José (Joe) A. Sánchez

Owner Instructor of SAON, LLC, Doing Business As (DBA) Boat Emergency Safety Training (BEST), he is a United States Coast Guard (USCG) Licensed Captain; Certified Instructor for the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) Boat Control On-Water Training; Certified Instructor for the American Heart Association (AHA) Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), First Aid and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED);  Certified USCG Auxiliary Vessel Safety Examiner; and Certified Boat Handler with Cape Coral Police Department’s Volunteer Marine Unit. 

Retiring in 2020 as the Chief for the Bureau of Education and Training with Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services in Maryland, he has over 30 years experience as a public safety service professional, over 23 years as a member of the Special Operation Unit and over 20 years as a Maryland Certified Fire Service Instructor teaching courses in Emergency Medical, Fire and Rescue Service programs educating over 400 students in 21 Trainee Academy Classes. He is certified by the National Fire Service Professional Qualification Board to the National Fire Protection Association Standards in Driver/Operator - Aerial Device and Pump; Fire Instructor I, II, and III; Fire Officer I, II, III and IV; Hazardous Materials Technician; Health and Safety Officer; Incident Safety Officer for Emergency Medical Service Operations, Fire Suppression, Hazardous Materials Operations and Technical Rescue; Vehicle and Machinery Rescue Technician; and Swift Water Rescue and a PADI Open Water, Rescue, and Night Diving Certified since 1996.

A decorated United States Army Veteran, he graduated Basic Training from Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas and the Advanced Individual Training School from Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas as a Medic and fulfilled his enlistment as a Medic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Growing up in Long Beach, New York, a Barrier Island surrounded by the Reynolds Channel and the Atlantic Ocean, he navigated those waterways for 10 years before enlisting in the US Army which subsequently lead him to his 34-year residence in Columbia, Maryland. During this time, he spent over 5 years boating in the waterways of the Chesapeake Bay until his Retirement in June of 2020, when he moved to Cape Coral and has since been cruising these waterways in his 2016 Sea Ray 270 Sundeck.