Conference Speakers
Dana Sechler
Dana has served in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and fire service for more than 33 years in various capacities. He participated as volunteer, paid-on-call, combination, resident program and career services. During his tenure in EMS and fire departments, he gained valuable experience working at several different types and models of services, including fire, hospital, county-based EMS, third-party services, municipal services and district services. During his career, Dana has worked in administrative positions as a fire chief, an EMS service director, a billing services manager, and a state EMS office official, as the ALS / Paramedic program coordinator in the Department of Human Services (DHS). He continues to share his experience and knowledge with the community as a fire instructor, adjunct faculty, educator and administrator for initial and continuing education classes for all levels of EMS (including EMR, EMT, Intermediate and Paramedic), as well as several fire and rescue classes. As a co-founder of Principals of Strategic Management & Consulting, LLC, Dana has conducted several EMS leadership courses utilizing a course curriculum that he co-wrote and developed. Recently, he has become active in the legislative process by advocating for fire and EMS with elected officials at the state and federal levels.
Stephen Murphy, BS
NRParamedic
“Murph'' has been a paramedic for more than 45 years. His experience in the EMS community is exceptionally diverse and has worked in both rural and urban settings. He has served as a flight paramedic in Colorado, an EMS supervisor and manager in the private ambulance sector and an EMS educator. Murph recently retired from West Pierce Fire & Rescue, where he worked as a battalion chief/paramedic. He is also one of the primary partners in Murphee CME Inc., a medical education and consulting firm. He continues to serve as an American Heart Association instructor for ACLS, PALS and BLS and has been actively involved in the continuing education of medical professionals, administrators and other educators for the past 40 years. Murph shares his insights as a speaker at many state, national and international EMS, fire and leadership conferences.
Mike Blaser
Mercyhealth
Mike has served in law enforcement for more than 25 years after starting his career in Waunakee, Wis., in 1998. He is a retired lieutenant of the Janesville Police Department, having worked in patrol, narcotics, SWAT and crisis intervention during his career. During his time working crisis intervention, Mike altered SWAT response to barricaded suicidal subjects and helped implement scenario-based training as a standard for officer in-services. As a career law enforcement officer, Mike completed more than 4,000 hours of specialized training in tactics, leadership, crisis intervention, patrol response and trauma intervention. Before starting his career in law enforcement, he earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In May 2021 he earned a master's degree in organizational change leadership with an emphasis in project management from UW-Platteville. Mike holds multiple instructor certifications in communication, de-escalation, Community Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE), Rescue Task Force (RTF), crisis intervention and trauma preparedness. He is currently a Mercyhealth instructor and works with a team of six instructors to develop, implement and deliver training for Mercyhealth employees, paramedics, law enforcement and community members.
Scotty Bolleter, BS, EMT-P, FcEHS
Scott Bolleter, or “Scotty” as he is known to his friends and colleagues, is a respected clinician, medical device inventor, author and lecturer. He is best known in medicine for his clinical candor, scientific contributions and inspiring words. Scotty currently serves as department chair of the Centre for Emergency Health Sciences near San Antonio, Texas. His work at the Centre includes multi-specialty training, research, procedural and device development and clinical oversight. He has worked in emergency medicine for more than 40 years and his name appears on more than 30 patents in the areas of emergent, oncologic and orthopedic medicine. His recent efforts include the development of the Simplified Pneumothorax Emergency Air Release (SPEAR) 10-gauge decompression system, the redesigned Enhanced Air Release Systems (16, 14 and 10 gauges), as well as the Bougie Aided Cricothyrotomy (BAC) surgical airway.
His resume includes experience as an education director and flight paramedic for San Antonio AirLIFE, faculty and assistant program director for Victoria College, training officer and supervisor for Harlingen Community Emergency Care Foundation and initial EMS efforts in Aransas County and Southeast Asia. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2021 Larry J. Miller Centre Fellow, 2018 Recognition from the Air Medical Physician’s Association, 2018 EMS Innovation Award from EMS World and 2017 Recognition from the Department of Homeland Security.
Mike Gagliano
Seattle Fire Department (retired)
Mike Gagliano has more than 30 years of fire/crash/rescue experience with the Seattle Fire Department and the United States Air Force. He served as the Captain of Ladder 5 and a proud member of Fire Station 31. He has written numerous fire service articles and co-authored the bestselling book, Air Management for the Fire Service, as well as the SCBA chapter of the Handbook for Firefighter 1 & 2 from Pennwell. Mike is a leader on the Fire Engineering/FDIC Advisory Board, a director for the Firefighter Air Coalition (aircoalition.org) and a member of the advisory board of the UL-Firefighter Safety and Research Institute. He teaches courses in Air Management, Fireground Tactics, Leadership and Company Officer Development across the US. He also co-hosts the popular Fire Engineering radio webcast "The Mikey G and Mikey D Show" and partners with his wife Anne (Firelife.com) to teach strategies for developing and maintaining a strong marriage/family.