Joe has been in EMS since 1989. After earning his Fire Science degree and EMT certification from the College of San Mateo, he went on to be a reserve firefighter for the city of Brisbane, Calif. (1990 -1993) and then became a full-time Firefighter/Engineer in 1994. He upgraded to Paramedic in 1995 and spent his 30-year career with Brisbane Fire (North County Fire Authority).

He joined the Sac State Prehospital Education programs in October 2023 and has worked as both a skills instructor and lead instructor since then. His teaching philosophy is to help students achieve their goals through thoughtful, respectful, and equitable instruction and conversational engagement. To future EMT students: no matter how young or how old, your life experience or work experience can be useful and applied to your EMS career.