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Tony Bedenbaugh;
Manager of Instructional Design

Tony is a retired Battalion Chief with over 35 years of Fire and Emergency Services experience teaching Municipal and Industrial Fire, Technical Rescue, Hazardous Materials and Emergency Medical.

Tony has an Associates Degree and credentials with IFSAC FFI, II, Officer I, Driver/Operator, Instructor I, Former EMT, EMT-I (22 years). Tony has spoken and taught at several SC, NC, GA, Fla and AL Fire/Rescue conferences over his expansive career, with 30 plus years as an instructor.

Tony has been married for 38 years, has 3 children and 2 grandsons.

Jonah Smith; Instructor

Jonah Smith grew up in Richmond, VA where his exposure to the fire service began in the Church Hill area of the RVA with some of the best firefighters in the city. Jonah attended the University of South Carolina for both a Bachelors and Masters and started with the Columbia Fire Department in 2003. After a few years, Jonah pursued a career with the Charlotte, NC Fire Department where he began in 2005. He served as a Captain from 2010 to 2021 serving on Engine Companies on the City’s South side.

He is currently assigned as a Battalion Chief on B Shift. Jonah is a North Carolina OEMS Level I instructor and NCOSFM Qualified Fire Instructor and regularly instructs both recruits and incumbents in both fire and EMS topics.

Jonah is a 8 time FDIC instructor and has presented at numerous conferences to include: Firehouse Expo, Fire Rescue International, South Carolina Fire Rescue, Metro Atlanta Firefighters Conference and the South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo. He is married with 2 children.

Robert Hughes:
Chief Operating Officer / COO

Robert Hughes has nearly three decades of fire service experience and currently serves as a Division Chief with the Columbia Fire Department. With over 20 years of training and leadership experience, he brings deep operational knowledge to emergency response instruction. Robert holds a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety and Health and specializes in firefighting operations, hazardous materials response, and incident command. His leadership experience provides students with valuable insight into both tactical operations and command-level decision making during emergencies. Outside the fire service, Robert enjoys watching his children compete in lacrosse for their school and travel teams. His nickname among colleagues is “GAM.”

J.Travis Carricato; Principal Owner

Travis is the principal owner and one of the main program developers for many of E-Med’s courses. Travis retired as an Operations Division Chief from the Columbia Fire Department with over 25 years of service and is now sharing his passion for teaching and training full-time.

Travis is an accomplished fire service conference speaker and has conducted multiple international train-the-trainer sessions in Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

Binky Collins;
Instructor

Binky Collins has 27 years of fire service experience and spent 18 years working as an instructor before retiring from active service. Throughout his career he developed deep operational expertise in engine company operations and hazardous materials response. Binky is known for his straightforward approach to training and his ability to pass along lessons learned from decades of real-world emergency response. His experience and practical knowledge make him a valuable mentor for responders developing their operational skills. His nickname, “Binky,” has followed him throughout his career—originating from a childhood toy that gave him the name many years ago.

Brett Fleming; Instructor

Brett Fleming brings 18 years of fire service experience and currently serves as a Captain with the Columbia Fire Department. He has spent nearly three years working with E-Med Training Services, providing instruction based on his extensive operational background. Brett’s areas of expertise include fire suppression, hazardous materials response, pump operations, and emergency medical response. His hands-on field experience allows him to bring practical knowledge and real-world perspective into every training environment. When he’s not on duty or instructing, Brett enjoys spending time with his family and living out his personal motto: love God, love family, and always be ready for a friendly arm-wrestling challenge. Around E-Med he’s also known for joking that, since there are two Bretts on the team, he’s “the good-looking one.”

Our Team

Creating confident responders since 2005.

Ethan Blackmon;
Medical Program Manager

Ethan Blackmon brings over 13 years of fire service experience and currently serves as a Captain with Indian Land Fire Rescue. For the past eight years he has also been involved in emergency response training, specializing in medical response and technical rescue operations. Ethan is known among colleagues for his strong leadership and practical approach to emergency response training. Ethan is E-Med's resident state certified EMT In-service Training instructor. Outside of work, Ethan enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, especially during the summer months. He also enjoys hunting and spending time outdoors. Friends and coworkers often jokingly refer to him as “Maui,” a nickname inspired by the character from Moana.

JP Watson;
Rest in Peace Brother

JP passed away unexpectedly in 2023 and will be missed by family, students, instructors and friends. He was a retired captain after 36 years of fire service experience; with 25 years as a volunteer at the Columbia Fire Department. He also retired as an Adjunct Instructor from SCFA after 26 years of service. JP worked in the industrial sector assisting with onsite emergency response teams and safety department when needed. He was OSHA 30 certified and a credentialled NFPA 1403 Live Fire Evolution Instructor. During JP's tenure as a volunteer Fire Captain, JP was the only volunteer at CFD to get Blue Card Incident Command national certification. Rest in Peace Brother.

Danny Shealy; HAZMAT Program Cooridinator

Danny Shealy brings more than 30 years of experience in emergency response, industrial safety, and leadership training. He serves as a trainer with E-Med Training Services and has been part of the E-Med team for seven years, with over 40 years of combined experience between Westinghouse and E-Med. Danny specializes in leadership development and hazardous materials response, with extensive experience teaching emergency response and command-level training programs. His instructional specialties include Fire Brigade Leadership, OSHA On-Scene Incident Commander, NIMS All-Hazards Training and Incident Command System (ICS), NFPA 1006 and 1670 Rescue Technician training, OSHA 1910.120 Hazmat, and NFPA 600 / NFPA 1081 Industrial Fire Brigade emergency response programs. His decades of experience allow him to connect real-world operational knowledge with structured training that prepares responders for complex incidents. Outside of training, Danny enjoys spending time with his supportive wife, woodworking, traveling, and continually learning new skills. He is passionate about teaching and takes pride in helping others grow in both leadership and technical response capabilities. Around the training environment, he’s also known for his sense of humor—often joking that he “scares easily.”

Robbie Warf; Instructor

Robbie is a Battalion Chief with the Columbia Fire Department with over 18 years of fire service experience, assigned to Battalion 2. Robbie has technical rescue experience as well as Hazardous Materials response and is one of E-Med's industrial fire brigade instructors.