Dr. Thomas D. Phelan

Dr. Tom Phelan consults on instructional programs for adults primarily in emergency management areas of training, exercise design, online course design, incident management teams, and communication. He is the former Program Director, Emergency and Disaster Management, Fire Science, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal in the School of Public Service and Health, American Public University System.

He has consulted for public and private organizations as President, Strategic Teaching Associates, Inc. in the UK, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and across the United States. Dr. Tom is a member of NDMS/DMORT, the Editorial Advisory Board of Disaster Recovery Journal, formerly the Advisory Board of the Canadian Centre of Emergency Preparedness (CCEP), a Founding Member of the Department of Homeland Security, a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), and Private & Public Businesses, Inc. (PPBI). Dr. Tom earned his doctorate from Syracuse University, and continues to investigate links between emergency management and business continuity planning, emergency management as a profession, and transitions from school to work for college graduates. He was presented the New York State Senate Liberty Award for his service as a responder with DMORT at Ground Zero on 9/11, and the Best Practices Award from PPBI for his service in Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean Tsunami. His book is Emergency Management and Tactical Response Operations: Bridging the Gap.

Dr. Phelan has designed emergency and incident management response training for the City of New York Office of Emergency Management, the National Response Team/CDC/NIOSH, colleges and universities, corporations such as IBM, Disney, Pearson, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Sanofi-Pasteur, American Electric Power, and training in communications for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He has designed exercises for USDA/APHIS, FDIC, Boeing, the Department of the Army, and has presented on emergency management and business continuity in the U.K., Singapore, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. He is a contract instructor for FEMA at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland.