Having recently been appointed to the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) task force on emergency evacuation (ANB80T), I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences and beliefs with decision makers, planners, and operators who play critical roles in planning and implementing disaster evacuations.
The primary goal of the task force is to address all preparedness and operational issues associated with evacuations for natural and man-made threats. During my three-year appointment, I'll assist in reviewing and determining eligibility of technical papers submitted for presentation or publication at the annual TRB conference. I'll also help coordinate with other TRB committees to organize joint sessions, identify speakers, and present papers at the conference.
As a newly formed task force under the TRB umbrella, our goal is to attain full committee status within the next three years. It will require hard work and commitment from each member to ensure our success.
A New Perspective on Evacuation Planning and Implementation
My experiences in support of FEMA and state government agencies during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav have given me a new perspective on evacuation planning and implementation. I strongly believe in feasible plans based on realistic assumptions.
This committee's end goal is to encourage research and projects that will provide information and science-based solutions that are feasible and applicable to real-world emergency evacuation challenges. I strongly believe the end-user of TRB's research initiative should not be restricted to academia, especially when it comes to topics like evacuation—the success or failure of which directly impacts people.
Identifying deficiencies in existing evacuation practices, defining appropriate problem statements for research and studies, organizing panel discussions, and sponsoring/co-sponsoring sessions that address the identified areas are some ways I plan on engaging with other committee members. My contribution to this task force will focus on bridging the gap between important theoretical research and its relevance and applicability to real world evacuation challenges.
Learning from Others' Experience
Being a member of any TRB committee opens you up to a new world of fostered learning. It presents the opportunity to share your personal and professional knowledge and experiences with your peers, while exposing yourself to a world of learning. I'm lucky to have other members on the committee with whom I have known and worked for almost a decade. Over my tenure on this task force, I'll interact with some of the brightest researchers and practitioners in the field of emergency evacuation, and I'm eagerly looking forward to learning from them every day.
I'm grateful to TRB for giving me this opportunity to contribute to one of the world's best scientific forums. I strongly believe we can work together towards making this task force a prominent and effective contributor to the world of emergency management and evacuation.