Built with Aircrews at the Center

Brad Matheson was an EMT paramedic and long-line rescue operator long before he became a business owner. He came up through the field—the kind of operational background where you learn what works and what does not by doing it, not by reading about it.

In 1999 he founded Priority 1 Air Rescue on a straightforward premise: the people in the cabin—hoist operators, rescue crewmen, flight mechanics, rescue swimmers—had been treated as an afterthought by the training industry for decades. There were structured programs on the pilot side, but nothing for rear crew.

P1 set out to build the missing infrastructure. A structured curriculum. A repeatable standard. Training that could be delivered across platforms, across services, across borders—and produce the same outcome every time.

Over 27+ years, P1 has trained 15,000+ aircrew across 40+ countries and 30+ aircraft platforms. We hold certifications from EASA, FAA, Transport Canada, CAA UK, IAA. We operate permanent training facilities in Mesa, Arizona, and Bordeaux, France, and deploy worldwide.

P1AR has grown over the years by word of mouth and because the standard worked. As agencies trained with P1, word would grow as operators transferred to other agencies, and those agencies would call. With over 15,000 personnel trained, P1AR trained "alumni" span every corner of the globe and every type of mission and aircraft platform.

Today the company delivers three lines of business—training, operational staffing, and mission equipment—all built on the same foundation: operational experience translated into repeatable, transferable, auditable programs.