Subject Matter Expert Joseph A. Barbera, M.D. is Co-Director of the George Washington University (GWU) Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management (ICDRM) – www.gwu.edu/~icdrm – in Washington, DC. He is also an Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at GWU, where he created and teaches Masters and Doctoral level academic courses in emergency management. He has enjoyed a 25 year career as an emergency responder and consultant on emergency management. He was the lead medical consultant for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the development of the National Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System, and performed the same role for the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) in developing the International Search & Rescue program. As member of the Fairfax County (Virginia) US&R Task Force (VA-TF1), he participates as a medical officer for OFDA and FEMA responses and for the FEMA US&R Incident Support Team. His experience includes on-scene-response to hurricanes (2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and others), mine disasters, earthquakes (Baguio City Philippines 1990, Northridge California 1994, Tou-Liu Taiwan 1999, and Haiti 2010), terrorist incidents (the Oklahoma City Bombing and the 9-11 Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks), bio-terrorism (Anthrax 2001), tsunami (Banda Aceh, Indonesia), and school collapse (Haiti 2008). He has helped plan and execute medical contingency capabilities for high security events (Presidential inaugurations, State of the Union Addresses, the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit). As founding chair of the D.C. Hospital Association Emergency Preparedness Committee, Dr. Barbera coordinated the implementation of the Hospital Mutual Aid System for Washington, D.C. He has completed multiple research projects focusing on health and medical systems in emergency response and published a range of articles and guidance documents for emergency management and emergency response.