Aggie business students to face life-and-death scenarios

Some things you can’t learn in the classroom. On Monday, 91 Texas A&M Mays Business School MBA students will engage in a unique and highly stressful learning experience — one they’ll hope never happens in real life.

On Nov. 3, the second-year MBA class will participate in a gauntlet of exercises at the world-famous Disaster City® to learn to deal with demanding emergency situations. The Texas Engineering Extension Service’s (TEEX) Disaster City® — located about two miles from Texas A&M’s campus — is 52 acres of devastation and destruction used to teach first responders the skills necessary for search and rescue.

“This terrific collaborative effort between the MBA program and TEEX provides a valuable enrichment experience that is unique to the Texas A&M MBA program,” said Kelli Kilpatrick, director of the MBA Program. “This one-of-a-kind enrichment experience requires students to act quickly, adjust the plan as necessary, and solve problems as a team. These are skills directly applicable to real-world business. It is an experience which we believe will equip our MBA students with leadership qualities necessary to succeed throughout their careers.”

TEEX specializes in training first responders in all disciplines and, in conjunction with Mays Business School leaders, developed a day of training the MBA students will never forget. Exercises include rescuing a live person from an overturned train car, lowering a live patient from the top of a two-story building, extracting a live victim from a confined space, moving a concrete panel with only ropes and pipes and a scavenger hunt using GPS technology.

“Critical decision-making during the course of a disaster is the essence of emergency response,” said Bob McKee, Director of TEEX’s Urban Search and Rescue division, which runs the day-to-day operations of Disaster City®. “We are excited to help another part of The Texas A&M University System experience the world-class facilities and training we have to offer.”

Media opportunity

TEEX and Texas A&M’s Mays Business School invite you to cover this unique event. The exercises will begin around 9:30 a.m. and continue until about 4 p.m. There will be a short break for lunch. Any media wishing to attend should contact Chuck Glenewinkel (contact information listed below). Long-sleeved shirts and close-toed shoes are required at Disaster City®.

About Mays Business School

Mays Business School at Texas A&M University offers a 16-month, full-time MBA program featuring a flexible curriculum and personalized career services. The Texas A&M MBA is designed to merge the real-world with the classroom by providing unique educational opportunities that promote the immediate and practical application of the MBA degree.

About Disaster City®

Disaster City® is a 52-acre training facility designed to deliver the full array of skills and techniques needed by urban search and rescue professionals, featuring full-scale collapsible structures that replicate community infrastructure. The site includes simulations of a strip mall, office building, industrial complex, assembly hall/theater, single-family dwelling, train derailments, three active rubble piles and a small lake.

About the Texas Engineering Extension Service

TEEX, a member of The Texas A&M University System, offers hands-on, customized first responder training, homeland security exercises, technical assistance and technology transfer services impacting Texas and beyond. TEEX programs include fire services, homeland security, law enforcement, public works, safety and health, search and rescue, and economic development.