FACULTY AND STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Chris Biggs

With more than 25 years of experience as an Emergency Services Provider, Christopher Biggs comes to MFRI in the role of Advanced Life Support (ALS) Coordinator. He has held numerous positions including firefighter, fire apparatus driver/operator, paramedic and chief of EMS in city and county-wide fire/EMS systems. Chris has also been a long-term instructor at MFRI.

Meagan Byrd

Meagan Byrd has been promoted to Operations Program Coordinator at MFRI. Meagan has exhibited exemplary qualities in time management, computer skills, software applications, organization and project management. She previously worked in the healthcare industry and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Maryland College Park.

Sean Crawford

Sean Crawford joins MFRI as the new Instructional Designer/Curriculum Developer in the Planning Section. Aa a former teacher in the Montgomery County School System, he has real-world experience using Canvas among other software programs. Sean was also the recipient of the Marian Greenblatt Excellence in Education Rising Star Award for New Teachers in 2019. A University of Maryland alum, Sean earned a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology from UMGC.

Jonathan Hart

Jonathan Hart has assumed the role of manager of the State Incident Management Team. Previously he has served as Assistant Director of Washington County Emergency Services, Division Chief with the Baltimore County Fire Department and most recently as an Area Manager for the State Department of Health. Previously Jonathan managed Special Programs and served as an instructor at MFRI and the National Fire Academy.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO FACE THE FIRE

Members of S&T’s communications team recently spent a brisk morning at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI), but we did not feel cold for very long on that chilly day—we started off with a warm welcome by the MFRI administration and instructors and before we knew it, we were dressed in firefighting turnout gear and in a small room facing a real fire in a training scenario.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that MFRI is one of the premier fire training facilities in the United States. It is responsible for training all the firefighters in the state of Maryland who work in jurisdictions that do not have a dedicated fire training academy. They also train a large percentage of the military’s firefighting personnel and travel around the world to assist first responders in other countries with training and ongoing education. These dedicated career responders offered our team a taste of what they and countless others experience every day when lives are on the line.

S&T has a close and long-standing relationship with first responders and has, from its very inception, designed and created technology solutions to make their jobs easier and safer. We work with and for them, helping to define what their needs are by way of new protective gear, communications equipment or mobile apps. We are especially proud of the research and development S&T has undertaken to directly support firefighters.

We entered a controlled burn, deployed hoses, and learned about the work done by emergency medical technicians. We also navigated our way on hands and knees in complete darkness through obstacle courses filled with burn debris.

This was the second time our team was put through the paces at MFRI, and we came away with an incredible appreciation for the challenges firefighters face each day in the line of duty.

Thank you to the fantastic group of dedicated professionals at MFRI for giving us a peek into your world. I am honored that S&T has the opportunity to work with first responders every day to develop solutions that protect them as they fight to protect us. We can’t wait to do it again!

Be A Hero In High School

In an effort to attract Maryland high school students from the Eastern Shore to explore careers in fire, rescue and emergency services, Maryland State Firemen’s Association and MFRI recently teamed up to create Career Tech program marketing materials. With a cohesive design that ties together posters, a brochure and an informational handbook, the materials will be shared through high schools in each Eastern Shore county. Students who take part in the free, oneyear program train at MFRI’s Upper Eastern Shore Regional Training Center.