CAFC CONFERENCE TRACK DESCRIPTIONS:

The CAFC Annual Conference Delivers Senior Level Planning, Regional Process Development, and Training for Caribbean Fire, Rescue, and EMS Personnel. It starts with our opening ceremonies to recognize the importance of our membership and delivers Key Note Addresses to inspire and educate our participants at all levels.

The CAFC Fire, EMS and Rescue Challenges focus on professional skills in all fields of rescue. Our Trinidad events will be held at the Queen’s Park Savannah on December 2^nd, 2011 and are all open to the public to allow these brave men and women to demonstrate their skills.

CFO Track
Senior Members (CFOs) of the CAFC will continue their focus on Disaster Management and the steps needed to ensure effective regional response.

This track will work on protocols for Disaster Management, review the state of unifying codes and standards Caribbean wide and address CAFC/CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency) interactions. They will hold sessions on Wide Area Search and Rescue, Airport Rescue and Firefighting trends, and the development of a CAFC backed ‘CFRNet’ that will continue the process of joining member nations in a regional response program to effect first response.

Additionally, they will also address Succession Planning as an element of leadership, and participate in an introduction to SOLA (Senior Officers Leadership Academy).

JOLA (Junior Officers Leadership Academy)
This training track provides standards based training to the next generation of leaders in the Caribbean fire services and focuses on (1) the management of on-location fire events as well as integration with other first responders at the scene, (2) leadership values and principles to build and lead effective fire service teams and (3) management skills to take our junior firefighters beyond the task of fighting fires and into the managing of organizational structures.

The FEMA and NFPA standards used to develop this track are tried and tested and are used to predictable improve the chances of saving lives everyday.

This track trains junior fire officers from around the Caribbean to better prepare them to respond together as one team.

This training prepares our junior fire officers to take the broader effective view of their responsibilities to better support their superiors and effect improvement that saves lives and property and better manages the precious resources provided by their governments.

EMS
This training track provides international standards based training in areas such as ITLS (International Trauma Life Support), Advanced Airway Management and CPR. This track trains our EMS first responders to handle situations including (but not limited to) Mechanism of Motion & Injury, Patient Assessment & “Load and GO”, Trauma Patient, Airway Management, Abdominal Trauma, Thoracic Trauma, Basic Airway, Advance Airway, Spinal Motion Restriction, Helmet Removal & Neck Collar, Rapid Extrication,

Pleural Decompression, KED / Special Situations, Putting It All Together, Head Trauma, Extremity Trauma, Burns, Trauma in Pregnancy, Trauma in Children and Trauma in Elderly.

 One of the goals of this training track is the unify and raise the level of care we provide in the Caribbean, and to do so with joint training so that when we must answer the call of a neighboring island, we can do so with the confidence that we predictably provide the same quality of care.

EXTRICATION
This training track focuses on our rescue squads and other first responders who play the roles of vehicle extrication rescuer. This track combines both classroom lectures and hands-on practical training to learn how to efficiently and safely extricate trapped victims from vehicle accidents while protecting the rescuer from serious injury. This training track culminates with a training/competitive challenge event in which rescue teams work against under the pressure-cooker of the clock to safely extricate simulated victims from damaged cars.

CERT (Train The Trainer)
This training track trains those who must go into communities and setup citizen teams who are the true community-based first responders. These citizen teams must take care of themselves and their neighbors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and do so in the period that occurs before the professional first responders can arrive. These teams must learn to save lives and maintain order and calm at times when collective hopelessness can lead to panic and preventable loss.

This track trains those changed with the responsibility to empower their communities to survive and bring hope.