CTIF - The International Association of Fire & Rescue Services

The CTIF Executive Committee (´Board of Directors´) is responsible for the ongoing governance of CTIF, and meets physically at least twice a year to follow up CTIF actions, projects, the work of CTIF commissions and to prepare proposals to be submitted to the Delegates’ Assembly.

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Since 2019, the Executive Committee also meets monthly for 1-2 hours through video conferencing.

During the 2020-2021 Pandemic, all meetings have been conducted virtually online.

The CTIF President and the Vice-president are often re-elected for up to two four-year terms. No delegates can be elected to hold office in the Executive Committee for more than eight consecutive years. 

At the Delegates Assembly in Oslo, June 20, 2024, a new Executive Commission was formed when one new vice president and a new Treasurer were voted in.

In the group photo above we find the EC as it was formed aft Delegates Assembly 2024 in Oslo:

From the left, Lower Row:  Nedeljko Vukalović. (Croatia ) Marc Mamer (Luxembourg, current Treasurer) Dennis Davis (UK - Senior Advisor)  Milan Dubravac (Slovenia - Pres), Tom Van Esbroeck (Belgium - Special Advisor and new Treasurer from Jan 2025) Zisoula Ntasiou (Greece) Bjorn Ulfsson, Communications Officer (Sweden / Canada)

Upper row from the left: Roman Sykora (General Secretary, Austria) Martin Nekula (Czech Republic) Christophe Marchal (France),Yvonne Näsman (Sweden)  Taina Hanhihoski (Finland) Otto Drozd (USA0 Luc Faes (Belgium) . 

Neza Strmole (Slovenia)  - CTIF Staff Secretary) is missing from the  above group photo. She is featured in a bio below .

The number of Vice Presidents in the EC is now raised from 7 to 8, after an official vote in the matter at Delegates Assembly in Vienna 2023. 

Current President, vice presidents and other delegates within the CTIF Executive Commitee:

Milan Dubravac, CTIF President since October 2020

Slovenia

Admin for the Slovenian civil protection and disaster relief, Head of the Slovenian National Fire-fighting School.

Mr Dubravac also serves on the CTIF Commission for Firefighting at Airports.

Before becoming elected President in 2020, Mr Dubravac served as Vice President since 2015. 

Mr Dubravac was re-elected for a second four year term at Delegates Assembly in Oslo 2024. 

The Presidium of the Executive Committee:

Roman Sykora, General Secretary of CTIF since 2019

Austria

From the professional fire department, Vienna (Austria).

Mr Sykora is also a member of the CTIF Hazardous Materials Commission. 

He served as Chair Person of the Hazardous Materials Commission for the two four year terms until 2022.

Marc Mamer, Treasurer of CTIF 2017 - 2024.

Luxemburg

Head of the Fédération Nationale des Corps de Sapeurs-Pompiers, du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, i.e. the Voluntary Firefighters´ Association of Luxemburg.

Mr Mamer will be replaced as Treasurer by Tom Van Esbroeck, Belgium, in January 2025. 

Neza Strmole, CTIF Office Secretary since 2017

Slovenia, CTIF Office in Ljubljana

Neza is a voluntary firefighter in her hometown in Slovenia and works for the Firefighters´Association of Slovenia.

Neza is the main contact person for anyone wishing to get in touch with CTIF or any of our members. You can reach Ms Strmole through our CTIF office in Ljubljana.

Taina Hanhikoski, Finland

Vice President of the CTIF Executive Committee since 2020. 

Ms. Hanhikoski works at the Finnish Ministry of Interior. 

In addition to international connections and networking, she is responsible for resilience relating to third sector – authority cooperation as well as disaster risk reduction and risk management with special focus on weather and climate risks.

She is an expert in EU and Nordic security policies (including EU Civil Protection Mechanism, EU Internal Security Strategy and Nordic cooperation). She is also a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Tampere.

Yvonne Näsman, Sweden - Vice President of the CTIF Executive Committee  since 2021  

Chair of the Swedish CTIF National Committee. 

Yvonne Näsman works as an Executive officer in Fire & Rescue at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB.se. She is currently also a member of the Extrication and New Technology Commission and a delegate of the Swedish National CTIF Committee. She also serves as a delegate at the International Forum Advanced First Responder Innovation, IFAFRI and she is involved in bilateral agreement with Department of Homeland & Security.

Until 2006 she was a teacher for fire officers and firefighters and 2006 to 2015 , she served as Head of Education and Development at the Swedish Rescue Services Agency. Her entire career Yvonne has been developing methods and technology based on evidence and science for First Responders. She has been working with fire and rescue since 2000 and ongoing.

Zisoula Ntasiou, Greece

Vice president since 2024.

Zisoula Ntasiou is a Fire Lieutenant Colonel in the Hellenic Fire Corps, part of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. She graduated from the Hellenic Fire Academy in 2002.

 In addition she holds a master degree in Forestry (School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).  

Ms Ntasiou also serves as the Secretary of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission since 2023.  

Otto Drozd (USA)

Vice President since 2023. 

Executive Secretary - Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association at National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Former Fire chief at Orange County Fire Rescue Department, Florida. Former Fire chief at EPFD and at Hialeah Fire Rescue. 

Christophe Marchal (France)

Vice President since 2019. 

A volunteer firefighter for more than 44 years, Lieutenant-Colonel Christophe Marchal has been the head of the volunteering and civic engagement group at the Haut-Rhin Fire and Rescue Service since 2011.

Very much in favour of volunteer firefighting, Mr Marshal  is the vice-president of the National Federation of Firefighters of France in charge of volunteering, European affairs and international relations and is the Deputy Chairman of the "Volunteer firefighters" commission.

Christophe Marchal has been given one of the highest honour in France, a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2023 for his loyal dedication to the French fire services.

Luc Faes (Belgium)

Vice president since 2023.

Colonel and  Zone Commander of the emergency assistance zone in the region of Taxandria, Belgium. 

Nedeljko Vukalović  (Croatia)

Vice president since 2023. 

With a Master's Degree in Nursing, Mr Vukalović has worked at the General Hospital in Varaždin, Department of Anestesiology and is also a firefighter, 

Martin Nekula (Czech Republic)

Vice President since 2023. 

Mr Nekula works as technical support at the Fire & Rescue Brigade in the city of Ostrava, region of  Moravia-Silesia, Czech Republic. 

CTIF.org hopes to soon return with closer presentations and bios for all vice presidents. 

Non Voting Advisory Position Members:

Dennis Davis (United Kingdom)

Senior Adviser to the CTIF Executive Committee

Mr Davis has an extensive fire and rescue service background, and is an independent international fire and civil protection adviser.

In the UK he also serves as an Executive Officer of the Fire Sector Federation.

Tom van Esbroeck (Belgium)

Project Adviser for EU Relations and Extrication & New Technology. 

He was elected CTIF Treasurer in 2024 and his mandate as Treasurer is from January 2025. .

Mr Esbroeck has previously served as the Chair Person of the CTIF Commission for Extrication and new Technology and is involved in several projects concerning ISO standardization for firefighters.

Björn Ulfsson, Communications Coordinator for CTIF and Website Content Manager (since 2017)

Mr Ulfsson has an extensive background in producing educational material for firefighters, both as a freelancer and primarily for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB.se/90Seconds)  2008 - 2015.

CTIF Delegates’ Assembly decides on the main policies, actions and projects to be carried out by CTIF, and is responsible for electing the members of the Executive Committee every four years (President, General Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-Presidents).

Once per year, all members are invited to participate in Delegates´Assembly. This is the large Democratic Body of CTIF. Every four years, key positions are nominated and the members vote for their chosen candidate. The President and his or her Board of Directors are often re-elected for up to two four-year terms.

The Delegates Assembly is organised once a year by one of the CTIF member nations, usually in the summer months or in the Autumn.

In 2020, the Delegates Assembly was postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and was arranged virtually on October 20th.

The Commission works to improve women's participation, share good practice and research, and also works on issues regarding gender and equal opportunity for LGBTQ persons in the fire services. 

The founding meeting of the Commission was held in St Petersburg in spring 2012 and the first meeting in Bratislava on 21 September 2012. The Commission is currently  chaired by Mira Leinonen from the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland.

The Commission has addressed, inter alia, harassment, maternity and pregnancy practices and equipment issues. In addition, one of the key factors influencing the Commission's work These themes have been the subject of surveys, the collection of information on best practices and their dissemination to the Member States. 

In addition, the CTIF Women's Commission has influenced the industry's communication methods and procedures, reaching out to various new target groups. 

Read more about the Commission´s work

The Commission addresses new car technologies and various ISO standardizations related to them and the rescue operations on all types of vehicles, regardless of fuel source.

The Commission provides participants with the best networks for international legislation, the development of rescue equipment and other reforms in the field of technology within firefighting. 

The Commission's biggest achievement is the ISO 17840 project for standardisation of rescue labels, and other information regarding vehicle rescue. The ISO project has been translated into more than 30 different languages, and labels have already been introduced in public transport in Belgium.

In addition, part of this project is the Euro Rescue application for a smartphone made by EuroNCAP. 

In addition to the above, the Commission has considered the creation of a Pronto-type CERS, a system that would collect all accidents and near misses in road rescue and vehicle fires. The international development of the system would provide opportunities to develop Pronto as well or provide a benchmark for international system benchmarking.

Read more about the CTIf Commission for Extrication and New Technology

The tasks of the CTIF Airport Commission include: harmonization of the activities of airport fire brigades and the exchange of information between them. The Commission cooperates with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).

International changes in legislation and environmental responsibility in airport rescue operations create continuous development needs for operations. Aviation is an international activity in which the opportunity to cooperate with actors from different countries through the Commission gives a good idea of ​​the direction of development in the sector. This gives you a good perspective on your own national activities.



The Commission provides participants with the best networks for international legislation, rescue equipment development and other operational reforms. The information can be used in activities between the airport operator, rescue authorities and other co-operation authorities.

Specific topics in the Commission's work have been reforms in the use of foams and the transition to fluorine-free foams, as well as learning and sharing information on aviation accidents. As President of the Commission,Mr Veli-Matti Sääskilahti also attended a seminar of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to introduce the use of foams at airports.

Read more about the commission´s work

Forest fires are a global phenomenon in which the exchange of information and experience is important at the international level. 

The commission shares the worldwide concerns about the effects of climate change and how it changes our fight against wildfires and forest fires. The commission studies wildfire prevention measures, integration between countries' firefighting systems and growing international alliances and networks. 

The Commission meetings highlight the situations of different countries in the field of forest and forest fire extinguishing. In order to develop competence, the commission studies how different technologies are used in operational activities in varius parts of the world.

The CTIF Forest Fire Commission was established in 1986. Its tasks include e.g. to study the organizations, structure, training and equipment of forest fire prevention in the member states and to find out the specific fire-fighting issues related to forest fires.  

The themes of the conferences organized by the Commission have been  arson and its investigation, training of firefighters in forest fires and the economic and environmental impact of forest fires.

The President of the Commission is Jean Marc Bedogni (France).

Read more about this Commission

The Commission's aim is to serve as a forum for discussion on the role of volunteer firefighters in the various Member States and the improvement of their conditions. Cooperation is carried out e.g. economic and legal aspects and work to promote sustainable youth activities. 

The first meeting of the CTIF Volunteer Commission was held in Salzburg, Austria in February 2014.

The Commission's role is to promote voluntary fire brigade in Europe. Meetings are held once a year. The meetings are attended by e.g. Representatives of the following countries: Finland, Germany, Estonia, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. Commission meetings enable international networking of voluntary fire brigade activities.

The meetings share good practice between different countries. By comparing the practices of different countries, the commission obtains valuable information through the network for the development of voluntary fire brigade activities.

The President of the Commission is Hubert VETTER (Germany).

Read more about the Commission´s work

The CTIF Fire Investigation Group´s goals are to further cooperation between fire investigation experts, to share and exchange results of fire investigation at an international level and to achieve benefits for professional services and experts.

The first official meeting of the new CTIF Fire Investigations Group was held in Budapest, Hungary on May 31 - June 2nd 2017.

The working language for this group is English, and the working group regularly arranges international conferences to exchange knowledge. 

 

14 Member Nations are currently part of the Fire Investigations Group.

It is the group´s intention to reach out to all CTIF Member Nations to invite them all the participate. The goal is for a every CTIF Member Country to have at least one delegate in the Fire Investigations Group.

The group is chaired by László Bérci (Hungary). 

Read more about the Commission

Every three to four years, 32 countries attend the Delegate ́s Assembly conference, and watch the CTIF Competitions Games, an event gathering 3500 contestants and over 10 000 fans in the audience.

Chair:

Klaus - Georg (Pilo) Franke

Member Countries:

Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway

Starting Year:

2002

Way of Communication:

E-Mail (mostly)

Products of the Commission:

Wettbewerbsvorschrften

Competitons rules

Wettbewerbe: Vorbereitung, Organisation; Durchführung

Competitions: Preparations, Organisation and Execution

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Inernaitonalen Wettbewerbsleiter und dem Nationalen Organisationsteam

Together with the International Competion Leader And the National Commitee of organisation

READ MORE

The CTIF Youth Commission IJKL (International Jugendleiterkommission) was established in 1973. The Commission is responsible for promoting the international activities and events of youth fire brigades and youth departments of fire brigades.



The Youth Commission meets actively (2-3 times a year) and in addition, in order to promote youth activities, e.g. a meeting of early youth counselors to share and promote best practice. . Current projects include the development of the CTIF Youth Symposium and the International Games in Slovenia 2022. 

The Commission brings together representatives of many types of peoples side by side,  and few of our commissions represent such as a large body of individuals cooperating in a common goal.

The President of the Commission is Jörn-Hendrik Kuinke (Germany).Read more about the Commissions work

Firefighters risk severe injury or even their lives every time they are called to an incident to save lives of humans, animals, our nature, environment and private or national property. They will never turn their backs on society.

However, firefighters also risk long-term health problems such as occupational cancers, as well as PTSD and other mental health related issues.

The focus for The Health Commission work is to inform about the different risks and prevention based on science, studies, technology, experience, and Best Practices in a way that can be used as guidelines for fire services around the world.

The long-term risks can unfortunately not be eliminated entirely but we can and are obligated to do our utmost to reduce the risks as much as possible.

Occupational cancers and mental illnesses should be recognized through regulations and legislation as work related injuries and also be compensated as such. 

The Health Commission in this new form was launched in a two-day meeting in Paris, France in 2019 and we meet physical at least once every year. This has however not been possible in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic. We meet whenever we need through online platforms.

The Health Commission are interested in additional members who have interest and practical/theoretical knowledge in the issues described above.

Read more about the Health Commission

The European Commission acts as the CTIF's link to the EU level and the work done there. The Commission has been actively involved in EU-funded projects, participated in the debate on the Working Time Directive and provided input to EU consultations, e.g. hotel security. 

The European Commission was created in 2011. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the diverse role of the fire and rescue industry in ensuring the safety of European Community residents and to share information between the European Union and the fire and rescue industry.

 The President of the Commission is Dennis Davies (UK). 

Read more about the Commission´s work

The Commission acts as a channel for exchanging information and producing information on the role of fire & rescue in terrorist attacks and other violent incidents, fire safety in timber-framed buildings, fire safety in heritage buildings, child evacuation safety, etc.

The Commission is monitoring the Grenfell trial and events, focusing mainly on the vital role of fire brigades in fire safety. 

The Fire Fighting Commission emphasizes Fire Fighting as a critical factor in achieving social well-being and prosperity. The lack of fire prevention results in an increased number of fires and thus a higher number of fire-related deaths, injuries and fire-related property damage.

The CTIF Fire Prevention Commission was established in 2001. Its tasks include investigating the fire safety of large warehouse buildings and various safety solutions, monitoring issues related to the occupational safety of persons involved in operational rescue operations, and examining fire safety and safety culture guidelines, regulations, laws and regulations. Fire protection can be seen as a tool to combine three important pillars related to fire safety: organizational measures, active fire protection and passive fire protection systems. The Commission's priorities are information sharing, research and exploitation, improving methods and processes, and learning from real cases and findings.

One of the Commission's chief tasks is to write and publish various materials on fire protection. 

Read more about the Commission

The CTIF History and Museum Commission was established in 1998. Its first tasks were to define the content and purpose of the "fire museum." The Commission has issued guidelines for fire museums that have been eligible for certification since 2007. 

The History Commission will map out significant historical developments in the sector and ensure that the memory of the sector is not forgotten. The work of the Commission has included compiling a publication that has been extensive for years, to which sections have also been sent from Finland. Topics vary from year to year; The books deal with e.g. fire training, deliberate fires, motorization of fire brigades, etc. The Commission is also working on the certification of fire museums and the certification of historic fire trucks.

The President of the Commission is Gerald Schimpf, Austria.

Read more about the Commission

The Commission has a very strong emphasis on sharing information and learning from practical experience; which meeting goes through e.g. incidents from different countries as well as national reports.

The CTIF Dangerous Substances Commission was established in 1993. Its tasks include information and training, the development of integrated labeling systems, preparedness for CRBN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) threats, the development of accident learning methodologies and the monitoring of issues related to the movement of dangerous goods.



The Commission is actively cooperating with other actors in the field, such as the IAEA (Joint Information Meeting, IAEA Manual on First Aid for Rescuers, CTIF proposal to update the Manual) and CERN (CTIF is a Community member). In addition, the Commission will use its meetings as an opportunity to participate in other relevant events in the field (eg The Hazmat 2017 Annual Conference & Exhibition), which will further improve information sharing and dissemination.UNO, OECD, ADR and RID, among others, make use of the Commission's expertise.

In addition, the Commission works in thematic working groups, which, in addition to sharing information, contribute to the development of common best practices (working groups: LNG, training, acetylene).

The Commission is also a link between CBRNE specialists within the EU. 

The Commission has been working for an extensive time to change the transport markings so that the first units arriving at the scene of an accident have a clear idea of ​​the danger from the transport markings. The Commission has approached national authorities and members of the UN Economic and Social Committee's ECOSOC Subcommittee on Dangerous Substances. 

The President of the Commission is Roman Sykora (Austria).

Read more about the Commission

 

The CTIF Fire Statistics Center gathers data from fires world wide and collects them in PDF format reports; “World Fire Statistics”, in English, German, Russian and other languages.

All statistical data presented in the reports were obtained from responses to the requests of the Fire Statistics Center and as well as from published official statistical reports of various countries.

The data of past years are corrected in accordance with the specification of information.

When comparing statistics of countries and cities, it is necessary to keep in the mind that every country has own rules for reporting fires, fire deaths and fire injures, which change from time to time.

The report's authors are always grateful for any suggestions to improve the work of the Center of Fire Statistics.

Download the World Fire Statistics Magazine

The CTIF Commission for Women in Fire & Rescue Services  is conducting a survey about working practices, maternity leave and particular issues that affect women. The Commission has established four working groups in the areas of family and caring, statues, technical and physical issues and career/support. The survey is an initial effort to explore three of the above-mentioned areas: family and caring, statutes and career/support.

Click here to see the survey

With the aim to increase the safety for citizens as well as first and second responders in case of vehicle fires/accidents we have created an international standard to give information to first and second responders.

This is especially important in the advent of new propulsion systems and alternative fuels being used in vehicles, which may not always be visible from the outside.

The standard ISO 17840 is now finalized and can be used worldwide by public transport sector, fire and rescue services,  automotive and heavy duty vehicle sector. It consists of: 

1. “Symbols”  indicating which propulsion energy is used and where tanks, batteries, etc. are located in the vehicle;  

2. “Rescue Sheets” (quick info about the construction of the vehicle) used by first and second responders;

3. “Emergency Response Guides” containing in-depth information (with the same headlines as the rescue sheets). 

Important information how to implement ISO 17840  in your country

With the aim to make the promotion easy, we have created 3 packages where all the information you need can be found, and all of this have been done with the help of the worldwide firefighting community in collaboration with industry.

These are currently available in 18 languages, and soon there are more languages to come.

The information section on ISO 17840 here on our website is currently being revised. 

Euro NCAP has, together with The International Association of Fire & Rescue Services (the CTIF), centralised the manufacturers’ rescue sheets in a new app, ‘Euro Rescue’.

The app can be downloaded freely and is available for Android & iOS. It can be used both online and offline, allowing rescuers to access the information even when there is little or no network coverage at the scene of the crash. For all cars assessed from 2020 onwards, Euro NCAP will verify the content and share ISO-compliant rescue sheets and emergency response guides for new energy vehicles, via the new app.

Download the Euro Rescue App 

Euro Rescue is launched in English, French, German and Spanish. From 2023, the app will be available in all European languages. 

CTIF´s Award for outstanding performance in creating procedures and protocols for various aspects of fire & rescue has so far only been given to the French fire service district SDIS86 of La Vienne for their Vehicle Emergency Response Handbook. 

The fire service district of La Vienne is also the creators of the popular rescue fair Technical Days. 

CTIF BPP´s in the making:

Currently a Memorandum of Understanding exists between CTIF and the International Emergency Drone Organisation to create Best Practice Procedures for the use of drones in emergency situations. 

CTIF.org covers news from Fire & Rescue in member countries and beyond. We try to cover the most important world events, but we prefer to focus on local news and issues from member countries that help each member of CTIF understand better the situation of colleagues in other countries and jurisdictions.  

Certain information we only communicate directly with our members. Other information we communicate through our Newsletter first, then later on CTIF.org. 

Read the latest news from CTIF

See the latest news from each CTIF Commission

Go to the latest World Fire & Rescue News on CTIF.org

Stay informed  -  sign up for CTIF´s Digital Newsletter

CTIF.org hosts an extensive library of documents and reports which we are continually collecting. 

Go to Training related resources

Go to Academic Papers and Reports

Go to RETEX / Lessons Learned

Go to CTIF´s Video Section

History Commission and their collection of historical publications

CTIF-certified museums and collections 

Since 2018, CTIF has arranged two yearly international seminars gathering speakers and lecturers from both inside and outside CTIF. 

The first seminar was held in Brussels, Belgium in October 2018, and focused on New Technologies, such as the use of drones during interventions, Best Practices for Alternative Energy Vehicles, the new ISO 17840 Standard as well as the latest developments in the field of Firefighters´ Health.

The second seminar was held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in November 2019. It focused on Communications within Fire & Rescue, New Procedures & Best Practices, Innovations & Technology in Fire & Rescue and Lessons Learned from Recent or Past Events. 

In 2020 the planned seminar was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CTIF Executive Committee is currently planning two or more virtual CTIF Seminars online during 2021. The first online seminar, planned for the spring of 2021 will focus on how Covid-19 affected the fire services in various regions and how safety procedures for first responders differed in the beginning stages of the pandemic compared to later when the virus was better understood.    

Read more about the Yearly CTIF Seminar

For more CTIF events see our events calendar

The International Firefighting Competitions of CTIF is a spectacular event gathering 3500 contestants from over 30 countries, with over 10 000 fans in the audience!  Here are some highlights from our competitions´history which spans over almost six decades.

Read more about International Firefighting Competitions of CTIF

Go to the home page of the CTIF Competitions Commission

Businesses / Corporations can also join CTIF, and their membership is set to a flat €800 fee per year, regardless of the size of company. This type of membership is called Associate Membership, and gives the right to apply to join the various Commissions and Working Groups of CTIF.

Associate membership gives companies exposure on our website  CTIF.org, and the right to participate in functions. It does not grant the company or its representatives, the right to vote for President, vice presidents and other issues presented at the yearly Delegates Assembly.

Associated members can send various experts to the Commissions and Working groups and participate in the work. Associate Members are assigned a Vice President to coordinate and guide their participation in CTIF.

An Associate member can also decide on entering the voluntary Sponsorship program with additional involvement and benefits.

Presentations of current Associate Members are available here.

Individuals can also join CTIF, and the fee for that type of membership is set to €600. The same rules and restrictions apply for individual membership as it does for associate membership. (see above) 

Honorary members  are  persons  who  have  made  outstanding scientific  or technical contributions to fire protection and rescue or have notably served the CTIF. Honorary members pay no membership fees. 

For questions: CTIF´s Associate member coordinator, vice president Ole Hansen

For detailed information, please read the Statutes posted here in English, French and German.

The CTIF is made up by Ordinary Members (Member Countries) who send representatives once per year to the CTIF Delegates Assembly, to vote on important issues and to elect representatives in the CTIF Executive Committee.

Each country appoints two delegates who will vote according to the democratic decision making process in each country´s National Committee.

Throughout the year, each country is responsible for arranging their own national CTIF activities, but can also request support from CTIF head office for special events, and are encouraged to continually network with neighbouring nations and other member countries. 

The National Committee should consist of members from the fire services throughout the country, both professional and volunteer, and should have a member or active contact within their National fire authorities and /or emergency preparedness agencies.

The national committee could also have members within other first responder groups, and could have associate (corporate) members as non-voting partners. 

What´s expected of a CTIF Member Nation?

When a country joins CTIF as an ordinary member, they are of course expected to form a local National CTIF Committee. The National Committee is a democratic organisation with an elected Chairperson, and that national body is expected to regularly meet and discuss current issues on their country or region, elect two national delegates to represent their country at Delegates Assembly ever year and vote on issues brought up at Delegates Assembly.

A CTIF National Committee usually has their own budget, funded by one or more organisations within the member country.

Once an ordinary member in CTIF, a country can appoint any amount of delegates who can then apply to participate in one, or several, of CTIF´s Commissions and Working Groups.   

The National Committee  of a member country is also expected to communicate with the CTIF Office and the CTIF Executive Committee, which is the body elected each year at Delegates Assembly to govern CTIF on a day-to-day basis. 

Affordable fees - a part of CTIF´s philosophy of world wide comradery across borders

The idea with the new fee structure is that no country should ever feel that they cannot join CTIF for financial reasons. Of course, in order to participate actively in Delegates Assembly and get involved in Commissions and Working Groups, each delegate must pay for travel cost and other costs associated with their involvement, however, this is usually paid for by the employer of each delegate, not necessarily by their government. 

The fee for Associate (Corporate) Membership is €800 per year.

The fee for an individual to join CTIF is €600 per year.

The fees to join CTIF as a country is entirely based on population, and ranges between €800 and €5000 per year,. The chart shows that small countries pay a very modest membership fee to become Ordinary Members of CTIF - while larger countries still pay a very affordable yearly fee.

In 2017, the Delegates Assembly of CTIF decided to change the way membership fees were calculated for national (Ordinary) members. The reason was that before the change in fee structure, countries with very large populations would have to pay extraordinarily high fees. Therefore, the decision was to cap the maximum fee any country would ever need to pay to 5000 Euros. 

A quick look at the graph below will give an idea of what different countries would pay if they joined today.   

The graph above shows that for instance Slovenia, a very active CTIF country, with their roughly 2 million inhabitants, pays only €800 for their yearly membership. 

A country like Canada, who is currently not a member, would fall into Group 8 with their roughly 38 million inhabitants. That would put their yearly membership fee at €2500 (or about 3500 Canadian dollars) 

Australia, with their 25 million inhabitants, would fall into Group 7, and their national membership fee  - if they joined - would be €2000 per year.

United Kingdom, which has roughly 65 million inhabitants, pays €3500, which is less than 3000 British pounds for their membership.  

United States, which is a country with almost 330 million inhabitants, still only pays €5000 yearly. With the US dollar and the Euro almost equal in value, this makes the membership quite affordable, and spread out over each US member state, very low per state.

If China, with their more than one billion inhabitants, were to join, they would still only pay €5000.

 

That is exactly the same as what for instance Japan currently pays: Since they are a country with 126 million people, they fall into Group 12 and pays €5000.

South Korea, a recent member, has 51 million inhabitants and therefore pays according to Group 10, €3500.

Take me to the downloadable CTIF Membership Form

Take me to the downloadable CTIF Membership Form

Mikko Saastamoinen of the South Karelian Rescue Department has been awarded Firefighter of the Year 2020 in Finland. A big part of the motivation for the award is his efforts to launch the implementation of the new CTIF - ISO 17840  standard for vehicle rescue in Finland.

Finland was first among the Nordic countries to implement the new ISO 17840 standard, as CTIF News wrote about on October 14, 2020 , after Belgium and France who were the two countries that took the initiative to the new standard and eventually realized it through CTIF and ISO. 

Miikko represents Finland in the CTIF Commission for Extrication & New Technologies since 2015.

Read the article about Mikko Saastamoinen  

CTIF´s Award for Best Practice Procedures  aspects of fire & rescue has so far only been given to the French fire service district SDIS86 of La Vienne for their Vehicle Emergency Response Handbook. 

The fire service district of La Vienne is also the creators of the popular rescue fair Technical Days.