NFPA Journal - January/February 2013 - (Page 59)

q Tepping sTone: sherrill nardontonia of Wellspan s york hospital in york, pennsylvania, credits an nfpa training opportunity with boosting her career. Green How environmentally friendly initiatives affect the design, maintenance, and testing of fire and life safety systems and components. Loss Control/Prevention Strategies for mitigating risk through accurate assessment of occupancy and commodity classification, enhanced reliability of fire protection systems, and other risk factors. Public Education New planning strategies and creative solutions for meeting the challenges of effective public fire and life safety education. Research Educational Edge The latest research on critical fire and life safety initiatives, including the reliability of emerging technologies. The expo How NFPA training changed a career path This year’s ConferenCe and expo abounds with training opportunities—more than 150 classes and multi-day seminars that will earn participants CEUs as well as valuable professional knowledge— and any of them can have a positive impact on your career. Just ask Sherrill Nardontonia. Two years ago, Nardontonia was working as an administrative assistant at WellSpan York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania. One day, she was pulled aside by the hospital’s director of engineering. The hospital had undergone seven life safety surveys over the course of a year, and the engineers needed a go-to person to manage code compliance. As someone who had never cracked a code book, Nardontonia was a little apprehensive when the engineering director approached her with the idea of taking on the job. But she was game, and took the advice of the engineers by registering for an NFPA seminar. She had no idea of the career-changing events that were in store for her. The five-day seminar, “Life Safety Code, NFPA 99, and the SOC for the Joint Commission Compliance,” was a whirlwind of information, Nardontonia says, but it was also immensely helpful in allowing her to understand the material and to immediately begin applying it. “This seminar paved the way for me to uphold the high standards set by the director of engineering,” she says. Nardontonia points directly to NFPA instructors Bill Koffel and Jim Lathrop for making all the difference in her learning experience. “I was captivated by Jim’s teaching style and the way he integrated stories to back up his material,” says Nardontonia, who is now York Hospital’s regulatory compliance assistant. “Bill was very professional and knowledgeable of every aspect of the codes he was teaching and impressed me with his ability to recite codes immediately when asked a question. The NFPA training experience gave me a stepping stone to bigger and better things in my career.” For more information on NFPA training opportunities, please visit nfpatraining.org/seminars. The three-day expo will showcase the latest technologies and services from hundreds of the top solution providers in the fire safety, life safety, and electrical industries. Knowledgeable representatives from these companies will be available to answer your questions and offer solutions to your most pressing challenges. The expo provides you with the ideal location to see, touch, and try products, as well as to meet with a company’s technical staff. As always, the expo is free when you register in advance. association Technical Meeting, June 12–13 At the heart of the codes and standards development process is the Association Technical Meeting on Wednesday, June 12, and Thursday, June 13. More than 20 documents are up for review at the upcoming meeting, including NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, and NFPA 25, Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems. Other documents covering welding, fireworks, lightning protection systems, roads and tunnels, gas hazards on vessels, aircraft rescue and airports, petroleum gas, qualifications for fire professionals, and more will also be voted on during these sessions. If you’re a member of a technical committee, you’re eligible for a 20 percent discount on conference registration when you register by April 26. Photograph: Paul E. Schreck JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 NFPA JOURNAL 59 http://www.nfpatraining.org/seminars

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2013

NFPA Journal - January/february 2013
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Rebuilding a Hospital
Prepping for the Worst
Chicago View: A Preview of the 2013 NFPA Conference & Expo
Long Time Coming
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - January/February 2013