David Durstine, Vice President of Sales, IDEX Fire & Safety
How long have you been working in the industry and how did you get into it?
I am the son of a fire chief in Ohio, so for my entire life I have known nothing other than the fire service. I was doing firefighting here and there initially out of college, but I wanted to use my degree and I got into business. That business happened to be the fire service, and it was something I loved.
How has your background influenced you in business?
One of the biggest things I look at is, how do I make a difference? Not only for myself but for all firefighters. We want to make sure we are doing our jobs efficiently, effectively and at the end of the day, we want to go home to our families and see our loved ones. It is a unique industry and when I look at the products we make, it is impacting somebody’s life every day. It might be their worst day, but you are having an influence on the outcome of that day for a lot of people, and not everyone can say that about their work.
What are the biggest innovations you have seen in the industry in the last 10 years?
We are looking at innovation and technology on an everyday basis. When we look at the HURST Jaws of Life and similarly, Lukas Hydraulik, we are looking at stronger, faster tools and we are putting dashboards on the tool which show how much force they are exerting and collecting data to send right to the cloud. On the water flow side, we are automating the pumping systems, charging valves and giving nozzlemen more information to make effective decisions with the SAM Smart Nozzles and SAMFlow.
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