About the CVVFA Emergency Responder Safety Institute
Created as a Committee of the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association, the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) serves as an advisory group of public safety leaders and transportation experts committed to reducing deaths and injuries to America's emergency responders. Every day, our nation's firefighters, EMTs/paramedics, state troopers, police officers, sheriff's deputies, tow operators, and departments of transportation responders are exposed to the grave hazards inherent in emergency responses on the nation's highways and roadways. ERSI is dedicated to the safety of these men and women by engaging in and promoting activities that include developing educational material to support responder safety training; promoting the National Unified Goal (NUG) for Traffic Incident Management (TIM) including responder safety; safe, quick clearance and interoperable communications; encouraging the development of TIM Teams, promoting collaboration, communication and cooperation among the nation’s emergency responders and keeping emergency responders up to date on national rules, regulations and trends related to safe roadway incident operations.
The Institute is working to implement the recommendations in the CVVFA White Paper: Protecting Emergency Responders on the Highways.
CVVFA Emergency Responder Safety Institute Membership
Honorary Chairman- United States Senator Chris Coons-Delaware
Michael Sullivan- President Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association
Fire Police Officer Stephen P. Austin - Project Manager
Chief Jon Townley - Past President Eastern Division International Association of Fire Chiefs-Chief Financial Officer
Fire Police Officer Jerry Daniels - Chief Administrative Officer
Firefighter/EMT Howard Cohen Esq. - Legal Counsel
Chief Harry R. Carter PhD, CFO - Editor in Chief
Mr. Jack Sullivan CSP, CFPS - Director of Training
Assistant Chief Ron Moore - Chief Instructor
Fire Police Officer Stephen E. Heefner - CVVFA Home Office Manager
Chief Gene Worthington - CVVFA Recording Secretary
Jeff Allison - US Department of Justice
Louis J. Amabli - Panel Member and Co-Author America Burning
Chief Allen Baldwin - Incident Manager Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Honorable John Brenner - Former Mayor City of York PA
Chief John Buckman - Past President International Association of Fire Chiefs
Chief Dennis Compton - Chairman National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
Chief Robert Cumberland - Past President Maryland State Firemen’s Association
Chief James L. Cubbage Jr. - Executive Director Delaware Volunteer Firefighters Association
Chief Steven B. Edwards - Director Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute
Chief Robert Fleming Ed. D., CFO - Professor, Rowan University
Mr. Craig Floyd - Chairman National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Paramedic James Garcia - Highway Incident Victim
Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder - Loveland-Symmes OH FD
Firefighter Chris Hebert - Co-Founder Firehouse.com
Richard Jaehne - Director University of Illinois Fire Service Institute
Chief William Jenaway PhD, CFO - Executive Vice President VFIS
Chief Joseph Kroboth Washington County MD Department of Emergency Services, Surviving Family Member
Ms. Virginia Lutz - Field Investigator NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program
Fire Commissioner Edward Mann - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Chief Gary Morris - Scottsdale AZ (Retired)
Mr. Kevin O’Connor - Special Assistant to the General President, International Association of Fire Fighters
Dr. Denis Onieal - Superintendent National Fire Academy
Chief Donald Oliver - Past President National Society of Executive Fire Officers
Chief Jack Peltier - Massachusetts Fire Academy (Retired)
Chief William Peterson - Former Director FEMA Region VI
Chief Dennis Rubin - Washington DC Fire and EMS Department -Retired
Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki - Executive Director National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
Chief Emeritus Crawford Wiestling - West End Fire & Rescue Company Shippensburg PA