United in purpose.
Raquel Sapp - Austere Medicine Educator
As a South American international and transcultural adoptee, the complexities of identity and belonging have been woven as an integral part of her development and guiding force of her career path.
Raquel has over 15 years of experience blending professional roles in direct patient care and outdoor education. From crevasse rescue and cliffside extrication in remote settings to patient care within ambulances, emergency departments and critical care units, she has cultivated a multifaceted perspective on medicine and rescue. Her background in community-based global health, outdoor leadership, risk management and climbing guiding has further enriched her ability to view care through different vantage points. These experiences illuminated significant gaps in education programs and systems addressing the nuanced needs of professional teams, patients and rescuers in both healthcare and outdoor industries.
After facing numerous challenges attempting to drive systemic change from within, Raquel founded Backcountry Pulse in 2018 with the vision of dismantling barriers in wilderness medicine education, amplifying representation and delivering emergency medicine courses through a lens of human-centered care. Raquel believes deeply in the transformative power of wilderness medicine, not just as a technical skill set but as a pathway to build resilient communities and inspire individual growth. As an experiential educator, Raquel strives to create spaces that empower others, embrace vulnerability and foster growth. She finds constant inspiration in the resilience of people and communities she feels so fortunate to teach and work collaboratively with.
Her credentials include Licensed Nurse; EMS-ALS Provider; Flight Medical Provider; Transport Professional Advanced Trauma Course (TPATC); Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP); Wilderness EMT (WEMT); Wilderness Advanced Life Support (WALS); Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM); Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWMc); FEMA Emergency Management Institute Professional Development Series (PDS) and Advanced Professional Series (APS) Certificates; NFPA Rope Rescue Technician III; AMGA Single Pitch Instructor (SPI); AIARE Level I; and Instructor in Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
Raquel’s serotonin levels spike from the clanking of trad gear, torquing of stein pulls and the gleeful running of swooping trails…oh and don't get her started on clouds! Raquel lives in the foothills of Colorado, the past, present and future ancestral lands of the Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Tsitsistas (Cheyenne) and Nuciu (Ute) Peoples, with her wonderfully wild thirteen-year-old twins and sweet, floofy Aussie named Pretzel. She is perpetually searching for that next alpine start, song to write or way to squeeze in as many trail running miles as her lungs and legs will allow.
Jon Hieb - App Developer
Adventurer | Father | Engineer
As a mountaineer, trail runner, and climber, I'm always seeking the next big challenge. As a husband and father of 3 amazing children, I'm committed to staying alive.
I'm a certified Wilderness First Responder and applied the techniques in real-life situations more than once. I've been building software since 2010, including a stint at CalTopo, and I've always felt like there was a gap in technology for austere medicine, but needed the partnership of a genuine expert to build something that would actually serve the needs of rescuers.
When I took WFR recertification from Raquel and her business Backcountry Pulse in 2024, a student asked if there was an app, and Raquel mentioned that nothing really existed that filled the need. When she asked if anyone in the class knew any app developers, I immediately raised my hand. Discussing with her afterwards, and feeling the energy, it was immediately apparent that I'd found the business partner I'd been looking for.
I grew up in an era of technology before social media, and used the internet in those early days before things got completely cynical. I still believe in a vision of technology where it is used to solve real problems that real people have, where people get what they pay for, and where we set ourselves apart by building the most useful product, not by using deceptive business tactics.
Raquel and I worked together for nearly two years and countless hours to bring the first version of Rescue Ally to you. It's been a labor of dedication and passion from each of us, combining our talents and training to create something truly special. I'm proud of what we've built together. We've got a long way to go, and I look forward to taking Rescue Ally beyond, finding new ways for technology to assist with rescue in remote locations and difficult circumstances.