Meet The Team
Jamie Starcher
Jamie has been a Firefighter/EMT for over 28 years; he recently retired from Norwalk Fire Department as a Lieutenant and is currently a Lieutenant with the Milan Township Fire Department. Jamie also teaches/coordinates Fire and EMS training programs at EHOVE Career Center.
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Jamie became involved with peer support about 7 years ago and participated in the first IAFF peer training pilot program in 2015. The program was started to help address issues that responders were having due to the unique stressors of the job. Jamie really didn't know what peer support was or the value of having someone to talk to that's seen or dealt with similar things until he got involved. There has always been a negative stigma with responders asking for help. That is changing. We see and do things that affect us on a regular basis in our duties of helping others. Peer support does work.
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Jamie has 3 sons and they spend a lot of time outside hunting, fishing, and hanging out in our woods in West Virginia.
Jonathan Shaw
Jon has been an EMT with Citizens Ambulance Service for the past 6 years in Wakeman. He has experience in EMS as well as 911 Telecommunications. Jon has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception. Currently a resident of Norwalk, Jon grew up in New London. Jon's involvement with the Peer Support group stems from his desire to help others not only in the field of EMS but throughout the public safety community. As an EMS provider, Jon has seen first hand what drug addiction and mental health issues can do to individuals, their family, and their life.
Kelli Wagner
I started my career in Public Safety in 2003. I worked in EMS for many years before changing roles and working as a 911 dispatcher. I enjoy all aspects of my work. I joined the REACT team because I felt that all of our first responders needed an outlet if they were struggling.
John Weiss
John has been in public safety with over 26 years of experience. In these 26 years, John is a Captain with Willard Fire & Rescue and works as a Firefighter/Paramedic. John also works part-time as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator at the Willard Police Department. John also taught in Adult Education as a Public Safety Instructor for 19 years and still currently teaches at Willard Fire & Rescue. John has dealt firsthand with patients who have experienced a mental health crisis or drug addiction and First Responder colleagues who have experienced a mental health issue or crisis, PTSD, etc and helped them to get the assistance they needed. John was born and raised and lives in Willard. John has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Jason Reel
Jason has been in public safety with over 32 years of experience. In these 32 years, Jason is a Law Enforcement Officer, 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator, Firefighter, and an EMT. Jason currently works at the Willard Police Department and Willard Fire & Rescue. Jason also teaches CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training in several police academies and colleges in the northern part of Ohio. Jason has been a high school teacher and adult education instructor. Jason has dealt firsthand with prisoners, patients, and First Responder colleagues who were experiencing a mental health issue or crisis and listened and helped them to get the assistance they needed. Jason was born and raised in Fremont and currently resides in Willard. Jason has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Ashley Maurer
I have had many customer service jobs in the past, but I have finally found my calling as a dispatcher for the Willard Police, Fire, and EMS since 2005. I've been a part of the REACT team since its' inception because I strongly believe it is important to take our mental health seriously. I'd like to encourage other first responders to take care of themselves so they can continue to take care of others.
John Weiss
John has been in public safety with over 26 years of experience. In these 26 years, John is a Captain with Willard Fire & Rescue and works as a Firefighter/Paramedic. John also works part-time as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator at the Willard Police Department. John also taught in Adult Education as a Public Safety Instructor for 19 years and still currently teaches at Willard Fire & Rescue. John has dealt firsthand with patients who have experienced a mental health crisis or drug addiction and First Responder colleagues who have experienced a mental health issue or crisis, PTSD, etc and helped them to get the assistance they needed. John was born and raised and lives in Willard. John has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Jason Reel
Jason has been in public safety with over 32 years of experience. In these 32 years, Jason is a Law Enforcement Officer, 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator, Firefighter, and an EMT. Jason currently works at the Willard Police Department and Willard Fire & Rescue. Jason also teaches CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training in several police academies and colleges in the northern part of Ohio. Jason has been a high school teacher and adult education instructor. Jason has dealt firsthand with prisoners, patients, and First Responder colleagues who were experiencing a mental health issue or crisis and listened and helped them to get the assistance they needed. Jason was born and raised in Fremont and currently resides in Willard. Jason has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Ashley Maurer
I have had many customer service jobs in the past, but I have finally found my calling as a dispatcher for the Willard Police, Fire, and EMS since 2005. I've been a part of the REACT team since its' inception because I strongly believe it is important to take our mental health seriously. I'd like to encourage other first responders to take care of themselves so they can continue to take care of others.
John Weiss
John has been in public safety with over 26 years of experience. In these 26 years, John is a Captain with Willard Fire & Rescue and works as a Firefighter/Paramedic. John also works part-time as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator at the Willard Police Department. John also taught in Adult Education as a Public Safety Instructor for 19 years and still currently teaches at Willard Fire & Rescue. John has dealt firsthand with patients who have experienced a mental health crisis or drug addiction and First Responder colleagues who have experienced a mental health issue or crisis, PTSD, etc and helped them to get the assistance they needed. John was born and raised and lives in Willard. John has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Jason Reel
Jason has been in public safety with over 32 years of experience. In these 32 years, Jason is a Law Enforcement Officer, 9-1-1 Dispatcher/Telecommunicator, Firefighter, and an EMT. Jason currently works at the Willard Police Department and Willard Fire & Rescue. Jason also teaches CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training in several police academies and colleges in the northern part of Ohio. Jason has been a high school teacher and adult education instructor. Jason has dealt firsthand with prisoners, patients, and First Responder colleagues who were experiencing a mental health issue or crisis and listened and helped them to get the assistance they needed. Jason was born and raised in Fremont and currently resides in Willard. Jason has been a member of the Huron County REACT Team since its inception and is a member of the team so that he can help fellow First Responders.
Ashley Maurer
I have had many customer service jobs in the past, but I have finally found my calling as a dispatcher for the Willard Police, Fire, and EMS since 2005. I've been a part of the REACT team since its' inception because I strongly believe it is important to take our mental health seriously. I'd like to encourage other first responders to take care of themselves so they can continue to take care of others.
Carrie Pocock
Carrie has been an RN for 12 years and has worked at Fisher Titus the entire length of her career. She started working in Med/Surg and transitioned to the Emergency Department in 2015. She was promoted to the ED Supervisor in 2020 and became the ED Manager in 2021. Carrie was first introduced to the REACT team when the Emergency Department had a difficult case and needed to set up a debriefing for the staff that were involved. Having someone to talk to that has been through similar situations helped the staff more than she’s seen in the past using other resources. Since then, Carrie has become passionate about what the team does and ensuring that first responders have peer support and resources when needed. Seeing firsthand what they do and how it helps people is the reason she decided to join the team.
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Carrie was born and raised in Norwalk and still lives there with her son. She enjoys baking, crafting, and any other sort of home projects.
Luke Tucker
I have been a Firefighter for Townsend township fire department for the past 16 years and a 3rd generation firefighter. I was promoted to lieutenant and now Captain of My department. I am also an EMT for citizens ambulance, A member of the red cross Disaster Cycle Services, and Huron county Rescue dive team. I do all of this to help the community of Collins and the surrounding area, where I have lived his entire life! I also work at the western reserve schools where I do custodial/ maintenance work for my full time job. I joined the React team in 2024 because of my own personal experiences with hard calls and how much it helped me to talk about it with a fellow first responder. It allowed me to know that more are dealing with the same type of issues as myself and that it is ok to talk about it! Now it's my turn to help others as they have helped me!
Tom Johnson
Tom has been in the EMS/FF service for over 29 years. Started out on a Volunteer Dept in Bayview and the past 27 years at North Central EMS. 25 of those years on squad as a Paramedic and now due to health issues moved to Full-Time EMD certified Dispatcher. Tom has been divorced x2 during his first responder career and is now married to fellow peer support member Jenifer Johnson. Lives in Norwalk and is also a OHSAA Football Official for the past 33 seasons. " I wanted to join this peer support group to be there to help someone who might be struggling with issues that he/she can't understand or cope with. I have been through very difficult times and felt alone sometimes in my past career and felt there was no one there that understands or is willing to not judge me for needing a helping hand or shoulder to cry on. I hope maybe I can be that for someone in need. That is why I have decided to join the REACT team."
Jenifer Johnson
I started my career on a volunteer fire department as an FF/EMT-B in 2011.I then became a full time EMT-B for NCEMS in 2015 and am now a full time EMD dispatcher and prn squad personnel for them. In my short time I have had some bad calls ,disturbing scenes, and had a divorce. I have been the victim of domestic abuse as a young woman and have family members that struggle with addiction issues. At times I did not know where to turn and would like to be here to help anyone that may need someone.
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Andy Smith
Andy was born and raised in Berlin Heights and has been a member of the Berlin Twp. Fire Department for 38 years. He has worked his way through the ranks and currently serves as the Chief of the department. Andy joined the team when it was first formed, realizing that there was need for this service in the area. Being raised with a family that served on the Fire Department, he became aware at an early age of how Incident Trauma impacts an individual and their family life. His Father, Brothers, Brother-In-law were, or still are members of the department. Currently his son also serves on the department, and over the years has witnessed firsthand how societal changes have made an impact on all Public Safety personnel. He feels that it is important that everyone has access to a team or an individual to help them cope and deal with their mental health crisis.
Rick Whiteside
Rick Whiteside joined the fire department in 1995. He is currently a Captain on Fairfield Volunteer Fire Dept. and is also on Huron River Joint Fire District. Rick is a Firefighter/EMR.
Rick works for The Village of Monroeville. In the Water and Wastewater Department.
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Rick and his wife live in North Fairfield and have two sons.
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In the time Rick has been on the Fire Department he has seen many traumatic fire calls. Which will hopefully help aid in assisting fellow first responders.
Dave Krueger
Dave is in his 30th year serving the community on the Huron River Joint Fire District in Monroeville Ohio. He came thru the ranks and is currently a Captain with Department. Dave was instrumental in getting the EMR program at the department back in the early 2000’s.
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Dave recently joined the team because he understands the importance of Peer Support and wanted to support those peers who may be struggling. Over the years Dave has been in many emergency situations that didn’t also have a positive outcome and wants toot use those experiences to help others who may have struggles dealing with similar situations of their own.
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Dave has one son that serves on the department and another who is currently a Junior Cadet with the department. He enjoys camping and many other outdoor activities.
Tara Smith
Tara Smith is a Firefighter/EMT. She began her career later in life, starting fire school in 2022. Tara is a volunteer firefighter for Florence & Berlin Township Fire Departments, and works part time for Vermilion Township Fire.
6 months into Tara’s career she experienced a fatal during a structure fire. There was a lot to process during and after the call. Fortunately she had an impactful debriefing and an immense amount of support from her peers. As time passed, she wanted to put forth effort into ensuring others had the same support and understanding she experienced.
Tara joined the REACT team in 2024 and is grateful to be among others who want to positively impact the lives of first responders. She is 35, has 7 dogs, loves to cook, read, workout and has a strong foundation in God.