For some decades, it has been a great pleasure to have periodic association with NAHFO, originally the National Association of Hospital Fire Officers, having had a long interest in hospital fire safety from the time of my MSc thesis on the potential for mathematical measurement of fire risk in hospitals.
From time to time, I have regarded it as something of an honour to be asked to speak at their national conference. Fire safety practitioners in this sector are invariably a committed band of professionals, often working under difficult circumstances of budgets and competing demands.
Lest it be thought that I am engaging in mutual admiration society on the basis of the attached photograph, by way of evidence of my opinion, in the early days of my consulting practice (i.e. the 1980s), it was always an actively pursued aspiration to employ an ex-hospital fire officer on the basis that they would have the experience of a very pragmatic approach to prioritization of fire safety measures to enable as much bang as possible for the limited bucks available.
Many years ago, on being asked, yet again, to speak at their conference, by a rather lovely member of their committee called Roy (can't remember his second name), I said to him how kind it was to invite me again, to which he replied with refreshing honesty, which typifies good people of the North of England, he told me that the members liked me because they enjoyed my rambling, disjointed presentations 😂
Not only were they kind enough to ask me to speak this year, but I was grateful, to an extent that they probably would not realize, to receive an award from an association I hold in high regard for what is described on the award as their National Award for Innovation in the Field of Healthcare Fire Safety.
It was a complete surprise, made moreso when peter aldridge, a very well known name in healthcare fire safety and NAHFO, told delegates that the award was going to someone who once said "............". Unfortunately, I can't remember the quote, but it seemed quite good to me and so I scanned the hall to see who might have said it and was preparing to come up to receive their award. I am hoping that Peter might tell me what it was I said, as I may use it again sometime 😂
The photograph shows me formally receiving the award from Brian Wylie, another long stalwart of healthcare fire safety.
On a footnote, I am so old now that there are probably no NAHFO committee members who will recall that 30 years ago next year the then National Association of Hospital Fire Officers awarded me their Certificate of Merit for "Service to the Association by promoting and encouraging the furtherance of the highest standards of fire safety in Health Service Premises".
