Critical Incident Management Conference for King's College

Critical Incident Management Conference for King’s College

An international conference on the topic of Critical Incident Management will include an address by Chief Daniel Nigro of the New York City Fire Department on the experience of incident command at Ground Zero, September 11th 2001.

The two-day conference, Critical Incident Management, to be held at King’s College Conference Centre on June 10 and 11, 2002, is being organised by the Industrial Psychology Group of the University of Aberdeen. It will focus on the latest research and practice on the training and development of incident commanders and emergency managers, across a range of organisations and agencies.

Several international speakers are taking part, including Dr Gary Klein, a world expert on decision making under pressure and Professor Patrick Lagadec of Ecole Polytechnique, Paris who will discuss common problems in crisis management teams. Other speakers on incident command include senior commanders from the police, the fire service and the prison service, as well as psychologists, and speakers on the legal and welfare aspects of emergency management.

The conference will be introduced by Professor Rhona Flin, leader of the University of Aberdeen’s Industrial Psychology Group and co-author of Incident Command: Tales from the Hot Seat. She said: “Incident commanders are key to the success of any emergency management organisation and this conference will present the latest thinking on techniques to enhance their skills.”

Worldwide interest has already been shown in the conference, with delegates arriving from as far away as Russia, Australia and India. Places are limited. Further information is available from Margaret Crichton, Department of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, telephone: (01224) 273212, or email: m.crichton@abdn.ac.uk