Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services Workshop

Urbandale Fire Department, Urbandale, IA

September 22 – 24, 2026

This course features three full days of instruction to help agencies prepare for accreditation under the 11th edition of the CFAI® model. It covers the development of the three key documents, the Community Risk Assessment/Standards of Cover, Strategic Plan, and Self-Assessment Manual.

WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE:

• The Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services Publication & student workbook.
• 24 hours of instruction from experienced accreditation instructors.
• In-class exercises to reinforce key points of instruction.
• Introduction to online resources that will support your department’s accreditation efforts.
• Multiple opportunities to engage and network with your peers.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• The steps in the self-assessment process, from building a team to becoming an accredited agency.
• The key elements of the accreditation process:
  1. Creating planning zones for your response area.
  2. Establishing a risk assessment process.
  3. Applying the risk assessment process to your response area.
  4. Developing a critical tasking process.
  5. Determine needed resources for fire and non-fire risks.
  6. Assess current deployment practices and establish target performance goals.
  7. Develop response performance data.
  8. Key elements of a Strategic Plan.
  9. How to create a self-assessment manual.

COST:

Early Registration: $650 – ends August 25

Regular Registration: $675

Registration closes: September 11, or until full, whichever occurs first.

*Onsite registration is not permitted*

To register, you must have a CPSE Portal account. Go here to create an account.

To register a group, contact university@cpse.org.

WORKSHOP TIME: 0800-1700 Daily

ATTIRE: Business Casual

WORKSHOP LOCATION: 

Giovannetti Community Shelter

9000 Douglas Ave

Urbandale, IA 50322

AIRPORT LOCATION:

Des Moines International Airport (DSM)

HOST RECOMMENDED HOTEL INFORMATION:  

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

8600 Northpark Drive

Johnston, IA 50131

Website: Click here 

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Urbandale Des Moines

8789 Plum Drive

Urbandale, IA 50322

Website: Click here 

HOST AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION:

Urbandale Fire Department

PRIMARY CONTACT:

Michael Gentosi, Battalion Chief 

(O) 515-331-6875 

mgentosi@urbandale.org 

SECONDARY CONTACT:

Derrik Bingham

(O) 515-331-6741

dbingham@urbandale.org 

All registration cancellation and refund requests must be submitted via email to university@cpse.org no later than two weeks prior to the start of the class. A refund request is subject to a $25 processing fee. Telephone cancellations will not be accepted. 

A substitution of your full registration is permitted up to three days prior to the start of the class. After this time, NO substitutions are allowed. Requests for substitution must be submitted via email to university@cpse.org.  

CPSE regrets that refunds will not be given for no-shows.

For questions, contact the CPSE office at university@cpse.org or 703-691-4620.