ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Arlington County Office of Emergency Management announced today the successful completion of its two-day event, Local Supply Chain Capacity in a Crisis Summit Exercise. The Summit addressed a new way of thinking to improve disaster planning: the supply chain. Featuring prominent panelists from public sector, private sector, and nonprofits, discussions centered on challenges and solutions related to the development of this new local supply chain approach to disaster-resource planning.

The first day featured Admiral Thad Allen (ret.) of the U.S. Coast Guard as the keynote speaker. Day one panelists examined topics that continue to confront transportation, communications systems, and power infrastructures in community recovery resource delivery. They presented real-world experiences and defined critical components to solutions that would help meet existing recovery challenges.

Day two's keynote speaker was Charley Shimanski, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services for the American Red Cross. Panelists for day two examined supply chain issues facing the delivery of financial services, medical supplies, and other vital supplies. They explored how to create a successful supply chain solution by expediting the delivery and distribution of resources.

Charlotte Franklin, Deputy Coordinator of Arlington County Office of Emergency Management, believes it's important to understand what happens in the supply chain when "normal" abruptly shifts to "emergency."

"Using supply chain modeling is more flexible and can adapt more readily to supply and demand shifts that occur when a disaster strikes," said Franklin. "The goal of this event was to develop salient, supply chain-focused recommendations and remedies to disaster resource planning." 

A Local Supply Chain Capacity Recommendation Report will be published based on the discussions from the Summit, which was funded through the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program.

About Arlington County Office of Emergency Management

Arlington County Office of Emergency Management was established in April 2003. For more information, please visit their website at http­://arlingtonva.us/oem.

Contact: 
Joyce Bosc 
301-588-2900 
jbosc@boscobel.com

Michael Rudd 
301-588-2900 
mrudd@boscobel.com

SOURCE Arlington County Office of Emergency Management