OREGON FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION
2026 SAFETY & HEALTH SECTION ROUNDTABLE

Event Overview

Join fire service leaders from across Oregon for two days of collaboration, learning, and discussion focused on firefighter health, safety, and longevity. This roundtable delivers practical, real-world information that you can take back and implement within your own organization.

Thursday – January 29, 2026

1300–1430: Fred Saada – Lessons Learned from CISM MCI Response

Fred Saada was the lead Chaplain and Incident Commander for the UCC CISM response. He has been the Commander of Southern Oregon Critical Incident Response Team for 14 years and is a member of the OSP Health, Wellness & Resiliency Team. This presentation covers lessons learned and how agencies can prepare before critical incidents occur.

1430–1445: Break

1445–1615: Cory Stengel – OSHA Respiratory Protection Program overview

1615–1630: Break

1630–1700: Matt Laas – Health & Safety Collaborative Update

1730: Dinner Hosted by OSHS – Location TBD

Friday – January 30, 2026

0900–1030: Elissa Denton, LCSW - Retiring Well - from a Mental Health Perspective

Retirement is a major transition for Fire Service members, and while most plan carefully for the financial aspects, far fewer prepare for the personal impacts—such as changes to identity, purpose, relationships, and routine. This talk and discussion will help Fire Service leaders understand the common phases of retirement, the mental, emotional, and social challenges that can emerge, and why proactive preparation matters long before the last shift. Leaders will also learn practical ways agencies can support pre-retirement personnel through intentional culture, policies, and transitional resources that set members up for long-term well-being beyond the job.

Elissa Denton, LCSW

Elissa Denton, LCSW, is the owner of Alchemy Consulting and works as a consultant, coach, and clinician supporting leaders and organizations in high-stakes environments. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership and professional excellence, organizational resilience, individual wellbeing, with a particular focus on first responders and trauma-impacted systems. She partners with agencies to strengthen workplace resilience, provide impactful training and leadership development, and support both proactive well-being efforts and post-critical-incident response. In addition to long-term partnerships with first responder agencies, her experience includes supporting ICU workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and providing care to Capitol staff following the January 6th attack. Through this work, she helps organizations and leaders translate insight into sustainable, people-centered change.

1030–1015: Break

1015–1145: Dr. Casey Stewart – Firefighter Psychological Evaluations

Dr. Casey Stewart is a police and public safety, forensic, and industrial-organizational psychologist. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialty emphasis in forensics. He worked for the NYPD psychological services unit and taught cognitive neuroscience at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He teaches graduate courses in psychological assessment. He is board certified in police and public safety psychology. He works in private practice, providing assessment and consultation services to hundreds of private and governmental organizations across the U.S. He engages in research and development of assessment tools and techniques. He received awards from the American Psychological Association for his research contributions and early career achievements. Dr. Stewart coauthored published works on law enforcement assessment, police misconduct/violence, cultural competence, and diversity training. He served on the IACP Ethics Committee and Oregon Ethics Committee. He was the President of the American Academy of Police & Public Safety. He was the Chair of the APA Police & Public Safety Section. Dr. Stewart chaired and served on IACP workgroups around psychological assessment guidelines, police misconduct, and officer diversity. He is the past Chair of the Diversity Committee for the IACP PPSS. He now chairs the IACP PPSS Global Affairs Committee.

1145–1200: Closing Comments and Survey