Breakouts:
Wednesday 12 Pm

PTSD and Suicide

Room: Big Thompson A

Speaker: Jason Long

Description: In this class we will talk about PTSD and mental health of the Telecommunicator and responders. Discussing ways to manage PTSD during your career and ways to recognize signs of potential suicide in responders and co-workers. We must take care of ourselves in order to be able to help others. This was also an APCO 2022 conference class. 

Speaker Bio: Jason started this business to further educate Telecommunicators outside of Kentucky where he is currently the Lead Telecommunications Instructor for the Kentucky State Police Telecommunications Academy & related in-service trainings. Jason has over 20 years of Emergency Telecommunicator experience and has been a Kentucky Law Enforcement Council Certified Instructor for over 10 years. His years of experience, passion for the job, & unique ability to engage participants are why he has instructed personnel from 100+ agencies and presented multiple years at the annual Kentucky Emergency Services Conference as well as the APCO National Conference and several other state conferences.

Situational Awareness and Thinking Critically About Your Thinking

Room: Big Thompson B

Speaker: Brett Loeb

Description: This session will explore the basics of 'knowing what's going on around you' in the Comm Center and how to recognize red flags that warn when you are losing your awareness. We'll discuss the best mental states of readiness, and techniques to safely move your readiness into actions. We will also explore techniques to review and critically examine your thinking and actions after a busy time or event, and then use that review to improve your decision making for the next one. 

Speaker Bio: Brett Loeb is in his 6th year as the 9-1-1 Commander for Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center. His prior 9-1-1 experience was 10 years as a Supervisor for Grand Junction RCC. Brett was the CO NENA/APCO 2016 Supervisor of the year and Pitkin County received the 2020 Comm Center of the Year under his leadership. His passion is for finding, developing and implementing systems and technology that support the accessibility, ease, comfort and wellness for our 9-1-1 dispatchers. This is demonstrated by his groundbreaking work in developing the Aspen/Pitkin Training Module; and Pitkin County being the first in CO to Recognize our Dispatchers as First Responders, implement Video-to-911, Satellite Device-to-911, and to successfully implement a 'Satellite Center' concept in 2022. 

Feedback is Your Friend

Room: Carter Lake A

Speaker: Halcyon Frank

Description: Regular feedback is an integral part of a highly effective communications center, but the thought of giving it can be overwhelming. This session will explore how to give regular feedback to help employees improve performance and strengthen relationships.

Speaker Bio: Halcyon Frank is the Director of Training and Development for the Denise Amber Lee Foundation and has spent 8 years in emergency communications. She has spent much of her dispatch career training new telecommunicators and developing training curricula and resources. This experience also led her to previously create The Dispatch Lab, a dispatch training company. When not busy traveling and training or developing online courses, Halcyon still works under the headset taking 911 calls and dispatching. She holds the Emergency Number Professional Certification from the National Emergency Number Association and a degree in Training and Development.

Public Safety Project Management: Keys to Success

Room: Carter Lake B

Speaker: Christopher Carver

Description: With the roll-out of NG9-1-1; efforts to build new Emergency Communications Centers, deployment of new radio systems, and purchases of new CAD and RMS solutions, most agencies are managing projects constantly. These projects have the potential to impact your agency for years or decades to come and, ideally, help your agency be more successful in your core mission. But what does it take to ensure you get the most out of your project? This session will offer tips and tricks to help your project be successful and avoid the most common issues that derail even the best intended efforts.

Speaker Bio: Christopher Blake Carver is a nearly 30-year public safety veteran who has served in agencies ranging from dispatcher with a one seat fire/EMS center to Director of the nation’s largest and busiest Fire Department Dispatch Operation—the FDNY. Along the way he has worked for some of the most significant emergency events in recent American History—from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Beyond his operational roles, Chris also served as training coordinator for FDNY and was heavily involved in the multi-year, multi-billion-dollar effort to improve 9-1-1 in NYC through new technology and new facilities.

After his time in FDNY, Chris served as Director of PSAP Operations for the National Emergency Number Association, supporting the roll out of NG9-1-1 and the development of essential standards to improve the performance of the nation’s 9-1-1 Centers. Following NENA, Chris transitioned to the vendor side, bringing his extensive experience and industry insights to Hexagon, where he serves as Director of Industry Development.