Illinois Corps Of Fire Chaplains, Inc (ICFC)

2012 Annual MABAS Conference CHAPLAIN TRAINING

is scheduled for February 21-22, 2012 at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Peoria, Illinois. Online conference and hotel registration will soon be available through the MABAS website – all will be announced once the process is posted and operational on the MABAS website.  http://www.mabas.org

This year’s conference announcement was slightly knocked off schedule due to the sudden sale and closure of the Hotel Pere Marquette. We apologize for the unavoidable delay. However, the new site, Four Points by Sheraton, provides a promising opportunity to once again produce a successful event.

MABAS Conference – Chaplain Training
TOPICS to Include:

• Line-of-Duty-Death Impact and Significance
• Principals of Death Notification
• Honor Guard and Fire Department Funeral Protocols

February 21-22, 2012
All day Tuesday Feb 21 beginning at 9am
½ day on Wednesday February 22 beginning at 9am

Location:

Sheraton Four Points Hotel, Peoria, IL
500 Hamilton Boulevard    Peoria, IL 61602
(309) 674-2500

There is no charge for this training.  Housing and meals are on your own.  Please mention the MABAS Conference when registering for the hotel.

Please RSVP to Jennie Swanson at  jennieswanson@sbcglobal.net  if you will be attending. More information will be provided soon.

2012 Division 12 Chaplain Training

Its HERE! Please see the attached (revised) schedule for 2012 chaplain training.  Thank you for your patience as we get everything in place.  Hope to see you there.

Download 2012chaplaintraining[1]

Tuesday PM meeting  7-9pm        Thursday AM Meeting  9-11:30am   

 Jan 10 Case Reviews/Updates    Jan 12 Case Reviews/Updates      
Group Discussion  CSFD #3

 **February 21-22       LODD/Funeral Protocols Training       PEORIA, IL

March 6 Chiefs/Chaplains-Making it Work    March 8 Chiefs/Chaplains                               
Panel  Presentation       CSFD #3

**April 12 (tentative)    Fireground Basics\ Live Burn  
Carol Stream (CSFD) Burn Tower (9 am-12 noon)

 Apr 10  May 8  Ethics in FD Chaplaincy    May 10 Ethics in FD Chaplaincy   
Chap. Schalk    CSFD #3

**Jun 21-23      Chaplains Conference at IAFPD Conference in PEORIA, IL
Includes annual meeting and Vendor Booth

 **July 12-13      CISM “Grief Following Trauma”    
Major David Dalberg (Salvation Army)                                                      
CSFD #1      2 day Seminar from 8am–4pm  

Aug 7  Heat Stress/Health Concerns    Aug 9 Heat Stress/Health Concerns  
Chief Haigh CSFD #3

Sep 11  Chaplain Tool Kit                Sep 13 Chaplain Tool Kit      
PANEL    CSFD #3

 **Oct 5-6   (Corrected Date) IFSA/IFA Down and Dirty Conference
Fireground Operations Class and Drill
Champaign/Urbana  Chief Nardoni and Chaplain Hernandez

Nov 6  Spirituality of Trauma              Nov 8 Spirituality of Trauma       
Chaplain Swanson    CSFD #3

 _____________________________________________________________________________

Regular Division 12 Trainings will be on Tuesday evening (7-9:30 pm)
and Thursday morning (9-11:30 am) unless otherwise noted.

MABAS Division 12 Chaplain Training Headquarters is located at
Carol Stream Fire Protection District (CSFD)  Station #3, 1045 W. Lies Road, Carol Stream, IL 60188

CISM courses and live burn are held at
Carol Stream Fire Protection District Station (CSFD) #1, 365 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream, IL 60133

All trainings are open to all chaplains and fire personnel.  Please RSVP to Ray Gurunian at Guru4x@aol.com to help us to plan for meetings.  RSVP’s are required for the March 8 Live Burn and July 13-14 CISM training. Separate registration will be available online for all conferences.  Go to www.ilfirechaplains.org.

 

 

MABAS 54 Training

MABAS 54 FIRE CHAPLAINS
Serving local Fire Departments/Districts in Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Richland, and Shelby Counties.

Invite you to Fire Fighter Culture and Care
Friday, September 16, 2011
10 am – 3 pm

At the Effingham Fire Department Central Fire Station
505 West Fayette Avenue, Effingham, Illinois

Instructors:
Chaplain Jennie Swanson, President, Illinois Corps of Fire Chaplains
Chief Chris Overbeck, Montrose, IL
Chief Merle Adermann, Vandalia, IL

This Fire Chaplain Training will be held on Friday, September 16, 2011, from 10 am to 3 pm.

It fulfills 1/2 of the the Fire Culture and Operations MABAS Chaplain Requirement.  Chaplains should also attend the MABAS 54 Basic Chaplain Orientation or a comperable class.

Cost is $20
Lunch on your own at a local restaurant.

The fire chaplain’s job is to support and work with local fire departments/districts to provide support and counsel to fire fighters and their families. We are looking for volunteers in the area, but you don’t have to commit to being a chaplain to benefit from this training. It may prove helpful to ministry in your church. For more information, contact Chaplain Jim Wright at 618-483-6395 or  jimwright1961@gmail.com

Detach and mail attached registration to:
MABAS 54, c/o Effingham Fire Department,
Attn: Joan Buzzard,
505 West Fayette Ave., Effingham, IL 62401.
Make $20 checks payable to : MABAS 54

Download TrainingFlyer9.16.11[2]

  

 

Resources for Fire Chaplains

As I complete one of two days in the Individual and Peer Support CISM class (now titled Assisting Individuals in Crisis), it became obvious that I need to make better available some of the newer and older resources we have collected for your use. There is a lot of information on this website, but here are a few highlights you may find helpful.  I will post more as time goes on.  Hope you find these helpful.  Let me know what else you would like to see reposted or created.
Jennie

ICFC/MABAS Fire Chaplain Training Standards:
Download Icfc_mabas_program_policy_manual
Download MABAS Chaplains Q&A[1]

Chaplain Program Development:
Download Thefirechiefsguide
Download LS Assignment - Petrakis

Membership:
Download Icfc_application
Download Bylaws of the Illinois Corps of Fire Chaplains[1]

 

Chaplain Gathering a Success

It's 11pm Saturday night and I am now home from the IAFPD Conference in Peoria, where our chaplains gathered for a time of networking, learning and planning.  Thank you to the IAFPD and all its supporters for allowing us to come and providing a place for us to grow. 

I was so pleased that we had 17 participants in all, including three spouses. We hosted a booth in the expo which as constantly busy with folks stopping by to tell about their chaplain programs or seeking guidance toward getting started.  I have about 30 follow-ups to work on and each will be sent a copy of "The Fire Chief's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Chaplains".  We gave away Twizzlers and other treats and raffled off two NFFF posters.  Everyone helped in the booth and I appreciate you all jumping in to help as I was wearing several hats at the same time. 

The booth opened Thursday for a couple hours and we had many visitors. On Friday we had lunch together and a casual but necessary annual meeting.  In the later afternoon we met to discuss the new MABAS Chaplain training standards and dispatch procedures for the response team.  The conversation regarding dispatch procedures and accountability in general was extremely productive.

On Saturday the chaplains met without me to discuss ideas about new leadership on committees, brainstorm fund raising and promotional ideas and generally get to know each others gifts and strengths.  We have much work and planning to do but it was exciting to witness such enthusiasm!  In the second half of the morning the chaplains that stayed a hile longer attended the second half of the class I as teaching and co-authored with Chief Pat Kenny (IFCA), "Why Leave it at the Door Doesn't Work" dealing with Initiative 13 of the 16 Life Safety Initiatives .  This class talked about the reality of life and work stress overlapping and the impact it has on us, our families and our jobs. We talked about the need to establish effective resources to identify and help with problems before they become debilitating. It was a great class and over 55 people attended. 

Having been invited back again for next year's conference, we will be starting now in planning and using more time for training and improving our registration and scheduling procedures.  Throughout the year you will see new opportunities for some of the trainings in the MABAS document offered so that everyone can get a chance to work toward that level of certification.  There was a great desire to organize by Divisions which has been a goal of mine for quite some time.  Please keep an eye on this website as we move forward and I will do my best to keep you all informed.  Your ideas and leadership are welcome. 

Thank you to all the chaplains and spouses that came this weekend, I appreciate you more than you know.  Each of us brings gifts to this ministry and we are stronger together.  God is calling many to this task.  Let's keep our eyes on the work ahead of us as we prayerfully seek the right paths to follow and doors to walk through.  God bless you all and keep up the good work.  See you at training! Be safe!

(What do you think? Comments are open for this post)

MABAS Guidance: MABAS Qualified Fire Service Chaplain Resources

Exciting and Important Direction
From James P. Reardon, Fire Chief (Ret.)  CEO, MABAS

As announced at our 2011 February conference, MABAS is supporting a new, formalized resource capability for fire service chaplains. Accordingly, MABAS extends the following guidance in support of and in the development of a qualified and capable system of accessing fire service chaplains during agency times of need.

 –      The MABAS Executive Board, in cooperation with the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, endorses and encourages the divisional development of a qualified fire service chaplain resource capability. See attachment; Q & A about fire service chaplains.

 –      The MABAS Executive Board encourages local divisions/departments to develop a fire service chaplain cadre from their local clergy in order to secure chaplains qualified and capable of providing responsible assistance to firefighters, families, chiefs, agencies and the like when dealing with difficult situations.

–      The MABAS Executive Board encourages local divisions that are committed to creating a local fire service chaplain program to seek guidance and consultation from the MABAS Chaplain Steering Group by contacting Pastor Jennie Swanson at jennieswanson@sbcglobal.net or 630-479-1970  (cell). In order to qualify as an official “MABAS Chaplain” minimal standards must be met.

 –      The MABAS Executive Board encourages local MABAS divisions to develop “Box Cards” for multiple chaplain response during events where multiple individuals and families are directly impacted. Chaplain Resource “Box Cards” may be interdivisional by design.

 –      As an interim plan to assist by providing access to qualified MABAS chaplain resources by MABAS Divisions and/or agencies, MABAS is providing a chaplain resource pool for 24/7/365 access by all divisions through RED Center. The procedure for requesting and accessing the MABAS Fire Service Chaplains resource is as follows:

 –      The request for a MABAS Fire Service Chaplain must meet the following criteria and provide the following detail for action:

A.      The request for a MABAS Fire Service Chaplain(s) must be made exclusively by a Chief Officer of the agency(s) directly impacted by the event.

 B.      Requests for MABAS Fire Service Chaplains should be made through the impacted agency’s divisional dispatch center to RED Center at 847-724-5700 or 847-272-2121 .

 C.      RED Center, upon receiving a quest for MABAS Chaplain assistance, will gather the following information from the requesting division.

1.       Impacted division agency and county

2.       Requesting fire chief, their agency, and callback telephone numbers

3.       Nature of the event with particulars associated with specifics, such as; what happened, number of firefighters impacted, family particulars, denomination (if readily available), other notable matters of background 

D.      RED Center, upon receipt of a request for a MABAS Chaplain(s), will take the following actions.

1.       Review interim Illinois Chaplain Response Team List (attached) and identify the three (3) closest chaplains geographically to the event’s host agency.

2.       Prior to contacting a chaplain for response, contact team leader, Pastor Jennie Swanson at 630-479-1970 (cell) for advisement, consultation and direction regarding chaplain(s) assignment. Pastor Swanson is provided command decision and assignment authority regarding chaplain assignments.

3.       RED Center shall advise via cell phone or text the Chief Executive Officer of MABAS whenever a chaplain is requested and has been assigned.

4.       Team Leader Pastor Swanson shall keep the MABAS CEO advised as needed and as appropriate during chaplain assignments generated by divisional requests to RED Center.

Download MABAS Chaplains Q&A[1]

Download MABAS Response list[1]

IAFPD "Fire Call" Chaplain Article

Our good friends at the Illinois Association of Fire Chaplains (IAFPD) have been very kind to us and published this article on the ICFC MABAS Chaplain Program this summer. 

We look forward to joining with them at their June 9-12, 2011 Conference in Peoria, IL where we will host training for our chaplains and offer curriculum for the general conference as well.  More information will be coming soon.  Mark the dates so that you can come too!

Article: Download Chaplainarticle.fircall.2010

IAFPD conference website: http://www.iafpd.org/Annual_Conference.html

Dedication of MABAS Div XII Training Headquarters

On Thursday September 10, 2009 at 0900 we will dedicate the new MABAS Division XII  Chaplain Training Headquarters at our regular monthly training meeting.  The headquarters is located at

Carol Stream Fire Station 3 (lower level)
1045 W. Lies Road   

and will be the main location for all monthly trainings and special events for MABAS Division XII.  These trainings are open and all chaplains, fire personnel and those interested in fire service chaplaincy are welcome to attend.

Service of Dedication
MABAS Division XII Chaplain Committee Training Headquarters

 

 

Leader One: Our God says, "When, they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble." (Psalm 91:15) Let us pray to God saying, "Lord, be our companion."

God has claimed us in this life and beyond the grave, so that we may fearlessly endure danger and trouble in hope and in love. Let us pray to God.
All: Lord, be our companion.

Leader Two: As God so loved the world, so also may the love of God guide our actions in times of celebration and in times of uncertainty. Let us pray to God.
Lord, be our companion.

Leader Three: As God calls us to be peacemakers, may we extend peace to those who are suffering, afraid or alone. Let us pray to God.
Lord, be our companion.

Leader One: The Almighty has promised that every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more. We yearn for a time we no more participate in anyone's grief or dying. Let us pray to God.
Lord, be our companion.

Leader Two: We dedicate this space to the One who called us to faithfully serve as Fire Service Chaplains and Emergency Responders. 

This special calling is not for everyone. We are humbled and thankful that it is a calling for us.

Use this place, all knowing God,
to open our minds and learn to do your work in the world.

Use this place, all powerful Creator,
to build roads of common mission for the good of your people.

Use this place ever present Spirit,
to strengthen our sense of duty, restoring our courage that we may walk into any situation you send us, and bring your Presence to our communities.

Leader Three: Hear the prayers of your servants, Lord…

(Individual prayers are offered)

Leader One: May the Almighty God bless and protect this place and all who enter in. 
In the Name of the One who is our Life, Protection and Hope.

And All God’s people said, “Amen!”

Fire Engineering Article on Chaplains

Here is the link to the recently published Fire Engineering Article presenting the Illinois MABAS Fire Chaplain Program.  Enjoy!

http://www.fireengineering.com/display_article/367524/25/none/none/Feat/Fire-Chaplains-Integral-Part-of-Response-Team