Critical Conversations Podcast JLN Associates

Listen in to the latest episode of Critical Conversations, featuring guests Chief John Alston of the New Haven Fire Department, Chief Steve Hoffman of the Colchester Fire Department, Chief Dan Krushinski of the East Franklin (NJ) Fire Department, and Assistant Fire Chief Shelly Carter of the Hamden (CT) Fire Department. They will be discussing their experiences and insights in the fire service industry - and the challenges, as well as success, in recruitment and retention among their teams.




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Tune in as we talk all things FDIC, Fire Engineering and talk shop with David Rhodes! David has played an instrumental role in coordinating FDIC Hands-on Training for the past 20 years as well as regularly advising and contributing editorial content to our publications. David formally expanded his role with us last year, working in an advisory position supporting Bobby Halton and the rest of the team. Bobby’s sudden passing sped up the timeline for David to take on additional responsibilities. I am confident David is ready for this challenge and the right person to lead our trusted brands. We remain steadfast in our mission and commitment to train the fire service.  The fire service and all our customers are in good hands with David leading the educational oversight along with the continued contributions and partnerships we have from the industry’s best instructors and subject matter experts,” commented Eric Schlett, Executive Vice President – Clarion Events Fire & Rescue. 

Rhodes is a 37-year fire service veteran who retired after spending his last 17 years as a battalion chief with the Atlanta (GA) Fire Department. He is a Chief Elder for the Georgia Smoke Diver Program and has been a member of the FDIC Educational Advisory Board, a Hands-on-Training coordinator for the FDIC conference, an editorial advisor and author for Fire Engineering and Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment, author of the “Hump Day SOS” column in Fire Rescue, an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy, an Advisory Board Member Emeritus for Underwriters Laboratories Firefighter Safety Research Institute, and a Board Member of the Firefighter Air Coalition. He served as an incident commander for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency – Type III All Hazards Incident Management Team and was a task force leader for the Georgia Search and Rescue Team.








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Situational Awareness Matters - A Critical Conversation with Dr. Richard Gasaway


In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Richard Gasaway to discuss how flawed situational awareness is one of the leading causes of near-miss events and a leading contributing factor for casualty events. Developing and maintaining strong situational awareness is catastrophically important. Tune in as we talk with Dr. Gasaway about how he is helping people improving situational awareness and decision making and read more in his book at SAMatters.com!




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Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell was appointed by President Joseph Biden as the U.S. fire administrator on Oct. 25, 2021. Prior to her appointment, Lori served nearly 3 years as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Public Safety Data Institute, which she founded after retiring from a 26-year tenure as a senior executive in the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).

Lori is considered an expert in executive leadership, emergency response system evaluation, public safety resource deployment, community risk assessment, data science/analytics, strategic planning, costs and benefits analysis, advocacy, consensus building, policy development and implementation, and generational differences in the workplace.

As a doctor of public health and a data scientist, Dr. Moore-Merrell recently served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team to conduct agency review for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as part of the COVID-19 response planning. She has also served on the Public Safety Committee of the transition teams for both the mayor of New York City (2013) and the mayor of the District of Columbia (2015).

Lori is a principal member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 3000 Technical Committee and is an advisor to the chair of the NFPA 1710 Technical Committee. Lori served 9 years as a commissioner to the Commission for Fire Service Accreditation and 3 terms as a board member for the Center for Public Safety Excellence. Dr. Moore-Merrell is a member of the International Fire Service Training Association Executive Board, as well as the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Fire Council.

During her 26 years at the IAFF, Lori spent more than 17 years leading a research team made up of international fire service organizations and other partners, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the UL, the Urban Institute, the University of Texas, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. As principal investigator and senior project manager on projects funded by FEMA/Assistance to Firefighters Grants totaling more than $23 million, she led the team to produce landmark reports and other tools to improve residential and high-rise fireground operations, community risk assessment, fire and EMS resource deployment, and “Big Data Analytics” — all to help drive executive decision-making. These reports and other resources have changed the face of fire and EMS deployment in countries throughout the world.

Dr. Moore-Merrell has also managed emergency response system evaluation project teams, including secure data procurement, geographic information systems analysis and workload analysis in hundreds of fire departments throughout North America.


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Welcome to the first episode of the new year!

Tune in as we speak with the MOST visiting guests we've ever had -  from the CT Joint Fire Service Council. We are talking all things legislative, including the controversial topic of edits to the CPAT - the Candidate Physical Ability Test.

The Mission of the Joint Council is to further the needs of the state fire service through inter-association cooperation; legislative action; public education; and fire service education.


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“Society needs to change how it thinks and feels about fire death. When a civilian is killed by fire it is not an act of God and when a firefighter is killed it is not part of the job. When there is a fire death something went wrong. The public as well as the fire service can all do better to prevent and survive fire.” - B. A. Clark.



Dr. Burton A. Clark, EFO has been in the fire service for 45 years, he was a firefighter in Washington, DC, Assistant Fire Chief in Laurel, Maryland, the Management Science Program Chair at the National Fire Academy, an Operations Chief during national disasters and emergencies for the DHS/FEMA, an Expert Technical Reviewer for the CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, and a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Injury Research and Policy. Burt has a BS is in Business Administration from Strayer University, MA in Curriculum & Instruction from Catholic University, and Ed.D. in Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University. He has served on 15 doctoral dissertation committees. He studied fire science at Montgomery College with Professor Frank Brannigan, Emergency Management at the Emergency Management Institute, National Security at the National Defense University, and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. He is a nationally certified Fire Officer Four, Chief Fire Officer Designee for nine years, and Eagle Scout Mentor. Burt writes, lectures, and teaches fire service research, safety, culture, and professional development worldwide. 



Tune in as we talk with Dr. Clark about the fire service industry - expectations, realities and commitments - and just how and when to implement them.


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