Don Manno


Currently, Division Chief, Training and Development of The Overland Park Fire Department, Inc. in Overland Park KS.

Prior experience includes serving as the superintendent of the Florida State Fire College. The State Director of Fire Rescue Training for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and a 16.5 years as a program chair teaching at the National Fire Academy, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At FEMA, Mr. Manno was involved with Fire Protection Projects at Camp David, the FBI, U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy. Chief Manno can track his fire service experience since 1963 - beginning in Baltimore County, Maryland.

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Paul Stein


Paul Stein is currently a Division Chief with the Santa Monica Fire Department. In his 27 yrs. of served as Training Officer, Fire Marshal and Battalion Commander.

Additionally, he is the Fire Technology Coordinator at Santa Monica College, an Instructor for the California Fire Academy System, and an Adjunct Faculty Member for the National Fire Academy. His instructional specialty is contemporary management issues and problems that confront today's fire officers.

He holds an Associate degree in Fire Technology and a BS degree in Management. He is a Master Instructor for the California Department of Education. One of the highlights of his career was to be honored as the "California Fire Instructor Of The Year".

Chief Stein has written many management articles for every major fire service magazine in the country. He has authored a college fire technology text book and produced two videos on fire department oral examinations. He is a contributing steering committee member for the Professional Emergency Educators Association associated with The Alliance For Fire And Emergency Management.

He founded PHS Enterprises, a management consultant organization. PHS Enterprises has performed services for many private and public companies throughout the country.

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Michael Callan


Mr. Callan a twenty year veteran of the Fire Service and a former Captain with the Wallingford, Connecticut Fire Department. In 1989 at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Cincinnati he was selected from 7000 municipal and private sector instructors, as the International Society of Fire Instructors' - George D. Post Instructor of the Year. He is co-author of Hazardous Materials Exposures - Emergency Response and Patient Care published by Brady and Prentice Hall. He is the lead instructor on the video training series by Emergency Resources Inc. - "Surviving the Hazardous Materials Incident". He is director of FTA a company he founded in 1985. Mr. Callan conducts Chemical Response training around the country for Industrial and Municipal Haz-Mat Teams. He was selected by EPA as a member of the Presidential Review Committee of Clean Air Act 1990, Chemical Accident Prevention Committee, Chemical Accident Investigation Team and a member of the US Delegation that traveled to Canada, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia for emergency response preparedness, prevention and response reviews and seminars.

In addition, he was Team Leader of the Wallingford Hazardous Materials Team and delivered over 6500 hours of training in fire suppression and hazardous materials operations. He lists as clients, corporations such as Louisiana Pacific, General Motors, Phillips Petroleum, Morton International, The Stanley Works, Southern New England Telephone, Ensign-Bickford Industries, Bristol Meyers, Merck, Kennedy Space Center, Dupont and IBM as well as fire departments and first responders throughout the United States and Canada. He has conducted 7 nation-wide seminars for the International Association of Fire Chiefs on SARA - Title III. He is a Senior Instructor of Hazardous Materials for the Connecticut State Fire School. He also was an adjunct faculty of the National Fire Academy, ISFSI, University of New Haven, and Waterbury State Technical College. He holds an Associate Degree of Science in Fire Technology and is certified NFPA 1001 Fire Fighter III, NFPA 1041-Fire Service Instructor I, and NFPA 1021-Fire Officer I.

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Alan Veasey


Alan Veasey is curriculum coordinator for the Workplace and Environmental Safety and Health Program operated by the Center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He holds a masters degree in occupational health and safety and in education. He has ten years of experience in occupational safety and health training, including topics such as hazardous materials emergency response, hazardous waste site remediation, and confined space entry and rescue.

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Michael Pietsch


Mr. Pietsch is a Senior Field Representative for Insurance Service Office, Inc. in Austin, Texas. He is a graduate of SMU - 1969, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He also received his Master of Science degree from SMU in 1972 in Civil Engineering. Mr. Pietsch began working in the Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau in December of 1975. In 1974 through 1975 Mr. Pietsch worked in Public Protection Classification for Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau. Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) took over the Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau in September 1994. Mr. Pietsch has worked in Public Protection Classification and Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule for I.S.O. since 1974.

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Steve Ferdinand


Steve Ferdinand is a Division Chief with the Rockford, Illinois Fire Department and currently serves in the Training and Fire Prevention Division.

He has been a member of the department since 1970, and has held positions as Captain of the Hazardous Materials Team, Academy Instructor, and Safety Officer. Also, he is a Field Instructor for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, and an Instructor for many years with Rock Valley College, Rockford, IL.

Chief Ferdinand is a Director for the Southern Wisconsin Northern Illinois Fire Rescue Association and a board member of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Educational Research Foundation. He has also served on the Illinois State Fire Marshall's Office Advisory Committees.

Steve is the President of Resource I, Inc., a training and consulting company, primarily serving the hazardous waste operators and workers industry. He is also a hazardous materials coordinator for Environmental Contractors of Illinois, Loves Park, IL (ECI). ECI h

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Jack Burns


Jack Burns is a retired District Chief of the Rockford, Illinois Fire Department serving for 30 years. He was a District Chief for 10 years in the Operations Division and was an instructor at the Training Academy.

Chief Burns is a graduate of Rock Valley College, Rockford, Illinois and a member of numerous fire service organizations. His background includes a significant teaching and consulting history, including many years of instructing tactics and strategy at Rock Valley College. Chief Burns for many years, was actively involved in State of Illinois ESDA and served as a Coordinator for the Red Cross.

Jack is also a Trainer and Project Manager for Resource I, Inc., Rockford, Illinois, a training and consulting company that services the hazardous waste clean-up industry. Jack has lectured at many state conferences and has instructed at the Fire Department Instructor Conference (FDIC).

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Dave Gunby


With a name like "Gunby", you have to develop a sense of humor at an early age. That sense of humor has come in handy for Dave in his six years as a trainer and facilitator in EDS Leadership Development group. Dave has helped several thousand people at EDS develop leadership skills by teaching them creativity, Mind Mapping (an accelerated learning technique), presentation techniques, problem solving and personal effectiveness.

He has spoken at the Creative Problem Solving Institute in Buffalo, the Innovation Network Convergence, Toastmaster International's North Texas District Conference, and the Dallas Chapter of Mensa, Houghton Mifflin Company, the Plano Junior League and others. In addition to training at EDS, he has also taught or lead seminars at the Addams County School in Denver Colorado, The Winston School in Dallas, SMU's MBA program, and the University of Texas at Dallas' MBA 2000 program. The easiest way to describe his sessions is to say that he helps people have fun and learn while he does the same.

Before Dave started with Leadership Development at EDS, he did a number of other thing, both inside and outside of EDS. His career has led him through jobs varying from competitor analysis to "serving a sentence" selling life insurance.

Dave lives in Plano, Texas with his wife Amber. They have no children, but Dave likes to say "sometimes my wife thinks she married one!"

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Ronald Moore


Ronald E. Moore is employed as Program Director / Director of Education Fire & Emergency Television Network. He is also associated with American Heat Video Network and Pulse Emergency Medical Update Video Network.

He was formerly a Fire Protection Specialist 1 with the NY State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, New York State Academy of Fire Science, Montour Falls, NY. He attained an Associates Degree in Fire Protection Technology from Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY. He was awarded an Associates Degree with High Honors Graphic Arts and Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY. He was awarded by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors the George D. Post Instructor of the Year. Moore authored "Vehicle Rescue and Extrication", a training text published by C.V. Mosby Co., St. Louis, MO. and authored the "CARBUSTER" series published by American Safety Video Publishers. He also created School Bus Rescue video tape #6.

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Homer Robertson


Mr. Robertson is a Lieutenant for the Fort Worth Fire Department. He has been involved in the fire service since 1978 as a volunteer for the Granbury Fire Department, where he now serves as Chief of the department. Homer is a Squad Leader for the Texas Task Force #1, Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR). He teaches at the Fort Worth Fire Department training center as well as instruction various programs in the Ft. Worth, Dallas area. he is also an instructor for the Texas Fireman's training school at Texas A & M University. He has written various articles for Firehouse magazine, NFPA Journal and Texas Fireman magazine.

Homer has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and a Master of Science in Political Science from Tarleton State University.

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David Bailey


David Bailey is a Captain in the Austin Fire Department. He has served over 12 years with Austin and is currently responsible for the design, coordination and delivery of their six month Cadet Academy. He is certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection as an Advanced Firefighter and an Intermediate Instructor. He resides in Pflugerville with his wife and two children.

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Gordon Graham


Gordon Graham is a working 22 year veteran of California Law Enforcement. During his tenure as a police professional, he was awarded his Teaching Credential from California State University, Long Beach. He was later graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master's degree in Safety and Systems Management. Subsequent to this he was graduated from Western State University with a Juris Doctorate. His education as a Risk Manager and experience as a practicing Attorney, coupled with his extensive background in law enforcement, have allowed him to rapidly become recognized as a leading professional speaker with multiple areas of expertise.

Mr. Graham has centered his efforts in providing knowledge to other law enforcement, fire officers and other first responders in the area of Civil Liability, Job Based Harassment, Professionalism, Ethical Decision Making and related topics. Instead of focusing solely in after incident damage control, he focuses his efforts in the prevention of mistakes through his program SROVT (Solid Realistic Ongoing Verifiable Training). He teaches first responders and others why things generally go wrong, and how to prevent these unfortunate situations from happening. His CATSINRO analysis of Job Based Harassment has received rave reviews as a practical method to eliminate Sexual Harassment prior to an incident occurring. He follows up his prevention efforts with a dynamic presentation on how to recognize the incidents that have a likelihood of ending up in litigation. He concludes his program with a detailed examination on how to prove proper conduct.

Over the last decade, Mr. Graham has spoken to over 200,000 different law enforcement, fire officers, dispatchers and EMS professionals from around the country (including NFA), no doubt some from your Department. In 1992, 1993, and 1994 he consistently received the highest evaluations on P.O.S.T. critiques. In 1995, he was presented with the Governor's Award for excellence in law enforcement training by Governor Wilson (sole recipient). His penetrating wit coupled with his vast knowledge in multiple disciplines provides the enlightened listener with an information packed seminar. His new video tape series on legal issues in Fire Service Operations is now available.

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Jim Bearden


Combat Leader, Top Sales Producer, Corporate Vice President and founder of his own successful business, Jim Bearden's programs reflect the experience, enthusiasm and insight that has made him successful in so many challenging situations. With an upbeat and entertaining presentation style, Bearden presents your specifically tailored success programs to enhance your ability to make New Choices for New Environments.

Mr. Bearden is a former Marine officer and a graduate of The University of Texas with a BBA in Marketing. He has authored more than 200 articles, many with national publications, as well as three training audios. His highly acclaimed newsletter, From The Inside-Out, has been in circulation for over 10 years and he has written and produced a series of radio programs called The Competitive Edge.

A Certified Speaking Professional, Jim has been a professional speaker for over 10 years. A member of the National Speakers Association, he has spoken nationwide at Fortune 500 companies, associations, financial concerns and high-tech companies on change, leadership, team-building, selling and customer service.

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Commissioner Carole Keeton Rylander


As the first woman elected to the Texas Railroad Commission -- and re-elected in 1996 with the highest vote total in a statewide contested race -- Carol Keeton Rylander is changing the way the Texas state government does business. According to the 1997 Natural Gas Yearbook, Carole is "the most ardent proponent of deregulation to have served on the Commission."

Since her first day in office, Carole has done what she said she would do. She led the fight for trucking deregulation, and voted to implement it. Carole reorganized, down-sized and modernized the Railroad Commission for the first time in its 104-year history.

Carole's every decision is governed by her straightforward, commonsense approach of less government and more opportunity. She is leading a bold effort to increase production of our Texas oil and natural gas in order to create paychecks and jobs for Texas -- and energy independence for America. She put a plan for the partial de-regulation of Texas oil production on the front burner, which, when fully implemented, will save taxpayers $300,000 a year and the industry $40 million a year. Her proposal to exempt marginal gas wells from production regulations will increase the use of Texas gas across the United States.

Carole currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Public Outreach Committee of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.

Rylander was the first woman mayor of Austin, and is the only Austin Mayor elected by the citizens to three terms. AS former President of the Texas Municipal League, representing all the cities in Texas, she understands the energy needs of our cities and towns. As a former two-term appointee of President Bush to the National Petroleum Council she understands national and international implications of energy issues.

Carole has a lifelong record of achievement and service. A former public school teacher, Carole was elected to the Austin School Board with almost 75% of the vote. She went on to serve as the first woman president of the board. Carole is a businesswoman and former television producer. She was the host of "The Rylander Report", a hard-hitting public affairs program. She was also named by TIME magazine as "One of the 50 Faces for America's Future".

Carole is a native Texas and a government honors graduate of the University of Texas. She is the proud mother of five sons, and proud grandmother of two girls.

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Ronnie Sexton, Loss Prevention Training Specialist - TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool


Ronnie Sexton has 27 years of construction, engineering and operations experience. He has worked with construction companies in various positions up to superintendent. His experience includes serving as an Inspector and resident engineer with an engineering company and as a Water & Wastewater Superintendent for a local municipality.

Ronnie currently instructs various programs covering Confined Space Entry, Excavation & Trench Safety, Public Works Driving, Public Works Safety, Fire Emergency Vehicle Response, Fire Liability & Safety, Confined Space Rescue, Trench Rescue, and ICS. Ronnie has served as a volunteer fire fighter and EMS responder for 26 years. He is a certified Water & Wastewater Operator, certified Fire Fighter, and a certified EMT. He is approved or certified to instruct by the Texas Water Utilities Association, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association.

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Mike Cook, Fire Rescue Specialist/Instructor - Plano Fire


Mike Cook is currently working with the Plano Fire Department at F.A.O. on haz-mat/confined space rescue team and as a volunteer with the Lucas Volunteer Fire Department as the training Captain. He was raised in El Paso, Texas. Mike has had 10 year career as a firefighter. He career includes training in haz-mat, confined space rescue, trench and high angle rescue. His professional certifications include Advanced Fire Fighter and Intermediate Instructor by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection.

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John Ryan, Assistant Training Specialist - TEEX Fire Protection Training Division


Mr. Ryan is an Assistant Training Specialist with the Municipal Rescue Training Program @ Fire Protection Training Division of Texas Engineering Extension Service. His experience includes Municipal Rescue Training Programs, 1996 to the present and Group Leader, Industrial Rescue Training Program TEEX. He serves as an instructor on petrochemical and structural projects at the Lubbock Fire School, Concho Valley Fire School, Midland Fire School, Big Bend Area Fire Control Conference, TEEX Annual Municipal School, Abilene Area Fire School and Andrews Area Oilfield School.

Ryan was a Captain with the Alpine Fire Department from 1985 to 1991. He was Vice-President/Operations Manager with Peninsula Paramedics, Montary, California from 1980 to 1981. Ryand was a paramedic with the Albuquerque Ambulance of Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1977 to 1980. He served in the air force from 1972 to 1978 as fire fighter and rescue crew chief. Prior to serving in the military, he as a volunteer fire fighter with the Marfa Volunteer Fire Department from 1968 to 1972.

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Robert Loving, Fire Fighter - La Marque Fire/Rescue


Robert Loving is currently a member of the La Marque Fire\Rescue Department. He is certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection as a Basic Fire Fighter, Intermediate Instructor, Fire Cause and Origin Investigator and by the Texas Dept. of Health as an Emergency Medical Technician. Loving's special training includes a wide range of training specializing in Rescue. He has also received Basic Trauma Life Support and Prehospital Providers Pediatric training.

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