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Ron Presley
Field Response Manager
Kinship Circle DART
PROFESSIONAL
- Full-time firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) with Marietta Fire Department, in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
- Volunteer for animal rescue and disaster aid groups since 1998.
DISASTER RESPONSE
- FEMA IS-00340 Hazardous Materials Prevention
Basic Life Support
Hazardous Materials Response
Fire Inspection Principles & Practice
- FEMA IS-100 Introduction to Incident Command System
- FEMA IS-700 National Incident Management System And Introduction
- FEMA IS00022 Citizen's Guide for Disaster Preparedness
- FEMA IS00200 Basic Incident Command System for Federal Disaster Workers
- FEMA IS00700 National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction
- FEMA IS00800 National Response Plan (NRP) An Introduction
- NPQ EMT-I Emergency Medical Technician
- NPQ Georgia Firefighter Certification
- State of Georgia Firefighter 2
- American Heart Association Bi-Annual CPR/AED Certification
- Advanced Swiftwater Rescue
- NPQ Hazardous Materials Operations and Technician
- Fire Instructor 1
- Structural Fire Instructor
Structural Fire Control
Pressurized Container Fire Control
- Crash Victim Extrication (Georgia Fire Academy 2003-present)
- Advanced Crash Victim Extrication
- Rope Rescue Operations and Technician
- Confined Space Rescuer
- Interior Search and Rescue
- Combustible Building Construction
- Relief Driver 1 and 2 (Marietta Fire Department 2002-present)
ANIMAL DISASTER AID EXPERIENCE
- Hurricane Harvey: Deployed with Kinship Circle as co-Incident Commander to conduct search-rescue and water rescue via boat in flooded Southeast Texas.
- Hurricane Matthew: Deployed with Kinship Circle as Incident Commander to conduct search-rescue, water rescue and emergency sheltering work with aggressive, traumatized animals. South Carolina.
- Louisiana Flood: Deployed with Kinship Circle as Incident Commander to conduct search-rescue, water rescue and food-water delivery plus field aid. Livingston Parish, LA.
- Thailand Flood: Deployed with Kinship Circle as Incident Commander on two missions, to conduct boat rescue in mid to deep floodwaters across the northern rim of Bangkok, Thailand. Also led team, with on-site training in aggressive animal handling, at an emergency shelter in the Muang District of Samut Prakan in Bangkok.
- Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, Radiation Crisis: Deployed with Kinship Circle as Incident Commander on assessment team and later Japan teams. Navigation and search-rescue in disaster hit parts of Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. Built relationships with foreign NGOs and coordinators. Animal handling and transport. Strategic planning and field operations, shelter-in-place (food/water distribution)… Interacted with local officials and evacuation centers, including food delivery to animals left in homes or living outdoors at evac sites.
- Chile Earthquake, Tsunami: Deployed with Kinship Circle as Team Safety Officer to coastal communities north and south of Concepcion in the Bio Bio region for animal rescue, handling, vet care assistance and field first aid, emergency clinics. Constructed a wheel device that enabled a crippled dog to move again…
- Tabasco, Mexico Flood: Deployed with HSUS, HSI and Best Friends. Safety officer on field team helping with all animal rescue/handling aspects.
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina: Three self-deployed trips to New Orleans. Coordinated teams for search-rescue and set up food stations. Forced entry on hundreds of structures…
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Ron Presley, Field Response Manager, KC-DART
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Ron Presley, KC-DART Field Response Manager, is in Japan for animal victims of an earthquake, tsunami and radiation crisis. Here, he leads a Kinship Circle-JEARS team (with Charles Harmison of Last Chance For Animals) to rescue this forlorn cocker spaniel, Susie, hidden in roadside weeds in deserted Minami-Soma. (c) Kinship Circle, Japan Earthquake
IN HIS OWN WORDS: Why I Rescue Animal Disaster Victims
My name is Ron Presley and I've been a full-time firefighter/EMT since 3/18/02. I decided to become a firefighter after watching two planes crash into the Twin Towers. Our department runs about 12,000 calls each year from six stations.
I became involved in animal disaster rescue by accident. While watching the coverage of Katrina on TV, I saw CNN's Anderson Cooper attempt to feed a stranded dog. The water got too deep and he gave up the effort. I couldn't live with that, and loaded up my truck and headed for New Orleans alone.
My experience was life changing (I was divorced within a few months) and compelled me to be an animal rescuer not only in normal times, but even more so in disasters. During my life, and especially as a firefighter, I've acquired many skills. It would be a horrible waste to not apply those skills to doing good in the world. Rescuing animals helps those who can't help themselves and are in danger, many times because of the cruelty or ignorance of the human race.
Ron Presely, Field Response Manager
Kinship Circle Disaster Animal Response Team
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With Kinship Circle in Japan, Ron (in camo pants) says the devastation in Iwate Prefecture defies description. Endless smashed debris. No one survived within 4-10 miles of the coast, if present when the tsunami crashed ashore. (c) Kinship Circle, Japan Earthquake
FOOTNOTES FROM RON:
I've cared for dogs all my life. I can control aggressive dogs and am not afraid to wade into a dogfight to break it up. I can force or climb my way into almost any structure. In my career as a firefighter, I help teach forcible entry. I can drive anything from fire engines to backhoes… I have great compassion for animals and go to extreme lengths in rescue situations. I'm fully prepared and geared up when I go into the field for animals.
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Kinship Circle Field Response Managers Ron Presley and Cheri Deatsch feed a dog rescued after Hurricane Harvey in Vidor, TX. A man who didn't evacuate man has cared for his neighbor's basset since most residents fled floodwaters. The basset's eyes and ears are severely inflected from toxic waters. The dog will get veterinary aid and eventual reunion or adoption. (c) Kinship Circle, Hurricane Harvey
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Ron Presley and Sister Michael Marie visit Colyell, a mostly empty town in Livingston Parrish. Animals remain. And they're very hungry. A colony of some 15 cats “literally come out of the woodwork to get food,” Sister reports. (c) Kinship Circle, Louisiana Flood
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At the Bang Pu emergency shelter in Bangkok, Ron and Kinship's team clean, feed, walk, and give meds.A tiny pup won't eat. A vet injects subcutaneous fluids and the cutie pie perks up. It is a day by day bridge from flood rescue to recovery. (c) Kinship Circle, Thailand Floods
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Ron Presley searches for a grieving woman's cat Leo. (c) Kinship Circle, Hurricane Matthew
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Between Soma and Kashima cities, Ron Presley gently grasps a starving, wounded dog's nape to lift her into a crate for transport to the emergency shelter in Niigata. (c) Kinship Circle, Japan Earthquake
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In Fundo dos Robles, a dog captures the heart of Kinship Circle responder Ron Presley. Her back legs are paralyzed. (c) Kinship Circle, Chile Earthquake
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Ron's heart melts when he sees a dog's struggle to reach drinking water. So Ron, with Peter Crowe and Tracie Dawson, gather scrap parts to craft a wheel device that straps onto the dog. (c) Kinship Circle, Chile Earthquake
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Kinship Circle policy is to aid any animal encountered in a disaster zone. In Texas, we help cats, dogs, ducks, chickens, guinea, cows, goats and one (rather large) snake. (c) Kinship Circle, Hurricane Harvey
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Ron Presley joins a deep-water boat team, led by Save Elephant Foundation's Darrick Thomson. Animals are stranded at flooded Buddhist monk temples that we cannot access by vehicle or foot. (c) Kinship Circle, Thailand Floods
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More Ron Presley Pics In The Field
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Like many, she wears a collar. Is she orphaned or abandoned? Reunion efforts are made for all rescues. Ron Presley comforts Susie at the emergency shelter Animal Friends Niigata. (c) Kinship Circle, Japan Earthquake
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Night falls silently over Beaumont, as if all life has vanished. The swollen Neches River has crushed metro utilities. Residents have no running water. Many flee rising waters. Reports about stranded animals lead KC-DART, co-led by Ron Presley, to Vidor, TX for search-rescue, animal food delivery and field aid. (c) Kinship Circle, Hurricane Harvey
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Dogs, cats, monkeys and other animals huddle atop dry spots on flooded Buddhist temple grounds or watery canals in northern Bangkok. Ron Presley joins a deep-water rescue team to reach them. (c) Kinship Circle, Thailand Floods
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Ron Presley and Peter Crowe gather scrap parts scattered around a farm to craft a wheel cart for a dog with paralyzed back legs. With wheels, the dog moves freely. (c) Kinship Circle, Chile Earthquake
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In Colyell, a deeply flooded part of Livingston Parish, Louisiana, animals are left behind. And they're very hungry. Ron Presley soothes Butterbean the Chihauhaua. (c) Kinship Circle, Louisiana Flood
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