Patrick J. Kenny Awarded Instructor of the Year 2020-2021
August 5, 2021
Fire Engineering
Chief Patrick J. Kenny of the Western Springs (IL) Fire Department is the recipient of the 2020-2021 Fire Engineering/International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award. The award was presented on Thursday during the Opening Ceremony at FDIC International 2021.
Kenny has been a member of the fire service for more than 37 years. His articles have been published in the areas of leadership, fire safety, mental health, and fire code challenges. He has been instructing for the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association as well as the Illinois Fire Service Institute since the mid-1980s and has been presenting his programs on mental health to audiences across the United States, Canada, and England since 1999.
In nominating him, Battalion Chief Tim Cassidy of the Mount Prospect (IL) Fire Department wrote: “My basis for this recommendation is the impact Chief Kenny has had in making firefighter behavioral health and psychological resiliency common topics of discussion in our firehouses. In our area, these topics as they relate to firefighting are no longer the taboo, stigma-labeled signals of weakness they may have been thought to be decades ago. He has led us miles ahead and we will never know how many ‘saves’ we can credit to his powerful message.”