National Capital Region Public Safety Behavioral Health Symposium

National Capital Region Public Safety Behavioral Health Symposium

On June 4th, 2024, the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation, the DC Fire & EMS Department, and the DC Firefighters Association IAFF Local 36 are hosting the National Capital Region (NCR) Public Safety Peer Support Symposium. The symposium will shine a light on the all too real behavioral health effects of posttraumatic stress from the lens of public safety personnel —whether it is direct or secondary trauma—and how to support our personnel during and after these events. The ripple effect of these tragic events within departments, agencies, and the community can be debilitating, but it can also highlight the resilience of the people who are able to rise and rise again in the face of adversity.

The intended audience of this event will be NCR executive leadership and frontline employees from Fire and EMS, Dispatchers, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Managers, as well as the professional support staff of those very same departments and agencies. Amongst the speakers featured that day will be current Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando, who will speak about his professional and personal experience responding to the Tree of Life mass shooting. Chief Lando previously served 21 years with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, where he retired at the rank of Commander in 2021. Additionally, we will be joined by the North Charleston Fire Department Captain Steve Gillepsie, who will speak to “Surviving the Job” focusing on his journey from PTSD to Posttraumatic Growth after 37 years in volunteer and career departments, including 21 years at FDNY responding to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the “Black Sunday” fire, the Deutsch Bank fire, and many others involving the multiple injuries and loss of firefighters and civilians alike.

Topics that will be covered include:

• Violence Towards Responders
• Mass Violence
• Multi-Agency Peer Support Response to Mass Violence and Line of Duty Deaths
• Surviving the Job
• Post Traumatic Growth

This event is being made possible through FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety Grants and our host, DC Water. Lunch will be provided, and we are planning a post-symposium networking event. Space is limited to the first 150 participants who register.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

HQO Events, 1385 Canal Street Southeast, Washington, United States