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Description
United States Homeland Security concerns include emergency response to natural and man-made disasters. Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan have taught us hard lessons about emergency response and recovery. Consequently, this requires the dedication of continuous research in the area of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). At San Diego State University's Immersive Visualization Center (Viz Center) a series of exercises called Exercise 24 dedicated to HADR have helped to better prepare agencies and organizations to coordinate response through a simulated environment and thus save lives and money when the next real disaster occurs. In an event of a natural disaster, the ever strengthening economic and cultural bonds between the United States and Mexico mean that events that affect one country affect the other. It is therefore important that the two countries learn to work together and help each other in times of crisis. Hence, emergency response training should be encouraged on a bi-national level through simulated exercises. Subsequently, an important element of simulation exercise is the collection and evaluation of qualitative information regarding participant experiences and social relationships during the exercise. Qualitative information regarding participant experiences was collected during X24 Mexico as part of this study to better understand the process of development of collaborative HADR relationships. Qualitative information is a valuable because it showcases participants' opinions, thoughts and feelings which are important in the development of best practices.
