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After an injury ended his professional soccer career, Mike Pertz enrolled in an EMT class and soon became hooked on the fire service. Now, he’s a career firefighter and paramedic with the Avon Lake (Ohio) Fire Department. Pertz holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in communications, and founded FirefighterNow.com, a site that offers free help to those looking to become firefighters. Connect with Pertz on LinkedIn or via email.

Mike Rubin is a paramedic in Nashville, Tennessee. A former faculty member at Stony Brook University, Mike has logged 28 years in EMS after 18 in the corporate world as an engineer, manager and consultant. He created the EMS version of Trivial Pursuit and produced Down Time, a collection of rescue-oriented rock and pop tunes. Contact him at mgr22@prodigy.net.

Mike Taigman uses more than four decades of experience to help EMS leaders and field personnel improve the care/service they provide to patients and their communities. Mike is the Improvement Guide for FirstWatch, a company which provides near-real time monitoring and analysis of data along with performance improvement coaching for EMS agencies.

He teaches Improvement Science in the Master’s in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership at the University of California San Francisco and the Emergency Health Services Management Graduate Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He’s the author of “Super-Charge Your Stress Management in the Age of COVID-19.” Contact him at mtaigman@firstwatch.net.

Neil O’Connor has 19 years of experience in the Investment Industry in both the retail and institutional markets. His areas of specialty include Asset Protection, Retirement Income Planning, Asset Accumulation, Tax Minimization and Wealth Transfer. Prior to becoming an Independent Advisor and joining LPL Financial Neil was responsible for the start-up and growth of the San Mateo Credit Union investment program with CUSO Financial Services. There he managed wealth and risk with a concentration on retirement income plans for members of the credit union including members in the public safety community. Neil provided fixed income portfolio strategies to institutions. He also managed Investment Plans as a compliment to Trust and Estate Planning at Wells Fargo Private Client Group for the banks affluent clients. Neil’s goal is to earn a long term trust relationship with his clients providing ongoing independent advice helping families and institutions make prudent investment decisions. It is through personal ongoing service that he gains a full understanding of his client’s overall financial situation.

For nearly 20 years, PWW has been the nation’s leading EMS industry law firm. PWW attorneys and consultants have decades of hands-on experience providing EMS, managing ambulance services and advising public, private and non-profit clients across the U.S.

PWW helps EMS agencies with reimbursement, compliance, HR, privacy and business issues, and provides training on documentation, liability, leadership, reimbursement and more. Visit the firm’s website at www.pwwemslaw.com.

Peggy Glenn is the founder and owner of Firefighters Bookstore in Huntington Beach, California. She has been selecting and selling books to members of the fire, rescue, and emergency services for 24 years. Peggy is an award-winning author and photographer with an encyclopedic knowledge of emergency services books and their history over the last quarter century. Peggy has spoken at many training officer’s conferences about the importance of up-to-date station libraries and promotional reference lists. For more details on Firefighters Bookstore and help in listing your department’s reading list, contact Peggy at Peggy.Glenn@FireRescue1.com.

Perry Denehy, a 20-year member of the fire-EMS community, writes ‘The Rehab Sector,’ a FireRescue1 exclusive column that will help you learn how to prepare for rehabilitation at every type of fire scene.

Learn the strategies that make a volunteer fire department successful and safe. Read veteran volunteer Ray Maguire’s column, ‘Volunteer Fire Service’ at FireRescue1.com, a great resource for all fire departments.

Chief Rob Wylie is a 29-year fire service veteran who retired as fire chief of the Cottleville FPD in St. Charles County, Missouri. Wylie has served as a tactical medic and TEMS team leader with the St. Charles Regional SWAT team for the past 19 years. He is a certified instructor and teaches at the state, local and national level on leadership, counter-terrorism and TEMS operations. Wylie graduated from Lindenwood University, the University of Maryland Staff and Command School and the National Fire Academy’s EFO Program. Connect with Wylie on LinkedIn.

Battalion Chief Robert Avsec (ret.) served with the Chesterfield (Virginia) Fire & EMS Department for 26 years. He was an instructor for fire, EMS and hazardous materials courses at the local, state and federal levels, which included more than 10 years with the National Fire Academy. Chief Avsec earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and his master’s degree in executive fire service leadership from Grand Canyon University. He is a 2001 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s EFO Program. Beyond his writing for FireRescue1.com and FireChief.com, Avsec authors the blog Talking “Shop” 4 Fire & EMS and has published his first book, “Successful Transformational Change in a Fire and EMS Department: How a Focused Team Created a Revenue Recovery Program in Six Months – From Scratch.” Connect with Avsec on LinkedIn or via email.