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Dr. Jennifer Taylor is the director and principal investigator for the FIRST Center. She has been trained in the field of injury prevention and control, and uses its principles to address safety issues in first responder and healthcare industries. Specific to first responders, Dr. Taylor applies her surveillance and safety climate expertise to the U.S. fire and rescue service, investigating the relationship between safety culture and injury risk. This has been a natural extension of her patient safety work, as many of the factors that impact medical care are found in the fire service.

Garry Briese is principal at Briese and Associates and executive director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs. He served as the executive director of the IAFC from 1985 to 2007. He has more than 36 years of experience in all levels of emergency services, including local, state, national and international. He is a leader, author and lecturer within the fire and emergency services community.

Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally-recognized police trainer who was a highly-decorated police officer with 33 years of full-time law enforcement experience. Marcou’s awards include Police Officer of the Year, SWAT Officer of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year and Domestic Violence Officer of the Year. Upon retiring, Lt. Marcou began writing. Additional awards Lt. Marcou received were 15 departmental citations (his department’s highest award), two Chief’s Superior Achievement Awards and the Distinguished Service Medal for his response to an active shooter. He is a co-author of “Street Survival II, Tactics for Deadly Encounters,” which is now available. His novels, “The Calling, the Making of a Veteran Cop,” “SWAT, Blue Knights in Black Armor,” “Nobody’s Heroes” and Destiny of Heroes,” as well as his latest non-fiction offering, “Law Dogs, Great Cops in American History,” are all available at Amazon. Dan is a member of the Police1 Editorial Advisory Board.

Masimo Inc.’s new carbon monoxide screening courses are designed to make firefighters better able to recognize CO poisoning, and screen and treat subjects at the scene of an emergency. Learn how to get Masimo’s full line of courses, which are offered free of charge through the ED grant until the end of 2008.

Michael Lee teaches firefighters the ‘Street Smarts’ they need to survive in some of the most dangerous situations they encounter: ice rescues, basement fires, and structural collapses. Read Lee’s advice in his FireRescue1 exclusive column.

Captain Mike McKenna has more than 31 years of professional fire service experience including 19 years as a fire captain and seven years as a fire district safety officer. Capt. McKenna has been instructing Fire Technology at American River College since 2000, and has more than 16 years of fire service program management and problem solving and solution development.

Capt. McKenna has been involved with the NFPA fire service standards development since 1988 and sits as a member of NFPA 1971 and NFPA 1801. He has published several articles on firefighter issues and has developed risk management solutions as a Fire Service Risk Management Consultant for Bragg & Associates of Roseville, Calif. Capt. McKenna can be contacted via e-mail at

Rachel Stemerman is currently the Quality Assurance Officer for Orange County Emergency Services in North Carolina. She attained her Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and has been freelance grant writing for both the non profit sector and EMS agencies around the country for the past 6 years. While working with EMSGrantsHelp.com Rachel has helped agencies all over the country attain funding for various projects. Currently she is in the process of attaining her Masters in Public Health Policy and Administration Management from the University of North Carolina.

Rick Markley is the former editor-in-chief of FireRescue1 and Fire Chief, a volunteer firefighter and fire investigator. He serves on the board of directors of and is actively involved with the International Fire Relief Mission, a humanitarian aid organization that delivers unused fire and EMS equipment to firefighters in developing countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s of fine arts. He has logged more than 15 years as an editor-in-chief and written numerous articles on firefighting. He can be reached at Rick.Markley11@gmail1.com.

Chief Robert R. Rielage, CFO, EFO, FIFireE, is the former Ohio fire marshal and has been a chief officer in several departments for more than 30 years. A graduate of the Kennedy School’s Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University, Rielage holds a master’s degree in public administration from Norwich University and is a past-president of the Institution of Fire Engineers – USA Branch. He has served as a subject-matter expert, program coordinator and evaluator, and representative working with national-level organizations, such as FEMA, the USFA and the National Fire Academy. Rielage served as a committee member for NFPA 1250 and NFPA 1201. In 2019, he received the Ohio Fire Service Distinguished Service Award. Rielage is currently working on two books – “On Fire Service Leadership” and “A Practical Guide for Families Dealing with a Fire or Police LODD.” Connect with Rielage via email.

Veteran firefighter Scott Cook writes about the wide range of decisions that effect firefighters every day. His FireRescue1 exclusive column, ‘Firefighter Note to Self,’ will keep you informed about everything from SOGs to firefighting war stories to company officer elections.