Building Bridges: Cultivating Relationships with Other First Responder Agencies and the Public
Matt Roesler MS 
Chief Deputy Pepin County Sheriff's Office 

In the high-stakes world of firefighting, collaboration and communication with other first responder agencies and the public are essential for effective emergency response. This session aims to explore strategies and best practices for cultivating robust relationships with diverse stakeholders, including law enforcement, medical personnel, government agencies, and the community at large.

Do’s and Don’ts of a MABAS Event
Troy Haase, Portage Fire Chief
MABAS Division 135 President

The presentation will review a MABAS event at the Columbia County Solid Waste and Recycling Center. I will provide helpful tips on how to manage a large event as a new incident commander. I will discuss the pitfalls of managing a large event and the important takeaways as the event evolved. The importance of MABAS and how to use it to your advantage.  How MABAS can help the inexperienced officer manage the event properly until relieved by a Chief officer.

Grain Bin Rescue, Safety, and Awareness
Nate Firle – Volunteer Fire Fighter 
Owner of R3 Rescue LLC

In this session, Nate Firle – Volunteer Fire Fighter and owner of R3 Rescue LLC – will share how the rescue of his neighbor from a grain bin changed the way his fire department responds to the calls in the rural landscape and is paving a way for rural departments across the nation to better prepare for the evolving rural rescue calls. This session is filled with lessons learned, grain bin safety for farmers, and the rescue strategies with a grain vac if faced with a grain bin entrapment.

Grant Writing 101
John Sponholtz, RN, MSN-Ed, CHPN, AEMT 

Each and every department has faced issue of funding at some level during its existence. And often fire departments are forced to get creative in finding was to fund their operational costs. This session will take you step by step through the grant writing process and show you how to increase the odds of submitting a successful grant application.

Introduction to Autism for First Responders
Harry Dolan 
Parent Advocate

The incidence of Autism has been increasing at an alarming rate over the past 30 years and the likelihood of first responders encountering it has increased along with it.  This presentation introduces autism in layman’s terms, describes scenarios in which first responders might encounter it, and gives a few tips and strategies for handling it.

Firefighter Prehab, Rehab, Fitness and Fatality Realities

Taylor Quinnel
Fireman/Paramedic

Firefighting is at its safest levels we’ve ever seen, yet injuries, fatalities and poor understandings
of their causes and cures are still present. This presentation aims to better understand what
firefighters are suffering and falling from utilizing real world data and facts not fear; the
resources out there to guide towards maintaining a combat ready body for when the war tones
drop; and how we can better utilize rehab resources to not only go home but get up again.

Team Building in Your Fire Department 
Dan Roeglin
Fire Service Instructor – Northwood Technical College 

Fire Departments can often be challenged with things like the Generation Gap, Training Levels, Communication, Local Government Matters, Cliques, Recruitment/Retention, and Personal Conflict.  This presentation will give thought and ideas for dealing with some of these issues, and hopefully solutions for any of the challenges your department is experiencing. Teamwork methods on projects and department operations will also be discussed in this session.

The Impact of One
Bryan Keup
Lieutenant, City of Waukesha Fire Dept

This presentation will describe how one individual firefighter can make a huge impact on a crew, shift or the entire organization. It is built off the Marine Corps concept of mentorship. Here are some questions to consider: Are you actively building a healthy culture around you to foster high performance? Is it accidental where you are going through the motions with no guidance worrying only about yourself? Culture is the number one factor that affects day to day performance. In the fire service we all have someone we can impact, influence, help and lead. I am here to tell you that changing your culture can start with one firefighter.

The Milk House/SMI fire
Captain Garrett Grissom,
Manitowoc Fire Dept.

The presentation will focus on the actions taken in response to the recent large-scale fire in Manitowoc.
It will detail the specific measures implemented by emergency services, emphasizing the strategies
employed to address the incident. The presenter will highlight key actions, such as firefighting
strategies, and on-the-ground challenges faced.

The Pallet Fire, what can we learn from a 714-acre forest fire in July?
Mark Diesen, Forest Ranger, FF1
WI DNR

The Pallet Fire occurred on July 10th 2023 about 1 mile from the Village of Coloma, WI.  It was a joint effort between multiple different agencies including 47 different fire departments, Waushara County EMS, Sheriff Department, Emergency Management, State Patrol and DNR. What happened? What went well and what can we do better? What can we learn from this incident?

Thermal Imaging, Beyond the Handoff
Dave Briggs
Part-time Instructor – Mid-State Technical College

Many of us learned thermal imaging through "the hand off" from one firefighter to another. However, how many of us actually learned what thermal imaging is, or should be? This session will provide tips, tricks, and training on how we can use thermal imaging to improve safety and effectiveness on the fireground and beyond. 

You Stress or Eustress? Embracing Stress from a Growth Mindset
Roy Smalley - Personal Trainer, Fire Officer, Fire &Emergency Services Instructor
Mayville Fire Department and Mayville EMS

Especially recently, stress in the emergency services has been approached as something to be treated, mitigated, or avoided. But stress is not a universal negative! Just like muscles need physical stress to grow, mental and emotional challenges are necessary in the development of traits like resilience, empathy, and grit. This session will explore stress from a growth mindset, discuss how stress can help us strengthen our emotional intelligence, and examine seven essential life challenges to embrace for personal and professional growth.