Bob Coschignano - President
Mr. Coschignano has been in the fire service for over 30 years, most of which have been in Special Operations. Mr. Coschignano has served on both state and local hazardous materials related committees. Mr. Coschignano is an instructor and evaluator for several local and state competency drills and has lectured around the country. He was the program manager for the Hazardous Materials Technician program at Valencia College. Mr. Coschignano is also DEA certified in Clandestine Labs. Mr. Coschignano is Co-Author of Chemical Card Guide and Risk Based Response Quick Chemical Access Cards published by RedHat publications and has been featured in both Fire Engineering and Firehouse magazines. Contributor for National Emergency Response Drills by The HazMat Guys on Amazon. Mr. Coschignano is Co-host of The HazMat Guys Roundtable. Mr Coschignano is also President of HazMat 101 Consultants and 2022 recipient of the International Association of Fire Chief’s Hazardous Materials Level A award for instruction. Mr Coschignano holds an A.S. degree in Fire Science and is retired Hazardous Materials Team Lieutenant from the City of Orlando Fire Department
Derek Schaumann - Lead Instructor
District Chief Derek Schaumann has been in the fire service for 23 years and served on the Hazardous Materials Team for most of his career. He is a lead instructor Hazmat 101 Consultants and served as Program Manager for the Hazardous Materials training program at Valencia College. He has also worked for the Department of Homeland Security as an equipment/logistics specialist for a terrorism response team and is DEA certified for Clandestine Labs response. Mr. Schaumann holds an A.S. degree in Fire Science.
Mike Bloski - Instructor
Captain Mike Bloski (BLAH-SKI) has been in the fire service for 31 years starting his career as a volunteer firefighter in Escambia County Florida in 1992. In 1997, he moved to the Bradenton area and was hired by the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue district. Rising through the ranks, he has served as fire suppression lieutenant and an emergency medical technician responding to thousands of incidents in our region that have included train derailments, natural disasters, and major hazmat responses. Having served 19 years on the Manatee County hazmat team and as part of the Operations Division, I serve in the administrative staff and responsible for providing and managing the operational readiness, regulatory compliance, and training activities for the members of the Special Operations Team (Hazardous Materials Response). Under my direction, our department’s response team reached Type I capability requirements in 2 years. I hold an associate degree in Fire Science from Manatee Community College and a bachelor of science in Public Safety Administration from St. Petersburg College. I have completed my Florida certification in Fire Officer IV, Fire Instructor III, Fire Inspector I, Emergency Medical Technician, Fire and Safety Officer, and Hazardous Materials Technician. I have also directed several FEMA HSEEP Exercised within my home region. I also serve Manatee County Incident Management Team for state deployment.