National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) representatives wore Tecgen PPE gear during an international rescue training exercise in Malta last month.

NVFC Chair Kevin D. Quinn traveled to Malta in May for the Emergency Fire and Rescue Unit’s (EFRU) multinational conference, “The Volunteer Rescuer – A Unified Approach.” The two-day event brought together volunteer search and rescue teams from 14 countries to work together in search and rescue training, share best practices, streamline methods of preparedness, and facilitate interoperability among teams from different countries.

Twenty-four volunteer rescue teams gathered in Malta to participate in conference sessions as well as training simulations for urban search and rescue, cliff rescue, and high angle rescue. Participating teams came from Austria, Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The U.S. team was made up of Quinn; John Haven, Executive Director of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and UF VETS Disaster Response Team Leader; and Margaret Strozyk-Hays, Rescue Technician with Clatsop County Oregon HART and SAR, Firefighter/EMT for Hamlet Rural Volunteer Fire Department and Mid Columbia Fire and Rescue, and Forest Officer with Oregon Department of Forestry.

“International training events such as this are critical to enhancing the skills, knowledge, and understanding among the global fire and rescue community,” said Quinn. “Teams from all over work together as one unit to achieve the goals of the mission and to share best practices and innovative techniques from which we all benefit. I am grateful to have participated in this and other EVOLSAR trainings to further these multi-national partnerships and develop cohesive training materials.”

"The TECGEN PPE brand has worked closely with the NVFC for many years. We firmly believe in their mission to help promote firefighter health and safety for the volunteer firefighters around the nation. We are excited to continue to work with them to support the volunteers across the country."  - Todd Herring, Director of Marketing at Fire-Dex

To learn more, read the full press release from NVFC here.