Don Wilkinson's Page

Profile Information

Lives in:: Parsons KS

Department:: Labette Fire District No. 9

Title/rank:: Firefighter

Years of public service:: 20+

Agency structure:: Volunteer fire department

Top issues in your department:: Budget, water supply, equipment replacement

Professional Qualifications:: FFI,II,III, Driver/Operator, Insp I, Inst I, EVOC Inst, CBRN inst, Mstr Rappelling Inst, HM Tech, arson investigator, EMT/A, OSHA Prgm Administrator for Gen Ind, B/AP, and HazCom

Topics you provide training for:: HM response - the first 30 min; intial engine co response; small department tactics w/limited resources; conducting basic fire prevention inspections; tactical rappelling (law enforcement only)

Areas of expertise:: Risk management, environmental health & safety; HM esp military ordnance (chem, bio, rad, nuclear); 40+ years of photography experience

Bio:: Don Wilkinson is a graduate of Western Illinois University with a bachelor's in fire service administration, and 38-year veteran of public and private fire and emergency medical services with more than 20 years of extensive industrial/military fire prevention experience. His management experience includes the areas of corporate risk and liability exposure, occupational health and safety, OSHA compliance, loss prevention, accident investigation and Worker's Compensation litigation.

Beyond the scope of fire prevention inspection, he has expanded his expertise by becoming a certified hazardous materials technician with particular emphasis on military explosives and munitions. (It is noteworthy that Wilkinson began researching this field long before the advent of the Community Right to Know and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.) His subsequent research resulted in the development of an archetypal, user-friendly, comprehensive hazardous materials database containing more than 50,000 common and exotic chemicals, and one that continues to grow to this date.

Additionally, Wilkinson is an accomplished photojournalist with more than 40 years of film and digital experience in small, medium and large formats. His work has been published regularly in several Midwestern newspapers, and occasionally in Fire Engineering, Firehouse, and Firefighter News magazines. He has received numerous awards for photographic excellence from prestigious state and national photojournalism associations.

Wilkinson is the former Manager of Risk and ADHS Compliance for Southwest Ambulance Inc., a subsidiary of Rural/Metro Corp. based in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is a past member of the National Fire Protection Association, the Risk and Insurance Managers Society, and the National Press Photographers Association, and past Commander of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Posse.

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