IIGR ‘s Leo Bosner speaks at Temple University and JADM conferences in Japan

During February, IIGR Director of Training, Education, and Research, Leo Bosner, had the opportunity to lecture at Temple University of Japan in Tokyo, and also at the annual conference of the Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine in Tachikawa.  At both venues, he stressed the key role that volunteers can play in a disaster, including the importance of Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in disasters.  These organizations and individuals can make a big difference in a disaster, especially if their efforts are well-coordinated with the official government disaster relief efforts.  There was a lot of interest in this topic, including several discussions of the Incident Command System (ICS) and how it is used by government disaster organizations and disaster volunteer groups alike.