Mark Sprenger
Director of Operations
Mark Sprenger joined HISG in 2006 after 33 years of experience in emergency response and emergency response training. He is a gifted teacher whose forward thinking has earned local, national and international distinction among peers and students. Marks duties at HISG include oversight and management for all internal operations.
Mark began his career in emergency response as a firefighter with the Poudre Fire Authority in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1973. Over his 17 year career with PFA, was promoted to senior leadership positions fire-rescue, fire suppression, prevention, training, and hazardous materials.
During his firefighting career, Mark identified the need for specialized training among emergency responders in the area of hazardous materials response. Along with two other colleagues, he formed Fire Management, Inc. in 1980 to address these needs. FMI took on the challenges of creating and publishing training materials, inspecting facilities for safety, and even writing new laws and standards. Many of the materials FMI produced were the first subject matter material of its kind, and Mark and his colleagues were asked to teach hazardous material seminars to emergency responders, local officials, and utility workers nationwide.
Following the success of Fire Management, Inc., Mark launched a second company in 1986 called Emergency Resource Inc, later to be known as OnGUARD Inc. OnGUARD soon became one of the largest publishers of emergency response video and textbook training programs in the world. OnGUARD’s courseware ultimately was distributed worldwide to over 20,000 agencies, reaching an estimate 5.5 million firefighters, emergency medical responders, and law enforcement officers. Mark eventually left the fire service in 1989 to pursue publishing as his full-time endeavor.
In the mid 1990’s, with the advent of computer based learning and Internet technology, OnGUARD migrated its video/textbook curriculums to CD-ROM and Internet based e-Learning. Through a strategic partnership with the US Air Force and Department of Defense, OnGUARD developed an entire new line of distance education curriculum called Blended e-Learning. This new training method combined conventional hands-on training with online, multimedia learning, addressing the most emerging threats to responders such as terrorism, CBERN emergencies, and major health and safety issues. Expanding its image and corporate name into Emergency WORLD, the company distributed their comprehensive accredited courseware worldwide. The cost-effectiveness of a distance education system, along with the thorough and easy-to-use nature of the courses, spurred Emergency WORLD’s success and ultimately led to the sale of the company in 2005 to Fire Protection Publications, a division of Oklahoma State University.
Mark lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife Maria. He also sits on the Board of several non-profit organizations assisting underprivileged women, orphans, and children in the remotest parts of the world.
Humanitarian International Services Group | 4700 Castleton Way, Suite 200, Castle Rock, CO 80109 Phone:(303) 662-0845 | HISG is a non-profit 501(c)3 tax exempt organization