Device Arena

Motorola will be leading a panel with the DeKalb, IL Fire Department at FRI 2009 on Friday, August 28, 2009, from 3:00 – 4:30 PM in room A128-129. Fire Chief Bruce Harrison and Retired Chief Lanny Russell will be presenting their “lessons learned” from the Northern Illinois University (NIU) shootings that took place on February 14, 2008, to the attendees of the FRI 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

For the first time, Retired Chief Russell and Chief Harrison will speak with a national audience regarding the planning, preparation and community participation that took place during this multicasualty incident. In particular they will discuss the steps that were taken after the Virginia Tech murders to prepare for a similar incident, including a “verbal simulation,” a mock mass casualty exercise and testing during an actual situation.

The session will be led by Kelly Kirwan, corporate vice president, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions. According to Kirwan, “This is a story that everyone should hear, especially those who think it could never happen in his or her community. This is a powerful story not only because of the lives that were saved, but also because fire and law enforcement worked so collaboratively using National Incident Management Systems to achieve a very successful outcome.”

Earlier this month, the United States Fire Administration released a report on the fire response to the NIU shootings and explained that the situation was “handled with the highest levels of skill and expertise”. The complete report can be found at the attached link: USFA: Aug 4, 2009 News Release.

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