Karen is originally from Smithtown on Long Island. She serves as
the Team Commander . She has been performing veterinary medicine
since 1993. Karen’s pets include horses Joshua, Tarp and Walt; and
dogs Mona, Jackson, Fred (her Guardian Angels foster dog) and Yarah; and cats Tina and Tutti Fruiti.
Karen and her husband Dave
live in a log cabin in Bluemont, Virginia. She attended Wilson
College and Ross University and graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine. Karen’s hobbies include horseback riding, hiking with
the dogs and gardening. One thing the team would be surprised to
hear is that she considers herself an introvert
Walt Kaplan comes to us from the people side of NDMS where he was a member of NC-1 and NMRT-East in Winston-Salem, NC. He currently resides in Stafford, VA and serves as the Deputy Team Commander for NVRT-2. Walt has a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and an undergraduate degree from Guilford College. He currently works for Touchstone in Washington D.C. supporting a multitude of State & Local clients (Including Virginia) focusing on improving communications and interoperability among first responders. Walt was a Paramedic for many years and has a strong background in HAZMAT & WMD. Walt has a son and a daughter along with three dogs Hugo, Maggie and Katrina (can you guess where that name came from?).
Bill Miller - Deputy Team
Commander
Bill resides in
Maggie Valley, North Carolina. He is a graduate Forester from NC
State University (1975) with 39 years experience as an emergency
response veteran. He is certified as a Type III incident
commander, Type I operations Section Chief, and Type I Safety Officer.
In addition to his role as Deputy Team Commander for NVRT-2, he also
works with the United States Forestry Service as an Assistant Deputy
with qualifications as Type I Safety Officer and Operations Section
Chief, North Carolina Emergency Management as Assistant Fire Marshall,
and Maggie Valley Fire Department as chief officer for search and
rescue, Hazmat, fire suppression, swift water rescue, high angle rescue,
and natural disaster response.
Bill has also worked for DHS/FEMA
as an Operations Specialist, the North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources as the Fire and Emergency Response Coordinator, the National
Fire Academy developing courses and training for ICS/NIMS and Incident
Management Teams through the National Fire Academy, national Wildfire
Coordinating Group, National Association of State Foresters, and FEMA.
He has also served as response coordinator and liaison with State
Emergency Management Agencies as well as with FEMA, the US Coast Guard,
and the US Forest Service.
He continues to be involved in
structure fire protection, and has served the fire department positions
from fire fighter, company officer, training officer, to assistant chief
at various fire departments for the last 33 years.
Rhonda is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she resides today. She serves as Administrative Officer for NVRT-2 and has been on the team since 2005. Rhonda has been a veterinary technician full and part time since 1998. She also worked for a transportation carrier managing their workers compensation program. Rhonda specialized in human injury prevention. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BS in Public Policy & Management in 1989 and the Median School of Allied Health Careers in 1998. Since becoming a full time Mother, Rhonda currently works part time as a technician for Bridgeville Animal Hospital. Rhonda has 3 dogs, 1 cat and a 2 year old toddler. Daughter Kaelyn and husband Kevin take up much of her free time but she will not give up her passion for "the call" for disaster preparedness.
Audrey is originally from Richfield, Ohio where she currently resides. She serves as Acting Administration Officers for NVRT-2. Audrey graduated for Columbus State Community College with an AS degree in Veterinary Technology. She currently works for Cuyahoga Community College (CCC) in the Veterinary Technology Program for 21 years as a lab technician. Prior to CCC, she worked in a private small animal practice. Audrey’s pets include cats Libby and Petri and horses Judd and Sully. She misses her much-loved dog Stasiu who passed away from Lymphoma. Audrey is married to Dale has a son Nick, daughter Becky and stepson Kyle.
Christine is originally from Freiburg, Germany. She serves as a Logistics Officer. She has been performing veterinary medicine 1989 and has been a licensed veterinary technician since 1992. Christine is married to David. Christine’s pets include horses Angelica and Fat Bob the Singing Plumber; German Shepherd Max, cats Paco, Spunky and Clementine. Christine specializes in small animals and equine healthcare (but NO reptiles!). She attended high school in Germany and received her Veterinary Technician Degree at Northern Virginia Community College. Christine’s hobbies include horseback riding, snow skiing, and swimming. She is most proud of the re-organization of the NVRT-2 cache.
James L. Aiello, 53
Born in Hempstead, New York, July 10, 1957
Married, 3 Children
Jim is a retired
paramedic, firefighter and WMD response instructor after more than 26
years of service with Miami Beach Fire Rescue.
With more than 30 years of experience in the
fire service and disaster preparedness and response, he holds a Bachelor
of Science in Fire Science Engineering, a Public Budgeting and Financial
Management Graduate Certificate and a Master of Public Administration
(MPA).
Jim was an original member of Miami’s Urban Search and
Rescue Team TF-2.
During the late 1980’s and first half of the
1990’s, Jim was a flight medic for a private fixed wing air ambulance
company dealing with international medical rescue.
In 1996, Mr. Aiello focused on what was the
beginning of a formalized domestic WMD training program.
Jim trained with many domestic and
international special operations teams in tactical response dealing with
terrorism.
As the need for WMD training and education
for fire department responders became a necessity, Aiello designed a
training program
targeting Special Response Team Operations dealing with COBRA (Chemical,
Ordnance, Biological and Radiological) Incidents.
Mr. Aiello is a
Florida fire service instructor III with national certification.
In addition, he has been certified by the
Department of Homeland Security as a General Instructor of Weapons of
Mass Destruction in Anniston, AL.
Since retirement from
the municipal fire service, Jim has been a safety officer for all
hazards response with NDMS’s NVRT-2 and a certified respiratory fit
tester for NDMS.
Bob is originally from Northwest, Indiana. He serves as Safety Officer for NVRT-2. Bob’s specialty is safety and security and went to the Indiana University of Business and Communications as well as the Ivy Tech Fire Science School. Bob’s pets include cats Smokey, Lucky and a rescued stray that does not have a name yet. He has a daughter Jennifer and son Steven. Bob’s hobbies include glass etching and emergency work. He even went to New Mexico for classes in glass etching! Bob is most proud of his membership to NVRT-2 especially since he is not involved in the veterinary industry.
Denise was born in Tacoma Park, Maryland and now resides in Laurel, Maryland. She has been in veterinary medicine for 23 years. Denise obtained her BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland & Baltimore County. Her current occupation is Practice Manager for Olney Sandy Springs Veterinary Hospital. Her pets are Keeshond named Casanova, Chihuahua/Jack Russell stray from Mississippi named Grady and 2 cats- Chelsea and Kelly. Her hobbies are needlepoint, puzzles, bowling and fly ball with her dog Casanova. The team would be most surprised to learn that she considers herself a “home body”.
Kathleen is originally from Louisville, Kentucky but currently resides in Floyd, Virginia. She serves as the Communications Officer for NVRT-2. She had been in veterinary medicine for 20 years and specialized in equine care and rescue. Kathleen’s animal companion and office disorganizer is her long time cat "Scout". Her beloved horse Majestic passed away but lived 26 years. Kathleen has both a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Engineering degrees from University of Louisville and a DVM from Auburn University. Her hobbies and interests are TNTC! (Too numerous to count) Kathleen participates in general and large animal rescue but was a proud member of TRACER, Technical Rope & Cave Emergency Response. This elite group specializes in swift water rescue, cave rescues and “high angle” rescues such as on high ledges. It is no surprise that she passed all the individual tests within one day! Her other hobbies include disaster and emergency preparedness, videography and communications. It probably comes at no surprise to know that Kathleen is an avid ham radio operator (call sign WK4AB).