THP 30: Christopher McLaughlin

Program: Emergency & Disaster Management
Current Position: Director of Emergency Management, North Central Texas College
Hometown: Denton, TX
LinkedIn: Christopher McLaughlin

Describe an interesting trend you see emerging in your profession and how you think it will affect the field:

Resilience and sustainability are becoming increasingly necessary in the field of emergency management. Climate change, growing populations, frequent high impact disasters, and the ever increasing cost of recovery are a few of the driving factors. This will mean emergency managers of the future must use innovative solutions and emerging technologies more than ever to lessen the impact and shorten the recovery time from future events on people and property.

What are the three most important skills for someone in your profession and why?

There are many ethical, technical, and decision making skills required of an emergency manager. At the core, however, an emergency manager must be able to communicate well, listen well, and respect others. In the end, this is a profession which requires a team approach where communication, listening, and respect make your team stronger.