Instructor Cadre
IAR Founder
Josh Bennett - Nationally Registered Paramedic, Critical Care Paramedic, and fire stuff too.
Josh has worked as a firefighter and paramedic in career, volunteer, urban, rural, and private fire and EMS departments in Nebraska and Iowa. He has served as a career training officer, and has been the EMS service director for a career and volunteer fire department.
Led by faith in Christ, he has enjoyed the journey set before him and follows it sometimes willingly. His wife and kids are more important than any of his jobs, and he teaches classes as if his students are responding to his own family.
Josh is a career fire Lieutenant and a former training officer in Ames, Iowa proudly protecting the Cyclones. As a Nebraska native this is acceptable since everyone bleeds red anyway. Josh started his career directly north of his hometown of Lincoln with the Raymond Volunteer Fire Department as a live-in member of Arbor Station.
Lead Instructors-
Jeff Gilchrist - MS, BA, RN, Certified Emergency Nurse, Nationally Registered Paramedic, Critical Care Paramedic
While in college 100 years ago studying to be an educator Jeff came upon a medical emergency and had no idea what to do. As an attempt to be more marketable as an educator he decided to take a first aid class and CPR class which then led him to taking an EMT class. After a lot of prayer and conversation with his family, six months after he graduated from college with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education, he decided to switch career paths and go to paramedic school.
Jeff's experience started in the Kansas City area, and brought him to many states and areas of the country before landing (no pun intended for this former flight medic) in Iowa with the Iowa American team.
Jeff has worked in a variety of environments that include both career and volunteer fire departments, large city high-performance EMS systems as well as rural EMS departments. While working as a flight medic in the upper Midwest, he completed nursing school. Afterwards, he spent time working in both pediatric and adult intensive care units with a bulk of his time being spent in the emergency department. Jeff holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration and is still actively working as an ER nurse, field paramedic, firefighter and EMT instructor.
Emotional Support Director
Copper- The non-rescue rescue-dog.
Copper is seen here posing for some product photos. Don't let his rugged good looks fool you, he is much more of a dork in person. He is a lover not a fighter, and provides a welcome distraction from the world of public safety. He is a good boy.
Additional Instructors are added on an invitation basis.