This week we’re celebrating our founders story Jesse McNeilly. Jesse McNeilly has been working in Mines Emergency Response and Rescue for over 14 years since 2010. Joining the Australian army in 2003 at 16 years and 9 months on the day he could sign up. He ended up starting his career in the army reserves for two years and then full time army where he deployed three times, 2 to Timor Lesté and one trip to Afghanistan as a paratrooper. Jesse Has trained over 20,000 students through his work in industrial rescue, ran an emergency management company he founded for over 10 years in Sydney and eventually seeing the light, moved over to Western Australia where he now lives. Jesse has a Medical Science Masters Degree in Disaster and Emergency Response and is passionate about teaching people simple and complex information to keep them safe in emergency situations. Having spoken at conferences, being interviewed for a range of media outlets such as the Australian new paper, Jesse is proud to work in his vocation of emergency management. He has also volunteered in Nepal, working in Ukraine teaching tactical medical training and more which has added a diverse depth to his background. It also includes work as a private military contractor, product inventor and author. Jesse founded Rescue Connect in 2023 with the sole aim of connecting people to be more capable in the rescue community - to which he feels members are very isolated. The goals of Rescue Connect is to improve the mental health of rescue workers, increase their knowledge and promote further growth and advancement in our industry pushing out old and outdated methods that no longer serve our people.