Michael

Certified Tutor

I'm a Paramedic Field Operations Supervisor and Instructor in the Spartanburg, South Carolina area.

I began my career as a volunteer firefighter and had no plans of going into EMS, let alone choosing emergency services as a full-time career. Shortly after I joined the fire department, there was a large commercial fire at a neighboring department. This fire would become the single most life-altering event of my life. You see, most firefighters in the area were paid career firefighters with the larger cities and counties in the area, as well as volunteers at their local fire stations. Two friends of mine were volunteers with him at neighboring departments, but were also career firefighters for the City of Charleston Fire Department in Charleston, South Carolina. On the night of June 18th, 2007, a total of nine firefighters were killed in the largest "Line of Duty Death" event since 9/11. My two friends were part of what would later be known as the "Charleston 9". Since that day, I have chosen to dedicate my life to training and advancing his knowledge in emergency services, to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

I ended up deciding that public safety was a good fit and became a full-time firefighter/EMT. A few years later I moved to Atlanta, Georgia however my fire department certifications did not transfer to the state. I took it as a sign that this was the end of his public safety career. But as they say, you can take the firefighter out of the fire service, but you can't take the fire service out of the firefighter. I had a need to return to my "family" and help others in need. A year later, I returned to public safety as an EMT at a local EMS transport company and I moved up the ranks to eventually becoming a Critical Care Paramedic, Field Training Officer, and Critical Incident Stress Management Team Member, and "fill-in" Field Operations Supervisor with one of the largest ambulance services in the area.

Since then I have become a Paramedic Field Operations Supervisor for a 911 service outside of Spartanburg, South Carolina. I am a current American Heart Association BLS/ACLS/PALS Instructor, NAEMT PHTLS Instructor, and EMT/AEMT Instructor for multiple agencies. I also an active member of multiple Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Teams in the area. I hold active Paramedic licenses in South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin as well as an EMS Instructor license in Texas.

I have a true passion for training and believe that it can mean the difference of life and death for ourselves, our patients, and our fellow crew members. If there is one thing you take from this, it's to never stop learning.