Dan Fong Firefighter/Paramedic Technician for a protection district west of Denver, Colorado. He has been involved in emergency response since 2002 in both rural and urban settings. Most recently, Dan was part of a team deployed to Haiti in March of 2010. He is currently a paramedic field instructor for his department. Dan received his MBA from the University of Denver.

Howard “Ford” Sypher is a former Team leader, as well as EMT-I in 3/75 Ranger Regiment. While in the U.S. Army he served 3 deployments in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan. He attended several Joint Special Operation Command surgical skills courses, participated and trained in high angle rescue and extraction, as well as mass casualty triage and management. Ford has extensive medical and genetic surveying experience in South America and South Asia. While serving in the Army Ford was decorated several times for service and combat, to include the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device. Ford has also served as the Team Leader for Team Rubicon deployments in Walker Co. Alabama and Joplin Missouri. Ford is currently pursuing a B.A. in Global Studies at the University of Kansas.

Zak Beck served as an Army medic from 1996-2002. He was honorably discharged from the military as a service-connected disabled veteran. He attained a B.S./B.A. with honors focusing in Health Science, Fine Arts, and Chemistry. Upon completing his studies he opened a medical distribution company, Chasing Lions, where he currently serves as President. Chasing Lions primarily provides Dermafill (used extensively by TR) to the government.

Brother Jim Boynton, S.J., is a Jesuit from St. Ignace, MI. As a Jesuit, Jim has taught high school in India, Nepal, Cleveland and Detroit and has served as vocation director for the Detroit Province. Jim has organized and led numerous medical mission trips to Guatemala and Honduras and traveled with groups of Jesuit novices to Peru for their introduction to the culture and immersion in the language. He is currently assigned to work with the Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Services and is serving as principal of St. Ignace school of Foi et Joie in Quanaminthe, Haiti.

Mauricio Consalter, M.D. is currently the President and Chief Medical Officer of Medici Health Care Providers, a medical corporation specializing in home bound senior care in Cook County, Illinois. He graduated from the Universidade Catolica do Parana, Brazil. He has been practicing medicine in the city of Chicago for 10 years, with vast experience in internal medicine, geriatrics, intensive care and urgent care, as well as wound care. He is also a founder and shareholder of Biotrading Inc., a company that distributes microbial based biopolymer and cellulose, which includes in its portfolio Dermafill wound dressing.

Brad Crescenzo is currently a Wilderness First Responder from Denver, Colorado. His skills include wilderness survival, navigation, extended self-sufficiency in remote environments, rock climbing/rope skills, and basic first aid in backcountry settings. He has worked as support staff for wildfire response in California and as a K9 search and rescue.

Tim Fortney is currently pursing his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, with plans to ultimately become a nurse practitioner. Tim was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps in 2009 after serving four years. He served as an infantry squad team leader in his deployment to Iraq in 2007. He then deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as a Scout-Sniper assistant team leader. Tim is also a certified combat life saver and has attended the live tissue trauma course.

Robert Hopkins (aka Roby) spent 8 years as a 27 D Paralegal Specialist with the Missouri Army National Guard first with the HHD, 128th FA BN which later was transitioned to HHD, 175th MP BN. He was deployed in 2004 to Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah as a part of Operation Noble Eagle providing security for Deseret Chemical Depot. He also spent a month in Kenner, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area providing security for local banks and clinics, working at food distribution points and doing ride alongs with the local police department. Robert is currently a certified pharmacy technician and manager at a Long Term Care Pharmacy with 10 years of experience.

Dan Ivankovich, M.D. is a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon in Chicago, IL. He completed his Residency in Orthopedics at RUSH University Medical Center, followed by Post-Graduate Fellowships in Adult Joint Reconstruction at RUSH University Medical Center and Spine Reconstruction & Traumatology at Northwestern University Medical Center/Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He’s a bluesman, healer, shaman & philosopher, and, as Bo Diddley said about his blues alter ego, The ReverendDoctorD, he’s “one of the craziest mother%*^#% I’ve ever met. He ain’t from this planet.” Learn more about at www.bonesquad.com.

Ian Johnson served in the U.S. Army for five years with 3/75th Ranger Regiment. He deployed twice to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq. While in the Rangers Ian specialized as a multiple purpose K9 handler focusing on detection, on lead/off lead personal location, and site survey/searches as well as infiltration and extraction in hazardous conditions. Currently Ian is pursuing a degree in business finance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Jeff Lang, Co-Founder of Team Rubicon, currently serves in the Milwaukee Fire Department with Ladder Company 12, his first assignment out of the fire academy. Jeff is currently a member of the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team. Prior to joining the fire department, Jeff studied sociology at the University of Wisconsin, where he also played football. Following his time at Wisconsin, Jeff worked at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, where he worked with inner city youth and helped coach the football team to two Wisconsin State Championships.

Rosite Feteau Merentie, RN is a Haitian-born board-certified nurse who moved to Chicago at the age of 20. An Army wife with three children, she graduated from Lewis University and is experienced in Med Surg, Telemetry, CCU, GI, Ortho and ADON.  She currently works as a hospice nurse.  After returning from Haiti, she helped form the non-profit organization OHDEPRO, which is a Haitian organization for development and progress.

Russ Nockels, M.D. is a board-certified Neurosurgeon and Vice Chair of Neurological Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center Chicago with a joint appointment in Orthopedics. He graduated from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and completed Neurosurgery Residency at New York University Medical Center and Queen’s Square London, England. He previously was Chief of Spine Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital where he was also Team Spine Surgeon for the Detroit Lions and Red Wings. Peer reviewed publications in stem cell transplantation in experimental spinal cord injury, surgical treatment of complex spinal disorders, and novel spinal implants.

Craig Parello currently serves on the Milwaukee Fire Department’s Ladder 9, which he has been a member of since 2000. He has been a member of Milwaukee’s Dive Rescue Team, and is currently serving on the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team. At the age of 17, Craig joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served as a Communications Field Wireman. He is married to Steffanie, and is the proud father of Dominic and Isabelle.

Brad Ratliff is currently working as an EMT in rural Iowa.  Brad obtained his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Mount Mercy College.  During his spare time, Brad also teaches EMS classes at a local community college and volunteers as a ski patroller at a local ski resort.

Thom Rosen is a Physician Assistant in Chicago who specializes in Orthopedic Surgery and Emergency Medicine with Metro Orthopedics and Mt Sinai Hospital. He is the President of Chicago Physician Assistant Staffing Services, LLC (ChiPASS), which is a staffing agency for PA’s. Prior to his career as a PA, he worked as a Surgical Technologist on the open heart, spinal fusion, and liver transplant teams at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He studied Sports Science at Loras College in Dubuque, IA and Physician Assistant Studies at Malcolm X College in Chicago.

Tyler Tannahill spent four years in Marine Corps Infantry with 1st Battallion 3rd Marines. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 and Iraq in 2007. Tyler became active in IAVA after the Marines and took part in the “Storm the Hill” campaign advocating for veterans benefits. Currently Tyler is enrolled at Kansas State University as a political science major.

Bob Thomann is the Lead Physician Assistant in the emergency department at the Mt. Sinai Hospital, an inner city Chicago level one trauma center. Trauma Bob is a former Drill Sergeant with the US Army Reserve, has participated in 4 humanitarian trips to Guatemala and Honduras, and currently sits on the advisory board of Mission Honduras International. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Medical Science degree from St. Francis University in Pennsylvania.

Rich Young was a Petty Officer 3rd Class in the US Navy from 1992 to 1996 where he served at Naval Station Norfolk Base Security. Prior to Norfolk he worked TemDu with the SeaBees at Public Works Guantanamo Bay as a Desalination Inspector. He has been working in EMS since 1992 and is currently an Engineer/Paramedic with Lawrence/Douglas County Fire & Medical in Lawrence, KS.