About EM Disaster Gaming

Hi everyone, my name is Dr. Arthur J. Simental, CEM. I’m the Founder of Simental Industries Ltd. and EM Disaster Gaming. I am the creator of "Disaster Wargaming" and the "Emergency Operations Center Wargame Series". I’m a Career Certified Emergency Manager, Professor, Researcher, and Consultant. I’ve spent the last 16+ years of my life dedicated to helping prepare and safeguard communities from emergencies and disasters. I originally started my career as a Volunteer Fire Fighter and have deployed to numerous emergencies and disasters including presidential declared major disasters. Notably the Waldo Canyon Fire. The disaster that the original Emergency Operations Center - Wildfire Mayhem is based on…

I created EM Disaster Gaming "Disaster Wargaming" to help prepare and educate communities for future emergencies and disasters so they can learn in a creative way how disaster response works. I’ve also created EM Disaster Gaming so that First Responders, Emergency Managers, Policy Makers, and Disaster Workers can use this as an opportunity for more immersive and engaging, training and education. I hope to challenge them to critically think, strategize, communicate, cooperate, and better plan for disasters through more robust tabletop exercises. 

Wargaming has been used famously by the military and defense community since the early 19th century as a way to prepare for and understand the impacts and consequences of war. This is a practice that I hope to adapt and am bringing for the first time to the homeland security & emergency management community in an affordable and readily available way so that we can better safeguard the nation, communities, and families across all mission areas - prevention, protection, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery to achieve readiness for disasters and ultimately resilience.

Professional Bio:

Dr. Arthur J. Simental, DM, M.S., CEM.

IAEM-USA Top 40 Under 40 Recipient, Certified Emergency Manager, Disaster Researcher, EM Historian, Professor, Futurist, Author, Disaster Wargaming Creator & Systems Scientist. NEMAA, IAEM-CEM / CO-CEM

Dr. Arthur J. Simental is a homeland security & emergency management Professor, Researcher, Consultant, and Career Certified Emergency Manager. Dr. Simental is the Founder & CEO of Simental Industries Ltd. & EM Disaster Gaming a Homeland Security & Emergency Management Consulting Firm and Disaster Research Collaborative, and a former Public Health Advisor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Simental has over sixteen years of service in Government, Homeland Security & Emergency Management and Emergency Services. Serving across all levels of government (local-federal), private & non-profit sectors in homeland security, emergency management, healthcare & public health emergency preparedness, space & defense, security, education, & critical infrastructure. Dr. Simental is also a homeland security researcher, published author, former Threat Liaison Officer, a Member of FEMA’s Science, Technology and Integration Special Interest Group, Certified Emergency Manager with CEMA and IAEM, and notably disaster wargaming creator.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthursimental/