The Real ResQ Podcast

In Episode 277 of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn speaks with David Cicotello, who shares an extraordinary story of survival, loss, faith, and recovery.
In March 2011, Cicotello and his older brother, Louis, entered the North Fork of No Man’s Canyon in Utah for what was supposed to be a six-hour canyoneering trip.
During their final rappel, Louis called out that the rope was short. Seconds later, the rope ripped through the rappel ring and disappeared over the edge.
Unable to reach his brother, descend the canyon, or climb back the way they had entered, Cicotello was trapped. With only the contents of a day pack, a small amount of food and water, and no way to call for help, he turned his attention to one goal: survive until rescuers could find him.
Cicotello takes us through the 144 hours he spent alone in the canyon—rationing supplies, enduring freezing nights, creating a HELP sign, and relying on routines, determination, and faith to keep going.
A map Cicotello left with his loved ones eventually led search-and-rescue teams to the brothers’ location. Utah DPS pilot Luke Bowman, Trooper Aaron Beasley, Commander Rustin Grundy, and members of Wayne County Search and Rescue reached Cicotello and pulled him from the canyon.
Cicotello also speaks openly about losing his brother and the difficult recovery that followed. As he explains, surviving the canyon was only the first stage. Learning to live with what happened required another community of people to help rescue him all over again.
This episode shares the survivor’s perspective of a rescue previously discussed by Luke Bowman in Episode 249—and serves as a powerful reminder to prepare carefully, leave a detailed route plan, and never underestimate the people who will come looking when you need them most.
Enjoy!
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In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Dr. Steve Glassey, a public safety “pracademic” and CEO of the International Public Safety Qualifications Authority (IPSQA).

Glassey’s nearly 30-year career has taken him through the Royal New Zealand Navy, emergency medical services, firefighting, urban search and rescue, swiftwater rescue, animal welfare, humanitarian disaster response, and academia. His work has brought him to major disasters around the world, including Typhoon Ketsana in Laos, the Samoan tsunami, the Christchurch earthquake, and the devastating Australian bushfires.

The conversation begins with Glassey’s early years in rescue and the creation of the Wellington SPCA Animal Rescue Unit—the first technical animal rescue team of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. He recalls one of the team's earliest missions involving Ace, a German shepherd trapped on a cliff, an improvised harness, and a hard lesson in never taking an owner's word that their dog won't bite.

Glassey also shares the story of his first cardiac-arrest patient and explains how those early experiences shaped his approach to emergency response, leadership, and decision-making.

The conversation then moves into major disaster operations and lessons from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Glassey discusses the importance of clearly established command structures and introduces his ABCs of emergency response:

“Assume nothing. Believe no one. Confirm everything.”

Glassey and Quinn examine the dangers of swiftwater and flood rescue, including the frequency of vehicle-related flood deaths and the growing “glass coffin” problem created by laminated vehicle windows. Glassey explains why traditional window-breaking tools may no longer work on newer vehicles and why rescuers must begin adapting their tactics and equipment.

They also discuss the Swiftwater Recovery Specialist program developed by Glassey and New Zealand Police Senior Sergeant Jeff Bray. The program received a Higgins & Langley Memorial Award for its evidence-based and compassionate approach to recovering deceased victims from moving water. Glassey explains why a technically successful recovery can still become a failure when the dignity of the victim and the needs of the family are overlooked.

One of the episode’s most intense stories involves a horse trapped beneath a cliff along the rising Otaki River. The rescue required rope technicians, swiftwater personnel, veterinarians, and a helicopter crew to work together. Once the horse was sedated, the team had only seconds to connect the sling and lift it clear before its head disappeared beneath the rising water.

Glassey also recounts deploying with Animal Evac New Zealand during the catastrophic 2019–2020 Australian bushfires, where his team searched burned areas for surviving wildlife and relocated animals left without food or water.

The episode then turns to Glassey’s work as CEO of IPSQA. He explains how fraudulent, unverified, and poorly assessed qualifications can place rescuers, patients, and entire organizations at risk. IPSQA separates training from independent certification, creating a global assessment system intended to verify that public safety professionals can actually perform the skills listed on their credentials.

Finally, Glassey introduces a next-generation water rescue breathing apparatus developed for swiftwater rescuers, boat crews, tactical operators, and other water-rescue professionals. The system automatically transitions from ambient air to compressed air when submerged while also providing integrated team and patient communications. He believes the technology could eventually change water rescue in much the same way breathing apparatus changed structural firefighting.

The episode closes with a hilarious story involving highly trained U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen, a nighttime swiftwater exercise, and a completely fabricated warning about giant killer eels in New Zealand.

This episode delivers powerful rescue stories, hard-earned lessons, innovative ideas, and plenty of humor—all from a man working at the intersection of frontline experience, research, education, and public safety.

Enjoy!
Thank you for sponsoring this episode of The Real ResQ: 
READYBAR https://getreadybar.com/
IPSQA https://ipsqa.com/. (To learn more about IPSQA, visit IPSQA.com or connect with Dr. Steve Glassey on LinkedIn.)
We also have some amazing companies supporting The Real ResQ. These brands offer you exclusive discounts when you use our code, and when you do, you’re helping to support the show. To check out the full list of these supportive brands and the deals they offer, head over to TheRealResQ.com.
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In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with Canadian Armed Forces Search and Rescue Technicians Matthew Sebo and Connor Twomey.
Both Sebo and Twomey came to the SARTech community after already serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. Matt spent 11 years in the Armoured Corps—including a deployment alongside his brother—before deciding he wanted to move away from fighting and toward a career focused on helping people. Connor began as a reservist medic before discovering the SARTech trade and realizing it combined the medicine, challenge, and specialized rescue work he was looking for.
The centerpiece of the episode is a September 2025 plane crash in remote northern Manitoba. Five people were believed to be aboard, the crash site was deep in the wilderness, and reaching it by conventional means wasn't an option. Four SARTechs loaded their equipment aboard a Hercules and headed north.
Arriving in complete darkness, the team parachuted into a nearby lake carrying roughly 100 pounds of equipment in addition to their parachutes, then pushed through thick muskeg and boreal forest toward the burning wreckage.
When they reached the crash site, they discovered one survivor—a badly injured 20-year-old pilot. With hypothermia setting in, the SARTechs began advanced medical treatment while simultaneously developing a plan to get him out.
What follows is an extraordinary chain of rescue: treating the survivor in the wilderness, carrying him through difficult terrain, moving into deep water to reach a hovering helicopter, transferring him back to the Hercules, and ultimately getting him to definitive medical care.
Connor also shares another operational parachute rescue involving a helicopter crash in the Canadian wilderness—another mission where a pilot survived against incredible odds.
Throughout the episode, Sebo and Twomey talk about preparation, teamwork, lessons learned, the realities of operational parachuting, and what it means to be a SARTech when the only way to reach someone in trouble is to jump out of an airplane and go get them.
Enjoy!
Thank you for sponsoring this episode of The Real ResQ: 
Switlik https://switlik.com/
We also have some amazing companies supporting The Real ResQ. These brands offer you exclusive discounts when you use our code, and when you do, you’re helping to support the show. To check out the full list of these supportive brands and the deals they offer, head over to TheRealResQ.com.
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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, providing advanced medical care, and operating everywhere from the Canadian wilderness to the North Atlantic.
Hudson shares stories from his time at 413 Squadron in Greenwood, 424 Squadron in Trenton, and 103 Squadron in Gander—including his first rescue from a cruise ship, searches for downed aircraft, missions to fishing vessels, and the realities of operating in some of Canada's most remote environments.
The centerpiece of the episode is the rescue of the MSC Baltic III. With the vessel disabled and drifting toward shore in brutal conditions, Hudson and the crew launched to find 20 people onboard, several injured. Hudson takes us onto the ice-covered deck, inside the damaged ship, and through the triage and hoisting operation as the crew worked to get everyone off safely.
There are plenty of laughs along the way, too—including a rescue mission to a fishing boat trapped in the ice whose crew needed food, water…and was very concerned that the SAR Techs not forget the cigarettes.
Throughout the conversation, Hudson emphasizes the value of sharing experiences—the good decisions, the mistakes, and the lessons learned—so the next rescuer can approach the job a little better prepared.
From parachutes and hoists to medicine, teamwork, and life aboard a rescue squadron, this episode is an awesome look inside the world of a Canadian SAR Tech.
Enjoy!
We have some amazing companies supporting The Real ResQ. These brands offer you exclusive discounts when you use our code, and when you do, you’re helping to support the show. To check out the full list of these supportive brands and the deals they offer, head over to TheRealResQ.com.
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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 crews routinely battle fog, icing, high winds, limited fuel options, and some of the most isolated terrain on the planet.
He shares the story of his first major mission as an aircraft commander—a helicopter crash hundreds of miles north in the Canadian Arctic—and the uncertainty of being a relatively new commander suddenly responsible for taking a crew into an environment he had never operated in before.
Neri also walks through a challenging long-range medevac from a cargo ship off the Labrador coast. With no visible horizon and the ship rolling beneath the helicopter, the crew had to rethink their plan while one of the SARTechs nearly slid across the wet deck toward the edge during the hoist. They ultimately completed the rescue and got the patient safely to the hospital.
Along the way, Neri explains how Canadian SAR crews operate, the intense training behind the SARTech community, Arctic survival training in temperatures reaching extreme lows, and the enormous amount of planning and decision-making required when the nearest fuel or rescue resource may be hours away.
The conversation is filled with great rescue stories, humor, lessons learned, and an important reminder from Neri: sometimes the most important decision a rescue crew can make is knowing when to say no.
From the North Atlantic to the Canadian Arctic, this episode offers an incredible look inside one of the most unique search and rescue environments in the world.
Enjoy!
Matt Neri YouTube: www.youtube.com/@mattfrom103
We have some amazing companies supporting The Real ResQ. These brands offer you exclusive discounts when you use our code, and when you do, you’re helping to support the show. To check out the full list of these supportive brands and the deals they offer, head over to TheRealResQ.com.
Follow The Real ResQ for all updates on Facebook, Instagram or visit TheRealResQ.com