FIREFIGHTER SUCCESS PODCAST

David Hesselmeyer started in the emergency services in 1997. He holds certifications such as North Carolina Firefighter Level II, Advanced Firefighter, Rescue Technician, Hazardous Materials Level I Responder, EMT-Paramedic, Executive Emergency Management Coordinator, and Certified Emergency Manager.Currently David volunteers with Buies Creek Fire Rescue as a Firefighter/EMT, is an adjunct instructor at Campbell University in the Homeland Security program, and speaks at state and national conferences. David is also a contributing writer for the Carolina Fire Rescue Journal and Fire Engineering magazine. Lastly, he is the President and CEO of On Target Preparedness, an all hazards emergency services consulting company located in North Carolina.Learn more at OnTargetPrep.com. 

Jared Vermuelen is a captain with Boca Raton Fire Rescue in Florida where he has served for over 15 years. He is a first generation firefighter that entered the fire service in 2007 after working as a paramedic for a local ambulance company and hospital. Jared Specializes in hazardous materials, rope rescue, trench rescue, confined space, and heavy extrication as a part of his department’s regional hazmat team for Boca Raton and Palm Beach County. Jared is the author of the book “The Modern Fire Officer,” which is intended to help officers create healthy crews and prepare for the many challenges they will face throughout their leadership.Learn more about him and his book at ModernFireOfficer.com

Arjuna George is the author of “Burnt Around The Edges, A guide to Mastering Stress and Surviving Burnout.” He retired in 2021 as the Fire Chief for Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue after 24 years of service.Chief George is a trauma-informed resilience coach and T.R.E.® Provider specializing in performance coaching for burnout prevention and recovery for fire chiefs and fire leaders. He is a family man, entrepreneur, and author with a passion for helping others lead healthier and happier lives. Learn more at his website: BurntAroundTheEdges.com

Ryan Rodriquez is a firefighter/paramedic who has been on the job for 16 years.  He is the founder of IGNITEd, a company where he provides public strength training and nutrition coaching services as well as private leadership and teamwork consulting services. Ryan also hosts the IGNITEd Firefighter Podcast, where he talks about all things fire service related in order to help his audience deal with the mental, physical, and emotional stressors of the job.Ryan’s new book is called “Own It! Build a Fire Service Culture of Trust and Integrity Through Accountability.”  You can learn more about his book and listen to his podcast at IgnitedFF.com.

Jesse Quinalty is a Master Instructor and the owner of Red Helmet Training in Southern California which houses four classrooms and a command training center. He specializes in Company Officer Training as well as table top and digital fire simulations. He is a Captain with the San Bernardino County Fire Department working in Battalion 10 and was the Operations and Training Captain at his previous department.Jesse has authored several articles in fire service magazines and has recently published a book titled Rescue Me: Strategies and Tactics for Employee Fires. He has presented at several conferences including the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC), Firehouse World San Diego, Firehouse Expo Nashville, Fire Rescue International (FRI), Fire Shows West – Reno, Fire Rescue South Carolina and the Virginia Fire Rescue Conference.  Lastly, he is the producer and host of the monthly video series “Firefighters in Fire Trucks getting Ice Cream” and “The Firefighter Book Club.”Learn more at RedHelmetTraining.com and FirefighterBookClub.com.

Chief Curt Isakson is a 30-plus year veteran of the fire service, with experience working in volunteer, career, and combination departments in urban, suburban, rural, and countywide settings.He is currently a battalion chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue in Florida where he has worked for the last 21 years. Before his time with Escambia, Curt was a Company Officer with the Pensacola Fire Department assigned to Heavy Rescue 31 for 9 years.Lastly, he is the founder of County Fire Tactics, a go-to resource for firefighter training. With popular conferences such as Water on The Fire, High-rise Operations, Command Officer Bootcamp, and THE Fire Conference coming in 2023, County Fire Tactics is making a huge impact on the fire service.Learn more at CountyFireTactics.com

John Cuomo is a firefighter and paramedic, author and owner of Wild Bull Media, Inc. With over 20 years as a firefighter, John is passionate about the fire and police communities and the service they provide to our country. In his career, John served as a driver/engineer, lieutenant, and captain and stepped up as EMS chief, battalion chief, and training chief. John is currently working on a new book about PTSD and mental health within the fire service, a subject he considers a priority. With more advocacy, John hopes to reduce the stigma associated with PTSD. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he now lives in Florida with his wife and children.Learn more at FDLeadership.com. 

Josh Wells is an Arizona native who has been a firefighter for nearly two decades. He currently serves as a captain for the Sedona Fire District.In 2010, Josh took his first promotional test for captain and failed miserably. He was discouraged after this loss, but this set him on a quest to find a path to promotional testing success.In 2016 Josh placed #1 on a captain's test and was promoted shortly thereafter. After his promotion, Josh helped many other firefighters reach the top of their promotional testing lists. Josh refined this system and published “The Promotion Playbook” in 2020, which reveals a proven path to promotional test success.Josh is happily married to his wife, Faith, and the couple enjoy raising three great kids. 

Doug Mitchell is a captain in the New York City Fire Department with 30 years of fire experience, the last 23 being with the FDNY. He is a principal member of the NFPA 1400 committee and co-authored Fire Engineering’s “25 to Survive: Reducing Residential Injury and LODD” in 2013 with his fire service brother Dan Shaw. Make sure you go back to episode 50 of the Firefighter Success Podcast and check out Chief Shaw’s popular episode.Doug also has a Bachelor’s degree from University of MD Baltimore County and resides in Orange County NY with his wife and three children. 

Julian Serrano is a firefighter with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue in Florida. He is passionate about mentorship, leadership, training and firefighter fitness. Early in his career, he decided to take ownership of his fitness, losing nearly 100 pounds. Since then, he has become a Florida Smoke Diver and ultramarathon runner. Since the last time he was on the Firefighter Success Podcast, Julian created Prepared to Fight Fire, an intense 8-week fitness program which helps aspiring firefighters get physically and mentally prepared for the job. To sign up and get a FREE Firefighter Success book, go to PreparedToFightFire.com/FirefighterSuccess

Dan McBride is a firefighter in Chelan County, Washington. He started out as a volunteer firefighter, following in his dad’s footsteps, who is a 39-year fire service veteran and deputy chief. Dan shifted gears and went into law enforcement, serving 7 years as a corrections officer in maximum security.In addition to serving as a firefighter in Chelan County, he is the founder and CEO of Thinline Anthem, a company whose mission is to assist first responders with their mental and physical health so that they can take care of themselves, their families, and the communities they serve. Learn more at ThinLineAnthem.com

Eddie Buchanan began his fire service career in 1982 and is currently the Chief of Administration for Hanover Fire-EMS in Richmond, Virginia. He is a past president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and was the George D. Post Instructor of the Year in 2015 for the creation of the SLICE-RS concept, which was incorporated into the ISFSI’s Principles of Modern Fire Attack Program.  Eddie serves on the Executive Advisory Board for FDIC and Fire Engineering Magazine and on the NFPA Technical Committee for Fire Services Training. He is the author of the “Volunteer Training Officer’s Handbook” from Fire Engineering Books and Videos. 

Mike Matros is a career firefighter paramedic of 16 years and is currently with the Sudbury Fire Department in Massachusetts. Mike is also the founder and executive director of the Hero's Cup Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on the health and safety of all first responders. In addition to Mike's non-profit work, Mike is also the founder and President of RedLine Gear Cleaning, a nationwide turnout gear cleaning company that provides on-site cleaning services directly at fire departments.Learn more at: https://redlinegearcleaning.com and http://heroescuphockey.com

Paul Hasenmeier is a 22-year fire service veteran and the fire chief of the Sunset Beach Fire Department in North Carolina.  He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program. He also possesses a bachelor’s degree in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University as well as a master’s degree in Public Administration from Capella University.  Paul is also a lead faculty member at Columbia Southern University where he teaches online courses in their fire administration program. He has presented on various topics across the United States and Canada, including the following classes: It’s Not a Costume: No Excuses Firemanship, Evaluation Strategies for Mentors, Company Bosses, and Chiefs, and School Bus Extrication.

Scott Geiselhart is a 24-year retired assistant chief from the Frazee Fire Department of Minnesota. He is a PTSD, addiction, and suicide-attempt survivor. Scott escaped a near-death experience on his road to discovery and recovery from his post-traumatic stress disorder. Scott is now a national speaker who shares his message of healing and redemption with thousands of first responders. He is also a co-author of the IAFC’s Yellow Ribbon Report “Under the Helmet: Performing an Internal Size-Up.” As a mental health practitioner and a certified peer support specialist, he has received crisis intervention training, suicide prevention training, and critical incident stress management training. Learn more about Scott and his journey at SeeingInColorAgain.com.

Nicholas Papa is a lieutenant with the New Britain Fire Department in Connecticut, where he has served for more than 14 years. A second-generation firefighter, he entered the fire service in 2003, volunteering for a neighboring suburb until his appointment to the New Britain Fire Department. Nick is the author of Coordinating Ventilation: Supporting Extinguishment & Survivability, and has been an FDIC classroom instructor since 2017. He is a technical panelist for the UL-FSRI Study on Coordinated Fire Attack in Acquired Structures. Lastly, he is the founder of Fireside Training, an organization that “empowers initiative through competency.”Learn more at https://firesidetraining.org

Nicholas J. Higgins is a firefighter and district training officer for Piscataway Fire District #2 in Piscataway, New Jersey. He is a New Jersey State Level 2 Fire Instructor, a National Fallen Firefighters Foundation state advocate, and a member of the Board of Directors for the 5-Alarm Task Force—a 501 (c) (3), non-profit organization. Nick is also the founder and a contributor of The Firehouse Tribune website. He has taught “Critical Thinking and Fireground Decision Making” and “Critical Thinking and The Fireground Officer” at various fire departments throughout the country, at Firehouse Expo, and other fire conferences nationwide.He is the author of “The 5-Tool Firefighter,” a book that helps firefighters perform at their highest level.Learn more at: TheFirehouseTribune.com

Ryan Johnston is a 30-year student of the fire service, with the last 24 years as a career firefighter. Ryan is also a rescue technician at the Waterville Fire Department in Maine. He is also a lieutenant in his hometown with the Oakland Fire Department. Ryan is also a contributing writer for Firefighter Nation and a charter member of the Managing Officer Program at The National Fire Academy.He is the owner of Maineiac Training: A small fire training company that prides itself on providing realistic fire training. Follow Maineiac Training on Facebook and Instagram at @maineiactraining.

Murphy Arsenaux is a retired captain and 37-year veteran of the fire service. He started his career at the New Orleans Fire Department and finished it at St. George Fire Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Check out episode 054 with Murphy, where we discuss his book: A Company of Leaders: Leading at Every LevelOn this episode, we welcome Murphy's co-author for Firehouse Mentor, Lieutenant Nick Joiner. Nick has been in the fire service for 26 years. In 1995, at 19-years-old, he started his career at Abbeville Fire Department in Louisiana. In 2008, he made the move to Industrial Emergency Services in Baton Rouge to work as an industrial firefighter in an oil refinery plant.In 2010, Nick left the industrial scene and joined the St. George Fire Department, where he currently holds the rank of Lieutenant. Nick also serves on the honor guard for SGFD. He is passionate about promoting leadership, physical fitness and pursuing his education.In 2018, Nick started “10 Rounds Firefighting”, a fire service, task-related fitness program to help inspire other firefighters to get into top physical condition. He is a part-time Training Instructor, Physical Fitness Instructor and also leads leadership forums at SGFD for captains, lieutenants, and firefighters. In 2017, Nick was overwhelmingly voted as “Firefighter of the Year” by his peers.

Murphy Arsenaux is a 37-year veteran of the fire service. He is the author of A Company of Leaders, Leading At Every Level and Co-author of Firehouse Mentor. He entered the New Orleans Fire Department in 1984 and rose to captain in 1995. In 1999 he transferred to the St. George Fire Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in 2000 he was promoted to captain again. His assignments have varied, from leading one of the busiest engines in the city of New Orleans, assisting in the development of a first responder pilot program for the NOFD, to serving as a training officer at St. George Fire. Murphy is a contributing writer for B Shifter Magazine where he writes articles on leadership. He looks forward to retirement and spending more time with his wife of 33 years, their 21 year old autistic son, daughter, and grandchildren. His passion is studying the Holy Scriptures and helping others.Both of his books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.