Loretta Gonzalez-Bezanilla, Planning Section Chief

Reviewed by Loretta: YES 03OCT2022

Since the beginning of her tenure with National EMR in 2016, Loretta Gonzalez has occupied multiple positions deploying to over ten emergency responses and presidentially declared major disasters, including the 2019 California Wildfires, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Ida. Loretta completed her education in psychology and comparative literature at the University of Texas at Austin and, prior to joining National EMR, she worked in quantitative laboratory research and technical writing.  

Since 2021, Loretta has been leading National EMR’s Planning Section, developing emergency preparedness plans and protocols and contributing to the development of strategic decision-making tools and organizational structures and processes during National EMR’s key period of growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Loretta played an integral part on the development of procedures to efficiently track over 9,500 personnel deployed across the state of Texas for the state’s medical surge response and served as liaison for coordination with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Loretta holds multiple certifications from FEMA on emergency planning, mass care, and integration of disability and access and functional needs (AFN) in disaster operations.