
At every emergency, there is a dedicated team of professionals there to manage and guide the situation to a safe conclusion. It’s easy to identify the boots-on-the-ground personnel that make the world a safer place— police officers, firefighters, paramedics. But who works on the strategic end, designing plans and systems that help emergency operations run effectively?
If you like helping people and are good are problem-solving, there are emergency management career options that might be a good fit. In this article, we take a look at what those jobs are, how they work, and what you need to do to land one for yourself.
Skills Required
In addition to having well-developed analytical skills, emergency management professionals need to be able to remain level-headed in a crisis. While the nature of their work is to plan for emergency situations in advance, one of the most clearly identifiable qualities of a disaster is that it doesn’t stick to a discernable script.
Flexibility, clear communication, and empathy are all useful skills to have in disaster management. Some of these qualities can be acquired through education. However, many of the most important skills are what experts call “soft”. In other words, you have them or you don’t.
What Degree Do You Need?
There are degrees specifically devoted to emergency management. These programs are available at some undergraduate schools, but most professionals working in this field will also consider a graduate degree.
Generally, undergraduate programs feature a wider but more generalized scope of focus, while graduate programs will be narrower and more specific. When choosing an academic path, it is helpful to know where you want to work after graduation. Are you interested in managing the fallout of a natural disaster?
In that case, you may wind up working for a local government in high-risk regions of the country. Or maybe you are interested in healthcare emergency management. In that case, you will, naturally, find more opportunities in the hospital setting.
There are also various certifications and endorsements that can help you expand your credentials and grow professionally.
Emergency Management Careers
Now that you have a little bit of background knowledge, let’s get more specific by taking a look at some Emergency Management careers you will be eligible for with the right credentials.
Emergency Manager
Emergency managers oversee all aspects of a crisis response. They develop comprehensive plans, assess risk potential, and help their employers (often a high-risk community) understand how to prepare for and respond to a wide range of disasters.
Once they have produced an effective plan they will communicate it to the stakeholders, and often conduct training and drills that help everyone involved get ready for the risks ahead.
Public Health Preparedness Specialist
Public Health Preparedness Specialists focus more narrowly on health-related risks during emergencies. Their emphasis can range pretty substantially, but often infectious diseases, pandemics, and other spreadable illnesses are at the heart of their focus. During the height of COVID-19, it was these professionals who helped lead communities in their response.
This career path involves evaluating risk and orchestrating a response. It also relies heavily on public outreach. It takes an entire community to fight back against infectious diseases, and public health preparedness specialists help coordinate those efforts.
Disaster Recovery Specialist
It’s not enough to just be ready for an emergency. Communities that have experienced a crisis need an enormous amount of help and support to get back on their feet afterward. Disaster recovery specialists help with that, providing plans to restore infrastructure and help businesses and individuals impacted by the disaster.
Sometimes this will involve organizing community resources. Other times, it may require the professional to connect community members with grant opportunities and other financial resources that will make their rebuilding efforts possible.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Coordinator:
EMS coordinators help roll out medical services at the drop of a hat during emergencies. This requires them to work directly with the various healthcare institutions in their community—ambulances, public health agencies, and so on—to ensure that healthcare can be administered safely and comprehensively.
Crisis Communication Specialist
During emergencies, the truth can easily become lost in the haze of fear and worry. Crisis Communication Specialists are responsible for clarifying what is actually happening—both to the media and the general public.
In the modern era, this often involves using social media channels to produce actionable insights and other usable information with potentially life-saving consequences for the members of the community impacted by them.
What Do All of These Jobs Have in Common?
If there is a clear throughline that connects all of these careers, it’s communication. Crisis managers are the calm voice of reason that is clear enough to speak over the chaos of a storm. They don’t have all the answers— in a true crisis, “all the answers,” is an abstract, and often impossible concept.
They do have the ability to apply reason to unreasonable situations and get the people around them to do the same.
It’s not easy work, but it’s vital. If you want to make a major difference in the world and think you have the calm, rational voice to do it, consider a career in emergency management.
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components