Emergency response is in our blood. Helping others is our Mission. Disaster response is what we were born to do.
Meet our Operations Team- - -
Andre Gagne - Founder / Operations Director
Andre Gagne served as a firefighter for over 22 years in multiple states and enjoyed a career that included a wide range of assignments. Andre had his first experience with disaster response with 9/11/2001 in NYC. He helped start the CT-1 and NH-1 DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) teams for FEMA and HHS and was Deputy Commander for the NH MMRS Medical Team. Their task was to set up mobile field hospitals when local infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. During Hurricanes Katrina & Rita, Andre served as the Logistics Chief for the Cameron, Louisiana deployment site. In 2012, he was the Operations & Logistics Lead for the Program Development Branch for HHS and helped build Functional Training Exercises for fellow team members. In 2015, Andre was Deputy Lead for the Mobilization Center for the Hurricane Sandy response in the NY Tri-State area. Branching out in 2017, he founded Next Level Disaster Relief, a 501(c)3 non-profit, to help underserved communities. Andre felt that his experience could help a larger group of people with less political red-tape….getting help to those who truly needed it, when they needed it the most. Since NLDR’s inception, Andre and his volunteer group of former emergency response professionals have deployed from North Carolina to Texas, and everywhere in between, for hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. Andre runs Next Level Disaster Relief with his wife Jenn, a critical care nurse, and are based out of North Carolina.
Mark Tornstrom - Executive Director
With 30 years of experience in Emergency Medical Services, Mark Tornstrom has been a cornerstone of Next Level Disaster Relief. Since our inception, Mark has helped grow our footprint and helped plan and execute some of our responses. Formerly a resident of Western New York, Mark was a State Certified Paramedic and directed numerous EMS Organizations. His experience includes 9/11, numerous hurricane responses with Rural Metro EMS and he was an active member of the Command Staff for the New York State Western Emergency Management Team. He also served as Executive Director for the National Medic Network and was Operations Manager at Perinton Ambulance Service. Mark currently lives near Hickory North Carolina with his wife, Jenn.
Meet our Board of Directors- - -
Scott Marucheau - Director
We welcome Scott Marucheau to the Next Level Disaster Relief Board of Directors. He brings over 20 years of emergency service experience to the group. Beginning in the year 2000, he followed in his father’s footsteps into the emergency services. Scott was a member of the Bravo Volunteer Ambulance Service in New York City where he was elevated to Director of Safety. Joining the FDNY in 2003, he worked his way up from EMT to Paramedic and Hazardous Materials Tech while in the EMS Command. Scott also worked with the Department of Health and Human Services in the National Disaster Medical System and responded to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and numerous training exercises throughout the country. He was an integral part of training and leading EMTs and Paramedics to certification with the Staten Island Emergency Medical Training Center as a Lab Instructor and Instructor Coordinator. In 2010, Scott made the move over to the NYPD where he continued to shine as a Police Officer. Becoming a Vapor Wake Canine Handler with the Critical Response Command in 2015, he and his Canine partner, Paulie, were charged with performing sweeps at numerous high profile events and locations throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City. Transferring to the NYPD Bomb Squad in 2020, Scott became a bomb technician and continued in his canine handler role. He was recently promoted to the rank of Detective where he has 2 partners now…..Paulie and Murray, both chocolate labs. He lives in New York City with his wife, Kim, and their three daughters.
Chad Walker - Director
Chad has served as a Lutheran Pastor since 2000. He has served congregations in Florida and North Carolina. He grew up in Central Florida where he experienced several hurricanes. He has a compassionate heart for those recovering from various disasters, and knows the value that relief organizations can bring to places recovering. He is currently serving at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Lincolnton, NC where he lives with his wife Misti. Holy Cross, where Chad serves, is proud to be one of the many partners with Next Level Disaster Relief.
Will Sergent - Deputy Operations
Andy Fisher - Logistics
Andy began his fire service career at the age of 18 volunteering with various fire departments in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He then became in charge of Public Safety and Maintenance at the Shenandoah Valley Regional airport. In 1997 he moved to Southwest Florida and began his professional fire career. He retired from The City of Fort Myers Fire Department serving as the Logistics Coordinator. During his time in Florida, he went through three Hurricanes, Charley, Irma, most recently Ian. During Ian, which damaged his home and community the hardest, he worked closely with the Next Level Disaster Relief Team. Andy saw the amazing work that Andre and his team could achieve and knew that he wanted to use his experience to be part of this great organization.
Chris Harris - Communications
Chris Harris comes to Next Level Disaster Relief with a significant skillset in public safety communications. Chris got his start over a decade ago as a network technician for the North Carolina Highway Patrol, responsible for maintaining the statewide 800 MHz VIPER radio system. Recently, Chris took a position as the radio system manager for the Charlotte UASI radio network. Chris has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 2012 and is involved with maintaining a local amateur radio repeater network that serves the Carolinas. Chris is a Communications Unit Technician (COMT) and Communications Unit Leader (COML) and has been involved in hurricane responses (Matthew & Florence), missing persons land search missions, and has also mentored teams at multiple disaster communications training exercises. Chris is a certified firefighter & EMT and has operated with various fire, rescue, and EMS agencies since 2014. He lives in Huntersville with his wife and 2-year-old son. Chris is a proud member of Next Level Disaster Relief and enjoys providing important communications, technical skills and capabilities to the team to allow maximum benefit to impacted communities and further the mission of NLDR.