity and Inclusivity within the fire service. Sofie is Toronto Fire Service’s first known transgender firefighter and became the first to go public with her true identity several years into her career. She is the co-chair of Toronto Fire's Positive Space Committee where, as part of a team, she provides support and mentorship to the fire services' 2SLGBTQ+ members. Sofie has served on many panels and committees, applying her experience and education to a variety of topics, including apparatus design, operational deployment reviews and recruitment of staff who reflect the diversity and multiculturalism of Canada. She has assisted with developing a new fire station design that incorporates the high level of privacy and accommodation needed to support a modern, resilient fire service. Sofie is a new FSWO Board Director and was last year's winner of the FSWO President's Trailblazer Award. Off-duty, Sofie is a keen world traveller and amateur historian. She lives in Toronto, with her wife of more than 30 years.
Darcie Sibbald is a mother of two girls, an avid mountain biker and a career firefighter of 18 years with an additional five years as a Paid on Call firefighter. Darcie has sat on many committees during her career, from Health and Safety, First Responder Instructor Trainer and currently the Health and Wellness Coordinator for the Peer and CISM team. She was the Secretary/Treasurer for her local since 2012 and this year was elected as the President.
Darcie participates in the BCPFFA Data/IT, sub-committee of the Women’s Advisory Committee and the Elections Committee. Her passion lies in advocacy for all, supporting others in mental health, safety, governance, worker OH&S representation, peer mentorship, collaborating, bargaining negotiations and grievance resolutions. In her career as a firefighter, Darcie was looking to share experiences and find the support of other women in this incredible career. In doing so, she is the Secretary on the founding board of Fire Service Women BC. She is proud to work amidst powerful, capable, competent and passionate women and men who want to support an equitable fire service for all.
Optimize Your Sleep: The Key To Wellness
Instructor(s): Dr. Julie Beaulac
Getting good sleep is the foundation for wellbeing. It is critical for optimal focus, decision making, stress and emotion regulation, immune functioning, achieving and/or maintaining personal weight goals, and much more. The key to great sleep is not getting more sleep but optimizing the quality of sleep. This is not just another sleep hygiene session! Although shift work presents extra challenges, you will leave this session with the top tools to optimize your sleep that you can easily implement right away.
Dr. Julie Beaulac is a bilingual psychologist, speaker, and author in Ottawa, Canada with a PhD in clinical psychology. She is an expert on wellness, embodiment, and leadership and has a recently published book on embodied leadership. She has her own practice providing psychotherapy and consultation to individuals, groups and organizations. A regular presenter at conferences across the globe and a published author in peer-reviewed journals, Julie is passionate about helping others optimize well-being, performance, and satisfaction. She is also a certified yoga teacher and teaches mindfulness. Learn more about Julie at drjuliebeaulac.com.
You’ve done your community risk assessment. What’s next? Using data to develop your public education strategy
Instructor(s): Laura King
Dancing with the data; creating public-education programs that work!
NFPA 1300, the Standard on Community Risk Reduction and Community Risk Reduction Plan Development, provides a framework to help fire departments reduce risks, create partnerships, and build robust pub-ed strategies.
Participants will delve into the nitty gritty of community risk assessments, and, most critically, the relationship between CRR and public education.
Come prepared to talk about your data, the risks in your community, and your target audiences.
Laura King is the regional director for NFPA in Canada. Laura is from Cape Breton, has lived and worked across Canada and the United States, and is excited to be back at the FSWO conference!
Understanding the Importance of Mindset and Science Behind It
Instructor(s): Julia Long
Learning Objectives: In this session, we will:
- Define neuroplasticity and how it relates to mindset.
- Explore the science behind how mindset influences your daily life; and
- Identify how to shift your personal mindset to improve health, decrease stress and become more resilient in work and life.
Julia Long is a Certified Workplace Mindfulness Facilitator with Mindful Leader (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – MBSR) and she offers sessions in workplaces, including Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Strategies.
She is a Certified California College of Ayurveda (CCA) Yoga Nidra (positive affirmations / mindset) Teacher and Teacher Trainer based in Ottawa, Canada. She has been teaching and providing CCA Yoga Nidra sessions in groups and privately for many years. She is currently the only Classically-based Yoga Nidra Teacher Trainer in Canada (CCA-YN).
She is also a Certified Canadian Fitness Professional (CanFitPro), an Advanced Sivananda Yoga and Kundalini Yoga Teacher. She has over 1000 hours of yoga training, including trauma-informed movement. She is a Continuing Education Provider for Yoga Alliance (International).
She has 2 sons who are First Responders which spawned the creation of FRY Canada. She has seen and heard how their duty has changed them and increased their stress levels. The demands of their jobs were impacting their physical and non-physical wellbeing.
Julia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Laws and was a practicing lawyer. She has used her skills as a leader in the federal arena to help keep chemical substances of concern out of the Canadian environment.
She is an author, writing and publishing in various journals on topics of mindset and wellbeing, including Canadian Firefighter.
Julia has classed herself as a “mobile wellness provider” travelling to talk, teach and study.
Your Union Needs You. Learn How to Become a Successful and Influential Leader
Instructor(s): Darcy Sibbald, Cassandra Greer and Kathy Ius
Women in Union Leadership
As a female firefighter, you face unique challenges on and off the job. We are excited to offer this workshop focused on women in union leadership positions. The workshop explores unconscious biases, and gender stereotypes and offers the necessary skills to become successful union leaders. We will also discuss ways to advocate for and support our fellow female firefighters and promote diversity and inclusion within our unions. You will also have the opportunity to network with other women to share your experiences and best practices. Let us collaborate to strengthen our unions and uphold the rights of all firefighters.
Darcie Sibbald is a mother of two girls, an avid mountain biker and a career firefighter of 18 years with an additional five years as a Paid on Call firefighter. Darcie has sat on many committees during her career, from Health and Safety, First Responder Instructor Trainer and currently the Health and Wellness Coordinator for the Peer and CISM team. She was the Secretary/Treasurer for her local since 2012 and this year was elected as the President.
Darcie participates in the BCPFFA Data/IT, sub-committee of the Women’s Advisory Committee and the Elections Committee. Her passion lies in advocacy for all, supporting others in mental health, safety, governance, worker OH&S representation, peer mentorship, collaborating, bargaining negotiations and grievance resolutions. In her career as a firefighter, Darcie was looking to share experiences and find the support of other women in this incredible career. In doing so, she is the Secretary on the founding board of Fire Service Women BC. She is proud to work amidst powerful, capable, competent and passionate women and men who want to support an equitable fire service for all.
Cassandra Greer began her career in a small rural fire department as a dispatcher where her father had served as a volunteer firefighter for 30 years. In 1998, she began working for a unionized mid size urban department (Nepean Fire Service). In 2001, Cassandra was hired with Ottawa Fire Services (L162). While attempting to navigate a unionized career department through the City of Ottawa’s amalgamation, it quickly became apparent that her union would have a direct effect on every aspect of her career. To ensure that she knew what she was entitled to as a female dispatcher in a 950 person local she sought allies, acquired knowledge and became involved. In 2004, she became a shop steward and was first elected to the executive board of Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters in 2010 becoming the first woman and the first dispatcher to have ever accomplished this. Cassandra was successfully elected on four occasions and served for 8 years on the executive board filling numerous roles including as a bargaining committee member. Cassandra chaired the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Human Relations Committee and currently holds the chairpersonship of the Ottawa Human Rights and Accommodations Committee. A fiercely proud mother, wife and Ottawa Senators Fan, Cassandra is committed to removing barriers through relentless advocacy. Cassandra was promoted in 2021 as the Ottawa Fire Service’s Assistant Division Chief of Communications and brings her small-town tenacity and work ethic to every role she fills.
Kathy Ius began her career as a paid-on-call firefighter with the City of Coquitlam. She was eventually hired by the City of New Westminster as the first career female firefighter in 2001. Kathy retired from Suppression Operations as a Captain and Senior Training Captain on January 1, 2023. She has since been hired as the department’s Chief Equity Officer.
Kathy has always been a fierce advocate for the members of her Local having served on many committees that included, among others, the Bargaining, Training, and Facilities Committees. She was actively involved with and served on the executive of the New Westminster Firefighters’ Charitable Society. She was elected to the position of Guard in 2009 for Local 256 and, subsequently, to the position of Recording Secretary in 2011 and served in that capacity until 2021. With over 12 years of experience in contract negotiations, grievance and arbitration resolutions, and worker advocacy, Kathy brings a wealth of knowledge in Union governance and worker welfare. In 2019, she was brought on as one of the chairs on the BCPFFA’s Women’s Advisory Committee and continues in that role today. As a long-time professional athlete, she has participated in professional mountain bike racing, ski racing, and played high-level soccer. In her spare time, Kathy coaches a U8 girls soccer team. One of her most memorable moments came when she won a gold medal at the 2009 World Police and Fire Games in the Grouse Grind race and a silver medal in the team tug-a-war.
Big Girls Don’t Cry
Instructor(s): Cheryl Hunt, Kristy-Lynn Pankhurst and Carissa Campbell
Resilience is defined as the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties - toughness. It can also be defined as the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape - elasticity. “Bouncing back” and healing can involve coming out stronger on the other side. However, we must remember that healing comes in waves, and in those waves, our stories are written.
In this session, Safety Officer Cheryl Hunt, Training Officer Carissa Campbell & Fire Prevention Officer Kristy-Lynn Pankhurst will share stories of challenges, downfalls, life lessons & personal growth. From near-miss incidents to harassment on the job, and feelings of imposter syndrome; their stories are very different; however, their messages are the same.
In the face of adversity, each of these women remained resilient, overcame the unexpected that helped to shape their futures. Now, they each choose to smile as they reflect on lessons learned. After all, Big girls don’t cry…..or do they?
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Cheryl Hunt was one of the first female firefighters hired by the Ottawa Fire Service. With 20 years of experience, she has helped to pave the way for women in the fire service, having acquired many scars along the way. Cheryl has recently promoted into the role of Safety Officer and is now responsible for overseeing the health and safety of the members of the Ottawa Fire Service.
Over the years Cheryl’s interest and passion for mental health has grown. She was certified as an instructor for Mental Health First Aid and joined the inaugural peer support team in 2015 which began the initial stages of mental health awareness for OFS. She has since taken many courses that focus on suicide prevention, resilience coaching and general mental health awareness for emergency first responders. Then in 2020 this turned personal when Cheryl received a diagnosis for mental health injuries acquired on the job accelerated from gender-based bullying and harassment.
Alongside of Kristy-Lynn and Carissa Campbell, Cheryl is going to share her story that led to a mental health crisis and what helped her on her road to recovery and Post Traumatic Growth.
“The path to mental health crisis can be quick and all consuming. It is not linear and very blurred. The path to recovery is even harder to define and embrace. For that there are many truths that must be acknowledged, accountability and forgiveness that need to be employed and unwavering work that must be put into self every single day. It is a choice and commitment because no one is coming to save you and do the work for you!” Cheryl
Kristy-Lynn Pankhurst is currently completing the Queens University Master of Education specializing in World Indigenous Studies in Education. Throughout her studies, she hopes to determine effective strategies for the development and delivery of fire & life safety education to reduce the risk of fire in Indigenous communities. Kristy-Lynn previously obtained her B.A. (Hons.) in Communication and Digital Media Studies at Ontario Tech University while studying the use of social media as a cost-effective public education tool. She has also completed NFPA certifications as a Fire & Life Safety Educator, Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, Public Information Officer, Firefighter, Fire Officer, and Fire Services Instructor.
Kristy-Lynn grew up in the Fire Service. After completing co-op placements in Kawartha Lakes and Ottawa, she attended Camp FFIT, Ottawa (2015), where she learned about Fire Service Women Ontario and felt inspired to pursue her dreams. She became a Volunteer Firefighter with Kawartha Lakes Fire Rescue Service in 2015 and began her full-time career in the Fire Service in 2017. In 2019, while working as an Inspector with Ajax Fire, Kristy-Lynn was recognized as an NFPA “Rising Star” for her efforts in risk reduction through Fire & Life Safety Education. In 2021, Kristy-Lynn began a contract with Canada’s National Indigenous Fire Safety Council, where she continues to work towards reducing the risk of fire in Indigenous communities.
In 2023, Kristy-Lynn is on maternity leave from Scugog Fire, after welcoming a baby girl into the world. Outside of the Fire Service, she enjoys spending time with family & friends and working on her backyard lavender farm.
Carissa Campbell has 17 years of experience as a firefighter/hazmat technician with the Ottawa Fire Services and has recently accepted a promotion as a Fire Training Officer. Carissa’s career began in the fall of 2006. At her first station, downtown Ottawa, Carissa was a member of the first in crews involved in a devastating fire which turned out to be a pivotal event for OFS. As a rookie, new to the world of firefighting, Carissa will share her story and her lessons learned from that day. Carissa has since become an instructor for the FKTP Fire Dynamics program to better understand what happened that day, and to do her part to ensure that her fellow firefighters will hopefully never have to go through what she did.
