I had a really great time at the Fire Department Instructor's Conference in Indianapolis

We made a number of critically important announcements at our recent Fire Department Instructor's Conference press event. So much that we do here at Respondersafety.com goes unnoticed, but not this time.

We stood up and proudly told the world of the great things which our group has done. Our efforts to make things safer on the highways of our nation are beginning to take hold.

Steve Austin and I served as the cheerleaders for all of our latest efforts. First among these was the appointment of four new members to our ERSI Board of Directors. They are: Chief Billy Goldfeder –Loveland-Symmes, Ohio Fire Department Chief Jim Cubbage – Executive Director of the Delaware Volunteer Fireman's Association Chief Jack Peltier – Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Chief Crawford Weistling – West End Fire Company, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

All members are experts in their own right and all are committed to the protection of our emergency service workers out on the highways of North America.

We are people who want to make a difference. We premiered our updated Respondersafety.com website in Indianapolis.

As you can see we have completely reworked the page to make it more user- friendly.  Over the course of the next several weeks we will be adding new features and making it work for you.

You folks are the reason for our being. Another critical element in our press event came with the preview of the prototype model of the proposed new ANSI Public Safety Reflective Vest. A number of ERSI board members displayed the new model for the assembled crowd.

The key component of this new vest is the ability of the unit to tear away if a passing motor vehicle (or a perpetrator) happens to catch a piece of it. This new model vest also has a full range of retro-reflective material and is created in such a way that it allows police and EMS personnel to reach the working tools they carry on their belts. While the new ANSI is in the final review stages it appears as though our position is going to prevail. This is a real great moment for those of us who have been working this issue for the past several months.

During our press event we also unveiled our latest DVD for public release.  It is entitled Sara's Story and covers a very serious situation in Michigan involving a young lady who struck a Michigan State Trooper who was operating out on a state highway. According to the Michigan Move-Over law, striking the officer elevated the move-over violation to the level of a felony.

The prosecutor and the judge involved in the case felt that it would serve no good purpose for this young lady to receive prison time for her indiscretion, as there was no hint of any form of drug or alcohol impairment.

An agreement was struck whereby this young lady would participate in the creation of an audiovisual program wherein she would speak to the consequences of her action and provide positive lessons on how to avoid what she had done.

We will soon be offering this excellent public relations tool to you for your use in local training programs. My friends, we are hard at work identifying new ways to get our message out to you.

In the weeks to come we will be providing new on-line training programs and volumes of best-practices photos for you. It is a truly exciting time to be a part of the Respondersafety.com family.

Please stay with us as we continue our journey towards a time when lives are no longer lost while operating on the highways of our nation. Take care and stay safe.