The Real ResQ Podcast

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Greg Hudson, a Canadian Armed Forces Search and Rescue Technician (SAR Tech), to talk about his journey into one of the most unique rescue jobs in the world.

After nearly a decade in the Army, Hudson discovered the SAR Tech world, completed selection and training, and began a career that would have him parachuting from airplanes, hoisting from helicopters, pro...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Mathew Neri, Royal Canadian Air Force search and rescue pilot and as of this recording, the Commanding Officer of 103 Search and Rescue Squadron in Gander, Newfoundland.

Neri takes us inside the world of Canadian search and rescue, where missions can stretch hundreds of miles offshore or deep into the remote Arctic. Flying the massive CH-149 Cormorant, his cre...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with retired U.S. Coast Guard aviator Richard “Dick” Wright for an incredible look at a career spanning military aviation, combat, search and rescue, and the development of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program.

Wright’s journey took him through the Navy, Marine Corps, Army flight school, combat operations in Vietnam, the U.S. Coast Guard, and an...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, Jason Quinn sits down with Brad Newbury and his daughter, Kiera Newbury, to talk about rescue, emergency medicine, CPR, and the lasting impact of saving a life.

Brad brings more than four decades of experience in fire and EMS, while Kiera grew up around emergency medicine, became CPR certified at eight years old, later earned her EMT certification, and worked in a Level I trauma center in Bo...

In this special finale of The Real ResQ Podcast's six-part series, "What It Takes to Become a Hoist Operator," host Jason Quinn sits down with three men who helped shape his own career in helicopter rescue: Dan Cancetty, Pat Barber, and Joe Martin. Together, they bring decades of experience spanning military, civilian, offshore, law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue, and international helicopter operations.

Unlike the pre...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn continues the "What It Takes to Become a Hoist Operator" series with two guests from Australia who represent both the volunteer and professional sides of helicopter rescue operations: Kane Treloar of Life Saving Victoria and Peter McDonell of CHC Helicopters.

Together, they provide a fascinating look at the uniquely Australian pathway into rescue aviation—a journey tha...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn continues the "What It Takes to Become a Hoist Operator" series with two highly experienced rescue professionals from Germany: Simon Kremser and Sebastian Schneider.

Although they arrived at the same destination, their journeys could not have been more different.

Kremser began his career as an aircraft mechanic before finding his way into mountain rescue, offshore hoisting op...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Brandon Solomon, Andrew Gallagher and Stef Maier from Travis County STAR Flight for another installment in our ongoing series exploring what it takes to become a hoist operator. Together, they pull back the curtain on one of the most demanding and rewarding positions in helicopter rescue operations.

Unlike many public safety aviation programs that are rooted i...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down once again with James Dahmer—Air Operations Specialist, Hoist Operator, Rescue Specialist, Paramedic, and longtime search and rescue professional with Blackcomb Helicopters in British Columbia, Canada.

As part of our ongoing series exploring what it takes to become a hoist operator, Dahmer shares his unique journey into the world of helicopter rescue and aeri...

In this special episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with a group of United States Coast Guard Flight Mechanics, Richard Butler, Justin Leddon and Kyle Turcotte to pull back the curtain on one of the most critical—and often misunderstood—positions in Coast Guard aviation.

From the first day of Basic Aircrew (BA) training to becoming a fully qualified flight mech, the crew shares what it really tak...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Johnny Gray III, Firefighter Paramedic, Air Operations Crew Chief with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. 

Gray shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Southern California as the son of four-time Olympian Johnny Gray, to chasing his dream of professional basketball.  He did so playing across world in Germany, Hungary, Angola, and Estoni...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Shay Williams. A former United States Army and United States Coast Guard helicopter pilot.

Williams shares the remarkable journey that took him from growing up on Air Force bases as the son of a military pilot to flying troop transport missions with the 82nd Airborne Division, conducting medevac operations in Hawaii, and eventually transitioning into the Unite...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn is joined by Naude Dreyer, founder of Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN), marine wildlife rescuer, conservationist, and one of the world's leading experts in disentangling seals from marine debris. 

What began with a single seal caught in a fishing net over a decade ago has grown into an internationally recognized rescue organization that has saved thousands of marine ani...

In this episode of The Real ResQ, host Jason Quinn sits down with Mike Park, the former CEO of Mountain Rescue England and Wales.

As a volunteer rescuer with more than 42 years of mountain rescue experience. From his first callout as a teenager accompanying his father to a fatal aircraft crash site, to representing over 3,000 volunteer rescuers across England and Wales, Park shares an incredible perspective on the past, present, and...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn speaks with United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer #68 and Coast Guard pilot, Russ Torgerson.

Born in Alaska and raised in Colorado, Torgerson originally planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a firefighter. Until a chance glimpse of Coast Guard fast boats on Miami Vice changed the course of his life forever. What started as a “four-year plan” qui...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, Jason sits down with the Longview Fire Department crew 

The team responded to what quickly became one of the most complex high-angle rescues in recent memory. From the moment the call came in, the situation was evolving. Limited information, rapidly changing conditions, and the realization that this was going to require everything they had. What followed was a race against time as firef...

In this deeply personal and powerful episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn brings together the people who knew United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer #445, Mike Rinaldi, best. His widow, Aggie, his family and his fellow rescue swimmers to honor his life, his service, and the impact he left behind.

Through heartfelt stories and firsthand accounts, listeners are taken from Rinaldi’s early life growing up in Minnes...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Brad Torrens, United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer #114, for a powerful, wide-ranging conversation that spans the early days of Coast Guard aviation through the birth of the rescue swimmer program—and the personal cost that can come with a lifetime of rescue work.

Torrens takes us back to one of his earliest and most intense cases as a flight mechani...

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn dives into a dramatic multi-agency rescue off the coast of Dingle, Ireland, where the fishing vessel Fastnet was in distress and it triggered a complex and fast-moving response.

Featuring voices from Dispatch - Denis O’Leary, ground team - Carol Leahy, RNLI Volunteer Rescue Boat Crew - Sean Curtin and Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Crewmen - Paraic Slattery and Jim O&rsq...