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Salka to speak at education seminar

March 30, 2011 – Every year in Canada and the United States, hundreds of firefighters, paramedics and police officers are injured or killed.

Firefighters Speak Up was established in 2006 to help put a stop to these injuries and deaths by providing educational seminars and training from North American fire-service icons.

This year’s forum, on April 9 and 10 in Ilderton and Clinton, Ont., features Battalion Chief John Salka, a veteran of the FDNY who responded to the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Salka is the author of First In, Last Out – Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department and will share some of the lessons learned after Sept. 11, 2001.

Salka’s book is available for advance purchase through the Firehall Bookstore. Those attending Firefighters Speak Up can pre-order the book for a special price of $20 (tax inlcuded) and have it signed by Salka at the event.

Salka is an expert at practicing and teaching high-stakes leadership. In First In, Last Out, he explains the FDNY’s unique strategies and how they can be adopted by leaders in any field. In a tough-talking, no-nonsense style, Salka uses real-world stories to convey leadership imperatives such as:

• First in, last out — your people need to see you taking the biggest risk, as the first one to enter the danger zone and the last to leave;
• Manage change — the fire you fought yesterday is not the one you’ll be fighting tomorrow;
• Communicate aggressively — a working radio is worth more than 20,000 gallons of water;
• Create an execution culture — focus your people on the flames, not the smoke;
• Commit to reality — never allow the way you would like things to be to colour how things are;
• Develop your people — let them feel a little heat today or they’ll get burned tomorrow.

At Firefighters Speak Up, Salka will explain what it takes to lead people into burning buildings and how the leaders of the New York City Fire Department develop so much loyalty, trust, and grace under pressure that their subordinates will risk their very lives for them.

Firefighters Speak Up is held one weekend a year to give local firefighters and emergency services personnel access to phenomenal speakers. The topics range from operations to incident command and provide an insightful and entertaining program for all in attendance.

Tickets are available at www.firefightersspeakup.com.