Thomas Von Essen

Fire and Life Safety Consultant

Professional Experience:

Risk/Safety Consultant (January 2006 – Present)

  • Working with a variety of specialist partners, provide consulting services to a wide array of companies in the areas of risk and threat assessment, fire and life safety, labor and management issues and municipal governance. Work with private companies, federal state and local governments and foreign nations to develop safety management systems, awareness programs, help focus on life safety regulatory issues and introduce new products and strategies to enhance operations. Partner with manufactures, industry and associations, including Honeywell, Underwriters Labs and RJA Fire Protection Engineering to find and implement appropriate solutions. Also provide motivational training in transformational leadership.

Senior Campaign Advisor/Surrogate Speaker, Giuliani for President Campaign (January 2007 – February 2008)

  • Represented Mayor Giuliani before hundreds of venues to promote his presidential candidacy. Served as homeland security/terrorism response policy advisor to campaign and also became one of the top fundraisers, appealing to a variety of stakeholders nationwide.

Senior Vice President, Giuliani Partners LLC (January 2002 – February 2008)

  • Giuliani Partners LLC is a management-consulting firm founded by the former Mayor of New York City. The company focuses on helping corporations and businesses secure the future of their firms by advising them on the protection of their employees, clients, financial and physical assets, knowledge, and brand. I have worked at Giuliani Partners nationally and internationally in areas of security, risk, threat and vulnerability assessment, emergency preparedness and the subsequent implementation of enhancements developed from these efforts.

Commissioner, City of New York Fire Department (1996 - 2001)

  • Ensured the safety of the City of New York by leading the 18,500 men and women of the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service as the best trained, best equipped and high motivated first responders in the nation;
  • Created transparent fiscal management and accountability programs for agency’s over 1.5 billion dollar budget including the Department’s first ever management analysis and evaluation system with performance measures to increase accountability in the Department;
  • Managed integration of the nations largest Fire Department with the nations most complex Emergency Medical System improving the quality of service while reducing ambulance wait time for over one million annual calls for assistance;
  • Generated civilian outreach and education programs resulting in a 50 year low in civilian fire deaths;
  • Implemented the first Fire Cadet Program to increase the diversity of the department by attracting multi-ethnic candidates who reflect the population of the City in which they serve;
  • Forged public and private partnerships and built the City’s first licensing programs to generate a revenue stream to fund acquisition of state of the art life safety equipment and training for firefighters and EMS and the public;
  • Established Fire Zone, an award winning $3m interactive Fire Safety learning center for children and adults in Rockefeller Center that has become the standard for safety education;
  • Driving force behind growth of the FDNY Foundation, its major source of private fund raising and continue to serve on the Board of Directors as Chairman Emeritus;
  • Developed the partnership between the NY Blood Center and the FDNY; Firefighters entering the Department donate blood as well as blood platelets and bone marrow. Today, the FDNY is the single-largest bone marrow registry group in the nation with more than 13,000 firefighters on the list. To my knowledge, 83 firefighters have thus far donated bone marrow for 91 different patients;
  • Led the department through the crisis of the 9/11 attacks and the recovery and rebuilding process. Managed immediate response, implemented crisis management and business continuity plans including securing fire and emergency healthcare coverage of entire city;
  • Served as key member of the Mayors senior strategy team managing recovery and while accounting for casualties, both uniformed and civilian; implementing family assistance, immediate stabilization and rebuilding Department resources and staff;
  • Met with countless world leaders to broaden understanding of this horrific event. At the same time handling daily media inquiries and education;
  • Testified before federal, state and local authorities and continue to participate in ongoing reviews and analysis of national response and preparedness.

President, Uniformed Firefighters Association (1993 - 1996) (1983 – 1990)

  • Led the nation’s largest chapter of the International Association of Firefighters (approximately 9,000 active and 10,000 retired members)
  • Negotiated first responder training and practice in the field in order to enhance emergency healthcare and increase heart attack survival rates in NYC;
  • Worked with City and Fire Commissioner to expand health and welfare programs for Firefighters; smoking sessation; burn reduction and physical fitness/wellness programs;
  • Built public private alliances within private sector to enhance array of firefighter safety equipment, training opportunities and quality of life in firehouses;
  • Led successful campaign to bring NYC Local chapter back into the International union to enhance firefight stature, benefits and improve negotiating capabilities;

Firefighter, City of New York, Fire Department (1990 – 1993) (1970 – 1983)

  • Served in a top tier ladder company in the south Bronx as a firefighter for 16 years. Responded to thousands of fires, medical emergencies, collapses, explosions etc;
  • Taught in the NYC Public School system part time as a substitute teacher during the same period.

Military Service

  • U.S. Navy Submarine Service (New London, CT) (1968-1970)
  • Honorable Discharge

Education

  • 1982 M.S. in secondary education
  • C.W. Post College, Long Island University (Long Island, NY)
  • 1972 BA in economics St. Francis College (Brooklyn, New York)

Current Affiliations

  • FDNY Foundation (Chairman Emeritus)
  • International Association of Fire Chiefs (until recently a Member of the Terrorism Committee)
  • Director, ROLF Jensen Associates, Inc. (RJA) a leading fire protection consulting firm.

Awards/Honors

  • Honorary appointment as Commander of the Most Excellent Royal Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, February 13, 2002, London
  • Honorary Doctorate – Saint Francis College, May 2001
  • Ellis Island Medal of Honor – June 2000
  • Daughters of The American Revolution Medal of Honor – July 2002
  • Honorary Doctorate – College of New Rochelle, May 2002
  • Honorary Doctorate – Manhattanville College, May 2002
  • The Mount Sinai Alumni Humanitarian Award – April 2002
  • New York Landmarks Conservancy – Living Landmark Award for outstanding public service – November 2002

Publications & Speaking Engagements

  • Author: “Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the New York City Fire Department”; 2002 Harper Collins/Regan Books
  • Numerous articles on Safety in the Fire Service and September 11, 2001
  • Represented by Washington Speakers Bureau

Available

  • Letters of support, tapes of media interviews and other awards