Richard “Rick” Mason, CFO (Chief Fire Officer) (Jane’s brother), former Lebanon Rotary member, and retired Director of NH Fire Standards, Training, and EMS, spoke to us on Fire Service Credentialing.
In August 2019, Rick joined the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) as Commission on Professional Credentialing Program Manager.
CPSE
1986 – International Association of fire chiefs formed study committee to accredit fire departments
2000 – Commission of Chief Fire officer Designation formed; Rick was a member
2006 – Commission on Professional Credentialing was named and the parent corporation become the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
1997 – First accredited agencies were in Naperville, IL; Asheville, NC; Glendale, AZ.
2000 -= First 14 Chief Fire Officers designated
TODAY, there are 284 accredited agencies. The process takes about 3 years to complete. These agencies now protect 11% of US Citizens and 17% of Canadian Citizens. The first accredited agency in New England was Hartford, VT; second was Hartford, CT
Beside accreditation, CPSE has a Technical Advisor Program and CPSE University where all the training takes place. Website shows all associated forms. click here
CPC designations:
Chief Fire Officer, Chief EMS Officer, Fire Marshall, Fire Officer, and Chief Training Officer.
Starting a worldwide organization takes time.
The Process:
CFAI accreditation is a process of agency self-assessment.
The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) provides the agency the accreditation model, various accreditation publications and trainings, and access to experienced peer assessors. Each agency, however, will have to do the work.
Working towards, achieving, and maintaining accreditation:
- Provides greater community alignment.
- Encourages quality improvement.
- Facilitates input from and builds positive relationships with labor.
- Identifies areas of strengths and weaknesses.
- Allows for the establishment of a plan for improvement.
- Provides data supported decision-making.
- Communicates management and leadership philosophies.
- Ensures your agency has a defined mission and related objectives.
- Encourages the development of organizational procedural documents.
This year, the organization has 2,523 designees. NH has a couple of chief fire officers and Lebanon has one fire officer designated and one working on his designation.
At the first level, certification may be obtained at the NH fire academy by finishing “firefighter 101.” It’s a class requiring hands-on and written test.
To obtain “Designation,” certification is just one of the requirements, but other elements come in:
- Experience – includes advanced academic degrees
- Professional development – 5-10 certifications, up to 20 training courses over the past 5 years.
- Professional contributions – speaking to groups, teaching fire drills, writing magazine articles, receiving community awards (like Volunteer NH)
- Community involvement – being active in organizations such as Rotary, Scouting, and other volunteer organizations
- Education – It’s almost impossible to get any of the chief levels without a college degree
- Professional memberships and affiliations – international fire chiefs, firefighters and other
- Technical
Individual credentialing for each role requires:
- Personal self-assessment
- Complete portfolio
- Peer review and interview – Rick oversees 280 reviewers; they have 180+ reviews in process right now; Rick needs to assign reviewers to all of them
- Commission decision – Lebanon Fire Chief, Chris Christopoulos is on this commission
QUESTIONS:
Paul Boucher – You should be proud of the Spirit of NH designation you received from the NH Governor this year. Paul received it 4 years ago. Do you work with the college in Laconia where we have a training program?
Rick’s diploma from Laconia is on his wall. Although he’s been pretty active in the past, he’s now retired.
Marilyn Bedell: What surprised you most about the profession from when you first dreamed about it?
Rick: I’m glad I’m not starting out today – it’s a much different career. It’s a profession now, not just a job. Rick stated in Lebanon, then Laconia, then Portsmouth. Now people call the fire service for hazmat and EMT issues and there are many more complications.
Jim Damren: When did you leave Lebanon?
Rick: Graduated Lebanon High in 1974. Left in 1986. Masons lived next door to Damren's on Maple Street. Bill Babineau was in Rick’s high school class as well.
Children's Book Donation In Honor of Rick Mason
Bill Secord presented a book in Rick’s honor to the Kilton Public Library Children’s Section: Fire Truck vs. Dragons – The truck and the dragon turn out to be friends because one can start a barbecue and the other can put out the resulting brush fire.
Their rivalry takes unexpected turns as these two unlikely friends face off at a campfire, a birthday party, and more with unexpected results. Who will you root for? With playful illustrations and charming text, Fire Truck vs Dragon gives readers an unexpected twist on a would-be rivalry, turned friendship.
Rick: In 2001-02 when I was president of Portsmouth, I started the give-a-book tradition in that club because I saw it here in Lebanon.