It has been five years since an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico failed, spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf and causing one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The emergency and disaster response had to be both immediate and sustained as the uncapped oil well, owned by BP, released an estimated 4.2 million barrels of oil for 87 straight days.
Listen to this podcast featuring Dr. Chris Reynolds, who has spent 33 years in emergency and disaster management (EDM). During the Gulf spill, Dr. Reynolds was an EDM liaison with the U.S. Coast Guard, working closely with the clean-up crews. Dr. Reynolds is also the vice president of academic communications and outreach for American Military University.
He provides insight about the lessons learned from this disaster and how it has impacted future preparedness plans. This disaster proved how critical a “community of effort” response is to such disasters, requiring collaboration from federal, state, and local resources. He also discusses the ongoing importance of establishing relationships among all response levels.
Learn more about the response to this disaster and the lessons learned:
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