Gary has been a career Firefighter/EMT since 1978 and has been
involved in flood disaster preparedness since 1993 for the Prince William
County (Virginia) Department of Fire and Rescue. He
was assigned as the station officer in a semi-rural
area prone to frequent flooding for over 8 years, which led to his interest in
the Swiftwater Rescue discipline in 1990.
He has been an active participant in work groups to establish the Swiftwater/Flood Rescue capabilities of the Department’s Special Operations personnel. These groups were charged with development of SOPs and training for Swiftwater, Static Water, Boat Rope, and Ice Rescue Operations.
He
has been published in local media and is a contributor to a new public safety
text book titled "Firefighter Safety and Survival."
Gary is a lead instructor for Prince William County's aquatic programs and is a Rescue 3 International Master Instructor.
He is a member of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area Swiftwater Rescue Standards Committee, National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR), and the International Rescue Instructors Association. He has also served on the Virginia Department of Emergency Management's Swiftwater Rescue Training Standards working group.
In addition to Swiftwater Rescue, his other specialties include Hazardous Materials (Specialist), Ice Rescue, Flood Operations, Disaster Preparedness, and Swiftwater equipment sales.