Don Shawver is a Division Chief with the City of Arcadia, California Fire Department. He has been with the City for 30 years. Holding the positions of firefighter, firefighter/paramedic, Engineer, Captain and Battalion Chief. Chief Shawver is currently assigned to Special Operations which includes Regional Counter-Terrorism training and fire investigations, in addition he is responsible for the Urban Search and Rescue Program, including equipment purchase and personnel training.

He has been involved in the development of many Fire Department USAR Programs in Southern California. He has written Standard Operating Procedures for Confined Space and Trench Rescue used by many of Fire Departments thought out the United States. Don has held the positions of Lead instructor for the State of California in Trench Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, Emergency Building Shores, Rescue Systems I and Rescue Systems II. Don has also involved in teaching for the California Office of Emergency Services, FEMA USAR Program and the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC). Don is a member of the FEMA Rescue Working, an instructor for the FEMA Structure Collapse Technician and Task Force Safety Officer course.

Chief Shawver has been involved with the National Urban Search and Rescue Program as a member of the Incident Support Team. His experience includes deployments to the Oklahoma City Bombing, Debruce Grain Elevated Explosion, the Pentagon on 9-11, the Republican National Convention, Hurricane Isabel, Hurricane Frances and several earthquakes in California. Currently Chief Shawver is currently assigned to the FEMA National Response USAR Incident Support Team as the IST-Blue Safety Officer.