Meet Dr Bob Ditch

“Dr. Bob” is a veteran Fire/Emergency Medical Service (EMS) first responder, Chief Officer, and Homeland Security/EMS and Disaster/Incident Management planner/educator who has concentrated his over 32 years of service on active duty in the United States Air Force and 18 years in retirement supporting, disaster, terrorism, fire service, EMS/mass casualty response operations, emergency management, homeland security education and adult education. He teaches for the Federal Emergency Management Agency/U.S. Department of Homeland Security, five universities, and State Emergency Management Agencies, and is a consultant in Emergency /Disaster Management/Planning, Exercise Planning, Hospital/Healthcare Preparedness and Terrorism/Homeland Security. He has served as a regional Medical Director for the United Nations; a Planning Section Chief on a Metropolitan Medical Response System – Strike Team, a Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and Incident Response Coordination Team, and Type I Incident Management Team. He has deployed and responded to over three dozen federally declared and four international disaster missions including 9/11 in New York City, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Isaac, Sandy, Harvey, and many others; the Somalia famine, Cholera Outbreak in Ecuador, Haiti and Puerto Rico Earthquakes, and recent Maria and Dorian in the Bahamas. He also served on the Federal/State Unified Command Group – Zika Task Force in Puerto Rico. He has also responded on multiple hurricanes, tornados, winter storms, typhoons, plane crashes, missing person and missing/overdue aircraft searches, technical rescue operations, and HAZMAT incidents. He has served as a volunteer/paid-call fire officer/firefighter /paramedic for 44 years. He currently serves on the National Headquarters for Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary. In this volunteer role he has served as an Incident Commander on multiple Search & Rescue, Disaster Response, and Homeland Security missions.