Derek has over 30 years’ experience in emergency response and crisis management, combining frontline emergency service operations with local authority crisis management and international disaster response. He has worked with Ireland’s largest local authority crisis team, lectured on the subjects of Incident Command, Risk Management, and Environmental Health and Safety, and served as a deployable EU Civil Protection expert in disaster zones from the Turkish/ Syrian earthquake to the Ukraine conflict.

He has prepared exercises, developed plans, and delivered training for many organisations, including the Office of Emergency Planning, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and Dublin City Council. Internationally, he is the joint exercise creator for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism’s Operational Deployment basic and advanced courses.

Derek’s academic foundation complements his field experience, enabling him to approach crisis situations with both strategic and operational intelligence.

He founded Prosilience Consulting to enable organisations navigate the uncertainty of crisis response, and build stronger, better prepared, crisis management teams.