Disaster Response – Rules of Engagement
Greg Merrell
Thursday, June 11, 2026
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
When disaster strikes, the first few moments define the outcome. Disaster Response – Rules of Engagement equips responders with the mindset, tactics, and coordination skills required to act decisively and safely during the chaotic aftermath of natural disasters. This course is ideal for Fire, EMS, Military, Law Enforcement, and Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) personnel.
This course is taught by a highly qualified instructor with national US&R deployment experience. This course delivers field-proven strategies and lessons learned from real-world hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and earthquake responses. Participants gain insights from both first-arriving units and the command-level perspective of managing complex, multi-operational period incidents.
Students will learn how to perform initial scene size-up, establish search and rescue priorities, and organize effective, safe operations that protect responders and victims alike. Whether the disaster is a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, tsunami, or large-scale flood, the tactics, principles, and rules of engagement remain consistent and understanding them can mean the difference between confusion and coordinated action.
A key portion of the course introduces participants to US&R marking systems, including Search, Victim, and Structural markings, incorporating SARCOP experiences into the course content. Students will explore the practical use of Survey123, Quick Capture, and Field Maps, seeing how these tools integrate field-level data capture with command-level analysis and planning. This demonstration provides knowledge on how modern digital tools enhance situational awareness, reduce duplication of effort, enhanced planning and coordination and improve operational safety.
The “Rules of Engagement” presented in this course empower responders to act quickly, think critically, and operate safely delivering effective, coordinated, and life-saving action when their community needs them most.
Greg Merrell
Greg Merrell, CTO & CFO, is a Battalion Chief with the Oklahoma City Fire Department and a Task Force Leader with OK-TF 1 Urban Search & Rescue. He brings over three decades of leadership experience spanning military aviation, emergency services, and technical rescue. A former UH-60 Blackhawk Pilot-in-Command, Aviation Safety Officer, and Fire Officer, Greg has led teams on military and US&R deployments worldwide.
He is a nationally recognized instructor in leadership and technical rescue, with teaching experience across the U.S. and Australia. Greg served as a technical rescue company officer with responsibilities in rope rescue, trench rescue, confined space, structural collapse, SCUBA recovery, water rescue, and boat operations. He also served as the company officer at the hazardous materials technical rescue response station.
Greg has developed specialized curriculum and consults with multiple agencies and homeland security on training programs, rescue team development, and deployment strategies. A frequent conference speaker, he has presented at over 35 national events and authored nine published articles on leadership, incident command, technical rescue, and disaster response.
