Barbara Citarella, BSN, MS, CHCE, CHS-III

Barbara Citarella, the only recognized expert in the area of home care and hospice disaster planning, is the founder of the award-winning company RBC Limited and has since, (with the assistance of her expert team of consultants), made the company a leader in the healthcare industry. In addition to consulting in all areas of health care, RBC Limited has worked extensively with law enforcement, government agencies and the private sector with regard to business recovery planning, protection of personnel assets, infrastructure protection, all hazards planning and the Incident Command System.  She is currently certified in homeland security at level III. Certification is based on experience in the field of global security.

Barbara was appointed by Val Halamandaris, the President of the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), to serve as Co-Chairperson for the National Association’s Hurricane Katrina Task Force. She was part of the Department of Homeland Security’s committee to re-write the National Response Plan document and the DHS Disaster Preparedness Guidelines for People with Special Needs. She also recently served as the conference coordinator for The National Pandemic Flu Conference held in Washington, D.C.  Barbara has also served as an expert panel member on the pandemic flu for the CDC, AMA and AHRQ. She was a contributing member to the AHRQ’s document on “Home Health Care and the Pandemic Flu” scheduled to be released in 2008. She is currently a member of APIC’s (Association of Practitioners in Infection Control) Emergency Disaster Planning committee. As part of that committee, she has co-authored “Infection Control in Shelters During an Emergency” and “Reuse of  Particulate Respirators Masks”.

Barbara is nationally recognized for her expertise in infection controland the author of numerous articles on the topic.

Barbara is a professional registered nurse with a master’s degree in science, which she obtained from Pace University in New York where she also serves on the University’s Professional Advisory Board for the Lienhard School of Nursing. She is a founding member of the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing.

Gerald Lewis, PhD
Dr. Lewis, an international consultant and trainer, has worked with national and international government agencies, healthcare facilities, educational institutions and private businesses on a wide range of work, behavioral health and organizational issues. His focus is facilitating organizational recovery and resiliency with the emphasis on “people-recovery.”

He has authored numerous articles and three books: Critical Incident Stress and Trauma in the Workplace (1994) and Workplace Hostility: Myth & Reality (co-author, 1998) and Organizational Crisis Management: The Human Factor (2006). In addition, he contributed the chapter, "Violence at Work: Causes and Protection" in Psychopathology in the Workplace: Recognition and Adaptation, edited by Thomas, J. and Hersen, M., Bruner-Rutledge, NY, 2004.

In 1986, he founded COMPASS, providing Employee Assistance Programs, management consultation, organizational development, employee training and education, pre-employment screening and fitness for duty evaluations.

He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and served as the Faculty Coordinator of the graduate (on line) program Emergency Management & Organizational Continuity Program at Boston University and teaches one of its courses, “The Social and Psychological Impact of Workplace Disruption.”

He provides litigation consultation/expert testimony in the areas of: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual harassment, workplace violence, fitness for duty, negligent retention/termination, Americans with Disabilities, malpractice, depression, etc.

He is the Clinical Consultant to the Cambridge Police Department’s Police Assistance Program. He helped design the program, trains the members and provides on-going clinical consultation and support.

He also is a member of the EAPA Workplace Disaster Preparedness Panel.

Leo Flanagan, Ph.D.

Leo brings us a unique combination of expertise and accomplishments. Currently he divides his professional time between leading Flanagan Consultants a firm that partners with leading business organizations to drive their growth and being Director of The Center For Resilience a behavioral health service specializing in helping those dealing with stress and trauma. Earlier in his career Leo held senior HR leadership positions in financial services, led a global consulting practice, served on the faculty of Cornell’s ILR School, and led the development of state-of-the-art mental health services for adolescents and in emergency psychiatry.

His combination of business and clinical expertise enabled him to formulate and implement the plan to support more than 5,000 employees as they re-occupied Merrill Lynch’s headquarters within the Ground Zero perimeter in the aftermath of 9/11.

Leo is a licensed psychologist in New York State. He is a member of Give An Hour which provides pro bono counseling services to returning warriors. He also serves with Heart 911 an organization of first responders dedicated to sharing the lessons learned from New York City’s response to 9/11 with other communities coping with natural and man made disasters. He is a member of the Learning and Development Committee of the Human Resources Planning Society. He currently teaches leadership and crisis response at the University of Notre Dame.

Jack Poe, D. Min.

He joined the Oklahoma City Police Department in 1984 where he was involved in setting up their peer support program.  Currently, he teaches at the Oklahoma City Police Academy and the Oklahoma City Police Spouse Academy.

Dr. Poe responds to all officer involved shootings within the Oklahoma City Police Department.  He worked with the officers and families who were impacted by the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.

In April 1998, Chaplain Poe received the  National Crime Victim’s Service Award presented by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.    In April of 2003 he was presented with the Secret Service Certificate of Appreciation for his work with the families of the Secret Service after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. He was also appointed chaplain for the United States Secret Service.

In September of 2001, Chaplain Poe was asked to come to New York City to assist with the rescue and recovery taking place at the World Trade Center. 

In November of 2007 Chaplain Poe was honored with the Career Chaplain of the Year Award from the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and in July of 2008 the International Conference of Police Chaplains. .

He holds the rank of Colonel in the United States Army, Retired. 

Angela Devlin

Allan Bonner, MA, MSc, LLM, MScPI (Cand.)

Allan Bonner has coached thousands of people to deal with some of the most controversial and public issues of our time. He has worked with heads of government, G7 and UN delegations, the WTO, NATO as well as CEO's and diplomats around the world. 

Mr. Bonner has lived and worked in every region of Canada and done field work from: the Johnson Space Centre in Houston Texas, Cape Canaveral in Florida, the Museum of Broadcasting and CBS News Headquarters in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and the cease fire line in Cyprus.

In his 14 year career in journalism, he worked at the local and network levels in both Canada and the United States.

He holds degrees in Political Economy, Education, Business and an MSc in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management. He has taught at the college level and regularly lectures at several universities and colleges. Dr. Bonner has been trained in leadership education at Harvard University and in dispute resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Allan is the author of several books on business issues including: 'Doing and Saying the Right Thing' and 'The Bonner Business Series: Media Relations."

He is a regular key-note speaker whose recent engagements include: International Association of Business Communicators ( Los Angeles , New York , Toronto ), the Public Relations Society of America, The National Conference on Disaster Management, Canadian Public Relations Society, The Insight Conference on Crisis Communication and Risk Management, International Association of Business Communicators, The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Tokyo and Princeton Chambers of Commerce, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, The National Business Show, and the Emirates International Disaster and Environment Conference 1998 (EIDEC '98) in Dubai

Ann Coss