Chief Ron Siarnicki- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

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This special NetCast was taped live on Friday, April 23, from the floor at FDIC 2010 in Indianapolis. Firefighter NetCast is very excited to have a chance to present Chief Ron Siarnicki to our audience. Chief Siarnicki is the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation- a nonprofit organization that was established by the United States Congress to honor and remember America’s fallen fire heroes and to provide re-sources to assist survivors in the rebuilding of their lives. He oversees the Foundation’s programs, services, and activities, including the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, survivor support programs, fire service training and support programs, and the expansion of the official national memorial site to create a national memorial park.

Siarnicki joined the foundation after a 24-year career in the fire service. A third-generation firefighter, he rose through the ranks of the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Fire/EMS Department to serve as Fire Chief. He is active in numerous professional and community organizations, including the American Burn Association’s Membership Committee and Advanced Life Support Advisory Committee, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs Eastern Division. He is also on the faculty of the fire science program at the University of Maryland, University College.

Ron begins by pointing to the success the Foundation is having with martialling the use of social media. The NFFF has almost 100,000 Facebook members.

He continues with a short history of the beginnings of the Foundation from it’s inception in 1992 and their two core missions: honor every firefighter who has died in the line of duty as well as offer help for their families to rebuild their lives. A third mission evolved from the Tampa Summit in 1994 to focus resources to reduce firefighter fatalities. From that Summit came the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives toward that end. We read each of these for our audience.

A day before this NetCast, the NFFF made an important announcement regarding the inclusion of an active duty firefighters in our armed services abroad. The names of 12 military firefighters who died in the line of duty since 1981 will be added to the memorial service this fall.

Next, we are very proud to bring in a special guest. Cathy Hedrick is the Corporate Relations Specialist with the NFFF. She began volunteering during the Memorial Weekend after her firefighter son, Kenny, was honored in 1993. She joined the Foundation staff in 2004 after a 30-year career in nursing. Cathy works with the Taking Care of Our Own training program, manages family registration during the Memorial Weekend, and makes presentations at local, state and national fire service meetings. She works from the Foundation’s Crofton, Maryland, office. Cathy and her husband live in southern Maryland and enjoy get-togethers with their daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. As the mother of a fallen firefighter, she offered her unique perspective as a relative involved in the efforts of the Foundation, offering insights on some of the specific needs met by the Foundation about which many of us would not normally understand, but are a necessity for the success of the program.

Links referred to during this NetCast are as follows:

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

Everyone Goes Home

The 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives

You Tube Video of the Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD

FireCritic

FireDaily

L-R Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, John Mitchell