Collaboration Colloquium; Dolci Talk, Nov 18-Silicon Valley Campus - Carnegie Mellon University

Topic: Putting Innovative Technologies in the Hands of our Emergency Responders: Establishing a Framework for Collaboration, Coordination, and Communication

Speaker:  Mr. Robert Dolci
                Chief, Protective Services & Chief, Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team
                NASA-Ames Research Center
                Moffett Field, CA

Location:  Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley (NASA Research Park Building 23) Room 118
Time:        Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:00pm-5:00pm
Directions: http://www.cmu.edu/silicon-valley/about-us/directions.html

Slides:      

Details:

The use of advanced technologies in the field of emergency response and recovery significantly lags the needs of the responders and subsequently the needs of the people within the communities that they support. A grass root National Emergency Response Technology Program must be developed and implemented such that our country can achieve an active, broad-based program for developing and commercializing new medical, safety, and response enhancing products for the emergency response community. We will discuss how we must go beyond the point of just identifying the industry's most urgent technology needs. We will consider what has to happen if we are going to aggressively achieve operationally suitable solutions to those needs. 

The talk, in part, will consider the cultural and social issues that contribute to the reasons that emergency responders do not have the advanced tools that are required to more rapidly and effectively respond to catastrophic disasters. We will look at why a greater emphasis must be placed on collaboration, coordination and communication between members of the emergency response community, academia, technologists, and entrepreneurs. 

We will discuss how NASA Ames Research Center and its partners are uniquely situated and suited to contribute to the technological advancement of emergency response. We will look at the key role that NASA Ames and its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) plays relative to this country’s National Response Framework. The talk will include specifics on how DART’s Emergency Responder Training and Technology Test-bed Facility is used to train advanced rescue specialist and other emergency responders and how it is used in the development of technologies for emergency responders. We will consider the top ten technology categories needed to support emergency response operations and how the companies and universities in Silicon Valley are capable of addressing most, if not all, of them.

Biography:

Robert Dolci is the Protective Services Division Chief for NASA-Ames Research Center at Moffett Field.  As Chief of Protective Services, he is responsible for law enforcement, security, counter intelligence, counter terrorism, emergency services, and fire protection and prevention. In addition to being the Chief of Protective Services, he holds the position as Chief of NASA’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART).

In 1986, Chief Dolci formed the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), a hundred person urban search, rescue and emergency response team.  DART is composed of search, rescue, structural assessment, logistics, emergency communications, damage and utility control, emergency medical and emergency operations elements.  Although DART’s primary responsibility is to NASA Ames, the team is available to support local, state and other federal agencies as requested.

Under Mr. Dolci’s lead, NASA Ames’ Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team supports California Task Force Three.  CATF-3 is one of the eight Urban Search and Rescue Teams (US&R) in the State of California.  There are 28 US&R teams in the country.  Bob, and other members of DART, have deployed with CATF-3 to disasters such as Hurricanes Iniki, Katrina and Rita, the Northridge Earthquake, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the World Trade Center.  DART members have also responded to the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the Oakland Fire Storm and the California floods of 1992, 1995/96, and 1997/98, as well as the Columbia Shuttle Recovery effort.

Bob received his Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University’s School of Engineering in 1977.  He received a Master of Science in Safety from the University of Southern California in 1989.  In addition, Bob has over 4,000 hours of education and training in Emergency Services, including both crisis and consequences management with an emphasis in field operations.