On Wednesday September 25, 2019 from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm we will have Supporting Heroes, Inc at the MAAC to provide their class in Line of Duty Deaths and Public Safety Benefits. Whether you are a public safety officer or supervisor, head of a public safety agency, family member of someone who serves, survivor of a fallen hero, or someone who just wants to know more about Line of Duty Death or Public Safety Officers’ Benefits, you will find this class interesting and enlightening. You will also quickly find that neither topic is as simple as it seems. Unfortunately, there are many widely held myths that affect understanding of these very important topics and therefore expectations at all levels. This class cuts through the myths and gives you the information YOU need to know. Regardless of which of the above categories you fall into, we are confident you will find this FREE class to be time well spent. Please don't let the “Introduction” part of the title fool you. This class covers a lot of important information that everyone should be familiar with, but few are. Feedback from previous participants has been overwhelmingly positive with many saying it covered important aspects of LODD they had never even considered before.
On Thursday September 26, 2019 from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm We will be presenting Ultimate Honor Program as the MAAC. ULTIMATE HONOR is a free class for Police, Fire and EMS leaders, honor guards, chaplains and all with a role in an agency’s response to a line-of-duty death (LODD) and truly rendering ‘Ultimate Honor for Ultimate Sacrifice.’ ULTIMATE HONOR is not a funeral-planning class. It is a class about doing the right things the right ways for the right reasons to honor ultimate sacrifice -- from time of death going forward and for the benefit of all affected. The class will challenge the status quo and examine aspects of LODD rarely discussed. It will also explore best practices and present steps that should be taken in advance to prepare for the unthinkable. Lunch, snacks and drinks will be provided. PLEASE SIGN UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT WE MAY PLAN FOR ALL OF YOU! REGISTER NOW AT: https://www.supportingheroes.org/classes/register/#cid=582&wid=6701 Additional Information for Wednesday's Class This FREE class explores the basics of line-of-duty death (LODD) and Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB). It presents important information for all who serve and vital information for leaders – especially those who must decide in short order whether an agency will treat a death as Line-of-Duty versus Active Duty. Participants will learn the critical importance of proper classification as improper classification can give survivors false hope of receiving benefits and that their loved one will be honored by state or national memorials. (Even well-intentioned misclassification can be quite harmful.) Additionally, participants will examine agency eligibility for PSOB coverage as well as individual eligibility according to job classification. Participants will also learn that none of these topics are as simple as most believe. The hierarchy and eligibility of beneficiaries will be discussed as well as how some public safety officers could designate who their beneficiary would be. Finally, participants will discuss many changes made in the PSOB regulations in recent years including significant changes within the last year.
A Memorial Visitation for Retired Fire Chief Gary Petersen, of the Washington Township Fire Department, will be held Saturday, September 28, 2019 from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM at MOELLER FUNERAL HOME 104 Roosevelt Rd., Valparaiso with a Memorial Service beginning at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation or the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
