The Disaster Experience

The Disaster Experience is an interactive workshop that will highlight the symbiotic and interdependent relationship between engineers and emergency managers. Every disaster is not created equally and this experience has been designed to place participants in a full lifecycle of a disaster situation, from understanding our vulnerabilities and the contributing factors of a built environment, the limitations of preparedness and situational awareness, the multi-discipline issues of response, and the challenges of effective recovery and mitigation. Participants will make the critical decisions any organization will have to make — and deal with the consequences of — those decisions. At the completion of the session, attendees will understand the importance of managing the socially constructed risks of our built environment; appreciate the criticality of the engineer emergency management relationship; and foster key relationships with industry professionals before the next disaster. Session participants will:

Create a situational awareness of the socially constructed risks of our built environment;

Understand the basic principles that guide the professions of emergency management and engineering and how they apply to critical infrastructure;

Recognize the symbiotic relationship between engineers and emergency managers;

Understand how emergency managers and engineers can utilize their skill sets to create an effective tool for comprehensive emergency management practices;

Discuss lessons learned from both previously experienced disasters and future disasters that could mitigate consequences and
Learn how to collectively get involved locally and utilize their skills and expertise in future disasters.