Emergency and Gunnar J. Kuepper |
About Gunnar J. Kuepper Gunnar J. Kuepper is Chief of Operations for the Los Angeles-based Emergency & Disaster Management, Inc. This independent agency advises private, industrial, and governmental organizations worldwide on state-of-the-art emergency and disaster handling. Kuepper started his emergency and disaster management career in 1976 as a paramedic and a fireofficer. He went on to receive a B.A. in Law and Biochemistry from the German Universities of Bonn and Hannover in 1986. After graduation, he was named managing director and commanding chief of various EMS and rescue services throughout Europe, especially in Germany. Moving to the U.S. in 1997, he was certified as Incident Commander by the University of Nevada, Fire Protection Academy, as Emergency Manager, and as Business Contingency Planner by the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI). He completed specialized programs in Aviation Accident Management and is certified as a Trainer for Response to Terrorism Incidents by the U.S. Department of Justice. He developed the professional training program, "Working Together™," which was given an award by the ARFFwg (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting working group) in August 1999, and officially recognized by the city of Los Angeles. In January 2000, he became the executive consultant for the ARFFwg. Kuepper is an active member of the following national and international fire and disaster relief organizations: ARFFwg, IAEM (International Association of Emergency Managers), IAFC (International Association of Fire Chiefs), NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), TIEMS (The International Emergency Management Society), and WADEM (World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine). He serves as Vice President for Industrial Safety on the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Safety Council. He is appointed as a principal member on the NFPA Technical Committee 1600 on "Emergency/Disaster Management and Business Continuity Programs" and works with the task group on the NFPA Standard 424 "Airport/Community Emergency Planning." |