Gina is a firefighter and EMT with Loveland Fire Rescue, an active member of the Loveland Fire Special Operations Team, Founder and Board Member of a veterinary response team in Larimer County known as the TEAR Team (Technical Emergency Animal Rescue), and member of the Larimer County Medical Reserve Corp and Colorado Veterinary Medical Reserve Corp. A Golden, Colorado native with her bachelor's degree in Animal Science from Colorado State University, Gina has spent most of her life in the medical treatment, training, and handling of all domestic animals. She has worked as a veterinary technician for 20 of those years, half of them at the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and specialized in the emergency care of large animals. In 2008, she helped Loveland Fire Rescue add a Large Animal Rescue section to their Special Operations Team. She and the SOT team have trained several Colorado fire departments and veterinarians in the safety, handling, and technical rescue of large animals. She and an amazing group of local large animal ambulatory veterinarians recognized the need for education and connection between emergency services and the veterinary practice, and so the TEAR Team was founded in 2008. The TEAR Team is a single resource for the county's 911 response system. They are trained in ICS and respond to single technical rescue incidents as well as larger disasters such as wildland fire and tornadoes. The TEAR Team has also teamed with the Larimer County Medical Reserve Corp in Project PREPARE (PREparing People and Animals Ready for Emergencies) in community education on emergency preparedness for owners and their animals. With a deep understanding of the relationship between animals and their owners, and the connections she has developed with emergency agencies, she is devoted to paying it forward and keeping all technical rescues successful with regards to the safety and education of first responder, animal owner, veterinarian, and animal victim. Gina's is married to her college sweetheart, Frank, they have two boys, Marco and Alex, and two dogs, Ninya and Lucy.

  Technical Emergency Animal Rescue Team (TEAR)