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.
12:03 – Rang the bell to bring the meeting to order.
Guests: Chris Christopoulos, Lebanon Fire Department, and Bill Taylor, Plainfield Fire Department
Bruce Pacht recited the Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do --
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Jane Mason introduced our speaker, Richard “Rick” Mason, CFO (Chief Fire Officer) (Jane’s brother), former Lebanon Rotary member, and retired Director of NH Fire Standards, Training, and EMS, who will speak on Fire Service Credentialing. Rick has two children, Chris and Jen, and two grandchildren, Haley and Hunter. Rick is a charter member and past president of Portsmouth Sunrise, now called “Seacoast” Rotary.
Club Announcements and Updates
The Speech Contest will be held at our next meeting, January 21st at 5:25 p.m. Libby Kotei-Fearon and Jintao Yue are the two students from KUA who will compete. Phil is seeking 5 judges, 2 timers and a tallier. Please email Phil if you are interested in being a judge. Bill Babineau, Joy, Bruce and John are interested.
Nine of our members cannot meet at 5:30, so we need to figure out how to keep connected with them. At its 5:30 p.m. January 19th meeting, the club board will discuss changes in the time of some of our meetings to better accommodate all members. All Rotarians are most welcome to attend. Let Marilyn know if you would like to attend, and she will send you the Zoom coordinates.
Upcoming Speakers
January 21st — Speech Contest with students from Kimball Union Academy
January 28th Sean Fleming and Amy Lappin — Both will be speaking about the Lebanon Library renovations. City council has approved a $1.7 Millon to renovate the Carnegie Library in downtown. Changing the HVAC system, improving accessibility, major renovations to the teen center. Bill: There are naming opportunities. Charities will discuss this further at its next meeting.
February 11th — Kyle Fisher, Listen's Executive Director, will be our speaker. During Kyle’s four (4) years as LISTEN’s ED, he has orchestrated the purchase and renovation of the Bridgman’s furniture store, turning that historic store into LISTEN’s flagship thrift store. LISTEN has also doubled the number of clients it sees, tripled its annual fundraising, hired 38 additional Upper Valley residents to work in its stores, and nearly doubled its retail revenues.
Members present at the meeting:
Bill Babineau
Marilyn Bedell
Ron Bedell
Paul Boucher
Dave Crandall
Jim Damren
Ed Friedman
Joy Gobin
Cindy Jerome
JoAnn Lemieux
Jane Mason
Bruce Pacht
Phil Rentz
Bill Secord
Rich Wallace
Jean Wulpren
John Yacavone
Speaker — Rick Mason
Guests — Chris Christopolous, Bill Taylor
Meeting adjourned at PM
They Profit Most Who Serve the Best
Happy Thoughts/Concerns
Marilyn Bedell: Bruce and I had the privilege of delivering more masks. 2,000 to Mascoma Valley Regional School District, 1,000 to Lebanon Police, and 1,000 to Listen.
Bill Secord: Reminder — We should all be subscribing to the Valley News.
Cindy Jerome: I just renewed my subscription to the Valley News today.
Ed Friedman: I’m thankful my in-laws are recovering from a Covid-19 scare.
Jane Mason: My father, stage 4 lung cancer 4 years ago, went into an immunotherapy program. His 6-month checkup came back still cancer-free and all organ functions back to normal.
Bill Babineau: Got my Covid shot yesterday because of Ski Patrol; 2nd shot Feb. 11.
Jim Damren: I’m spending lots of time at hockey rink despite many new protocols. Not much time for meetings with players, team bonding, etc., because we cannot really gather indoors or out, but we are supposed to start playing games a week from Saturday. Youngest son had Covid with 28 others in his hockey program; he was asymptomatic.
JoAnn Lemieux: I received an email from Dick Podolec. He’s still pursuing a Friendship exchange to Scotland in May, 2022. JoAnn and Steve W are interested, as are Ron and Marilyn. She recommends others coming on board.
As we stand at the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, imagine where we’re headed
Illustration by Aubrey Pohl
In 1915, writing in Rotary magazine, Paul Harris remarked: “What Rotary will be 100 years hence, none living can imagine.”
More than a century later, there’s no need to imagine: Rotary has thrived. As we stand at the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century, we are imagining where we’re headed — and what to expect when we get there. Read more...Click Here
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