“How to Build a Better Emergency Manager and Improve Outcomes for those Impacted by a Disaster”
Presenter: William N. Flagler Jr. is the Director of the Arlington County Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management
Abstract: Statistically, the number of “declared” disasters and full Emergency Operations Center(EOC) activations are far and few between, so most Emergency Managers spend time managing a team, working with partners and leadership to prepare for the worst. When we actually have to open an EOC thanks to the Incident Command System(ICS), Emergency Operations Plans (EOP), and statutory requirements managing activities and people is much easier in these situations. The difficult part of Emergency Management in today’s world is where you spend, I would estimate 70% of your time managing a team, building consensus with counterparts, developing, and maintaining relationships, maintaining situational awareness of trends and new and innovative ways to do things and of course all the wonderful new laws and regulations impacting Emergency Management at every level! Determining the tangible factors that could aid FEMA and institutions of higher education in the development of educational curricula that would help enhance knowledge in these areas to ensure engagement with marginalized communities to ensure better outcomes related to resilience and other emergency management-related areas.