Joe’s interest in emergency medicine started when he became an EMT in 1978 in Chicago. He went on to become a Paramedic Officer for the Chicago Fire Department and Scuba Diving Instructor prior to becoming a Physician’s Assistant in a freestanding rural Emergency Department. Joe received the Paramedic of the Year award in 1982 when he and his partner safely rescued 36 people from a burning building at a time that was before Chicago Fire Department had a formal disaster response plan in place. In 1994, he graduated from Cook County Hospital Physician Assistant Program as Class President with Honors.
In 2001 Joe was the medic for John Bennett when he became the first person to complete an open water scuba dive to a world record depth of 1,024 ft. / 308 meters as documented by National Geographic and Guinness Book of World Records. Currently, Joe is working 12 & 24-hour shifts in the Emergency Department at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center on Oahu in Hawaii. He says “ I spend all of my free time scuba diving and riding my Harley in paradise”. Joe also has friends and family in Dumaguete, Philippines where he looks forward to teaching local bikers ASM classes.
To contact Joe for classes in Hawaii or the Philippines fill out the form online.