What Is Emergency Management?

Emergency management is the strategic and planned response to crisis situations.  Many disasters happen both from natural causes and man-made causes, so proper training and organization is needed.  Most organizations follow certain phases when planning and preparing for disasters.  The phases include mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.  Mitigation is working to reduce the chances of a disaster happening. 

Preparedness is ensuring plans, supplies, and training is ready in case a disaster does strike.  Response is putting the plans, supplies, and training to in action when a disaster does happen.  Recovery is working to restore the affected area back to its previous state. Then the next phase is back to mitigation to start to review what happened, work on how to improve the current situation, and improve on plans; so that a disaster does not happen again, and a team will be better prepared to deal with the situation.  The need for individuals who can work in this type of environment is at an all-time high.  Emergency management came under the microscope after Hurricane Katrina and better preparedness was sorely needed.  There are many reasons why emergency management is needed: floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist acts, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other man-made disasters.  One way to get into this field is to earn an emergency management degree.

Where can I get an Emergency Management Degree?

There are now more and more schools that are starting to offer an emergency management degree. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has led the way in helping schools develop curriculums for earning this degree.  FEMA developed the Emergency Management Higher Education Program to promote emergency management education for students interested in becoming emergency managers and other positions within FEMA.  FEMA has partnered with many schools to offer classes and instruction that follow the program.  There are also many online universities that have started to offer the degree.

What courses do I have to take to earn an Emergency Management Degree?

The main goal of the Emergency Management Higher Education Program is to work with colleges and universities to create an emergency management program to sustain, replicate capability, and reduce disaster loss through an established education program, experiential learning, practice, and experience centered on the phases of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.  Therefore, to earn your emergency management degree you should expect to take classes like Introduction to Emergency Management, Project Management, Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Terrorism, Emergency Planning and Incident Management, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, Chemistry of Hazardous Materials, Introduction to Radiological Materials, Hazardous Materials Management, Toxicology, Organizational Behavior and Management, Emergency Operations and Techniques, Mitigation Planning, Disaster Response and Recovery, Computer Applications in Emergency Management, and other related courses.

How do I pay for my Emergency Management Degree?

Students who can't afford paying for college out of their own pocket have several financial aid options to choose from.  The first is searching and applying for scholarships.  There are thousands of scholarships available.  Another option is applying for grants.  The most widely known grant is the federal government’s Pell Grant.  Both of these options are great because a student does not have to pay back these financial awards.  Lastly, a student can apply for a student loan from the government, banks, or other financial institutions.  The federal loans can be subsidized or unsubsidized.  Most of the student loans have low interest rates, repayment doesn’t start until after the student graduates, and have longer repayment periods.  If a student has several loans, he/she may have the opportunity to consolidate the loans to make repayment easier.

What can I expect after receiving my Emergency Management Degree?

There are plenty of careers available for a student with an emergency management degree.  With the degree you can have a career as an emergency program manager or director, emergency operations center manager, director of security for your organization, technical training supervisor, hospital coordinator, emergency preparedness instructor, or risk management expert.  There are many agencies you can work for too.  Individuals with an emergency management degree have the opportunity to work for organizations like FEMA, State emergency agencies, the National Guard, or the Red Cross. 

You can expect to earn a salary in the range of $31,101 to $93,837.  The range is big because there are so many positions available so trying to narrow it down is difficult.  But what is guaranteed is a job that challenges you and gives you the satisfaction that you are making a difference.  Getting an emergency management degree is a step in the right direction.