Newswise — The following faculty member of The George Washington University Medical Center is available to comment on topics involving emergency response and preparedness, in response to the recent DC metro incident.
Dan Kaniewski
Expert in Emergency Response and Preparedness
GW Homeland Security Policy Institute
Daniel J. Kaniewski is Deputy Director of The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. Kaniewski re-joined HSPI in August 2008 after spending three years on the White House staff, most recently as Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director for Response Policy.
Soon after joining the White House staff in July 2005, he witnessed first hand the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. He then served as a co-author and editor of the White House report The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. Following the publication of this report, he worked to improve the nation's response capabilities and advised the President and White House senior staff during domestic incidents (including both man-made and natural disasters). He chaired the Domestic Readiness Group at the White House; managed the Presidential Disaster Declaration process; oversaw the development and approval of the National Response Framework and National Incident Management System; and traveled with the President aboard Air Force One to disaster sites around the country.
Kaniewski's current research interests include incident management, emergency management, and the homeland security policymaking process. His op-ed "Not Your Father's FEMA" appeared in The Washington Times and he recently testified before Congress regarding FEMA reforms. At the change in Presidential administrations he was profiled in The Chronicle of Higher Education article "Mr. Professor Goes to Washington." He currently serves as a member of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expert panel examining plans for interdisciplinary response to terrorist use of explosives and recently contributed to a forthcoming CDC document on surge capacity in terrorist bombings.
Prior to his White House service, Kaniewski co-founded HSPI and served as its first Deputy Director from October 2002 to July 2005. Earlier in his career he was a Congressional Liaison for Terrorism Preparedness and Consequence Management at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Prior to 9/11, Kaniewski served as a Homeland Security Fellow to members of the U.S. House of Representatives where he conducted research on congressional coordination for homeland security. He proposed a House Select Committee on Homeland Security in June 2001 and subsequently published his findings. The House Select Committee on Homeland Security became a reality on June 19, 2002 with the adoption of H. Res. 449 during the 107th Congress. Kaniewski continues to speak about and write on the need for congressional coordination for homeland security, with multiple op-eds on the topic having been featured in such publications as Roll Call and The Washington Times.
From 1996-2000 he utilized his experience as a firefighter and paramedic to assist policymakers as Emergency Medical Services Advisor to the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), a non-profit organization dedicated to educating members of Congress on fire and EMS issues. Kaniewski remains active with the organization, as a member of the CFSI National Advisory Committee.
Kaniewski has appeared live on national television networks including the Fox News Channel and PBS, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Congressional Quarterly, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Roll Call.
Kaniewski holds a Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in Emergency Medical Services from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, a Master of Arts degree with distinction in National Security Studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and is certified as a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from The George Washington University.
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