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Stu­dents who choose to enroll in online degrees in emer­gency man­age­ment often do so because they need the con­ve­nience of a flex­i­ble sched­ule and the abil­i­ty to study when it is most con­ve­nient. Emer­gency man­age­ment degrees online offer stu­dents who need to con­tin­ue to work while attend­ing school the oppor­tu­ni­ty to do so with­out cut­ting back their hours or giv­ing up over­time that may be offered. Being able to work while earn­ing a degree will make it pos­si­ble for stu­dents to remain com­mit­ted to their oblig­a­tions and still get the edu­ca­tion they need.

Enrolling in an online degree pro­gram offers stu­dents who are pur­su­ing a Bach­e­lor’s in Emer­gency Man­age­ment an oppor­tu­ni­ty to get the same qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion as those stu­dents who are more com­fort­able in a class­room set­ting. Some stu­dents require a more relaxed learn­ing envi­ron­ment and will thrive when allowed the choice to take their cours­es online. They are able to focus bet­ter and can work at their own pace, pro­vid­ing them with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to bet­ter under­stand each lesson.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Online Emergency Management Degrees

To rank the best online emer­gency man­age­ment bachelor’s pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors focused their research on accred­it­ed, legit­i­mate col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties offer­ing hybrid and ful­ly online bachelor’s and bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­grams. From the ini­tial pool, pro­grams were ranked accord­ing to cost, grad­u­ate salary, and reputation.

1. Saint Louis University

Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Emer­gency Man­age­ment which is one of the best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. This degree pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for careers in dis­as­ter com­mu­ni­ca­tions, risk man­age­ment law enforce­ment, train­ing, fire­fight­ing, or search & res­cue, among oth­ers. Course­work for Saint Louis’ under­grad­u­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment includes emer­gency man­age­ment in prac­tice, resilience, recov­ery & con­tin­gency, threat & risk assess­ment, health­care coor­di­na­tion in high impact dis­as­ters, and an emer­gency man­age­ment cap­stone, to name a few.

Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1818 as a pri­vate Jesuit acad­e­my. The uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates two cam­pus­es – one in Saint Louis and anoth­er in Madrid. More than 12,400 stu­dents attend class­es offered by Saint Louis University.

What We Like: Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty boasts a stu­dent-to-fac­ul­ty ratio of 9 to 1.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Emer­gency Management

2. Mercer University

Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. Mer­cer University’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees offer stu­dents five start dates each year and a gen­er­ous trans­fer cred­it pol­i­cy. Class­es for Mer­cer’s under­grad­u­ate emer­gency man­age­ment degree pro­gram includes the effects of dis­as­ter on soci­ety, foren­sic behav­ior, foun­da­tions of lead­er­ship, and bud­get­ing for non­fi­nan­cial lead­ers, plus an aca­d­e­m­ic field expe­ri­ence, to name a few. The total semes­ter cred­its for this pro­gram is 120 semes­ter credits.

Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1833 as the Mer­cer Insti­tute. The uni­ver­si­ty’s cam­pus­es in Macon, Atlanta, Savan­nah, and online – serve more than 8,600 students.

What We Like: Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the old­est of all pri­vate high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions in the state of Georgia.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Management

3. Colorado State University

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Fire and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is avail­able 100% online. Col­orado State University’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees require degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its, which can be fin­ished in about 24 months. This online emer­gency man­age­ment degree from Col­orado State is rec­og­nized among the best online bac­calau­re­ate degree pro­grams in the coun­try by US News. Stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to select a minor from agri­cul­ture, eco­nom­ics, anthro­pol­o­gy, soci­ol­o­gy, media stud­ies, busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion, and envi­ron­men­tal sustainability.

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty (Col­orado State) was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Act in 1870. Col­orado State’s cam­pus in Fort Collins is home to more than 33,100 stu­dents vying for degrees offered by Col­orado State’s eight colleges/schools.

What We Like: Alum­ni of Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty include gov­er­nors, astro­nauts, and chief exec­u­tive offi­cers, among others.

Degree: Fire and Emer­gency Ser­vice Admin­is­tra­tion, BS

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Fire and Emer­gency Management

4. Grand Canyon University

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty Colan­ge­lo Col­lege of Busi­ness offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is avail­able entire­ly online. Grand Canyon University’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees require stu­dents to com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its in sev­en-week cours­es. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Grand Canyon’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment to find reward­ing work as secu­ri­ty man­agers, emer­gency man­age­ment direc­tors, recov­ery spe­cial­ists, emer­gency plan­ners, and police super­vi­sors, to name a few.

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty is a Chris­t­ian high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was found­ed in 1949 by Ari­zona South­ern Bap­tists. This for-prof­it uni­ver­si­ty has a stu­dent enroll­ment of more than 100,000, with more than 90,000 study­ing online.

What We Like: Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty offers var­i­ous degrees in tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing the­ol­o­gy, health­care, nurs­ing, fine arts, edu­ca­tion, busi­ness, nurs­ing, and social sciences.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

5. Barry University

Bar­ry Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is con­sid­ered among the best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. This 120-semes­ter cred­it emer­gency man­age­ment degree allows for up to 90 eli­gi­ble cred­its to be trans­ferred. Stu­dents must com­plete 30 cred­it units from the emer­gency man­age­ment cur­ricu­lum in class­es like busi­ness con­ti­nu­ity cri­sis man­age­ment, psy­choso­cial issues of dis­as­ter pre­pared­ness and recov­ery, inter­na­tion­al dis­as­ter man­age­ment, haz­ard mit­i­ga­tion, and overview of dis­as­ter & com­plex emer­gen­cies, among others.

Bar­ry Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a Domini­can Roman Catholic high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was found­ed in 1940. Bar­ry Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates three cam­pus­es, the main cam­pus in Mia­mi Shores, Orlan­do, and Tal­la­has­see. Bar­ry serves more than 8,700 students.

What We Like: Bar­ry Uni­ver­si­ty was orig­i­nal­ly an all-women’s school found­ed by the Bar­ry siblings.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Bar­ry Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Management

6. Franklin University

Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty offers a bac­calau­re­ate degree in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that offers degree can­di­dates two aca­d­e­m­ic tracks. These options include Home­land Secu­ri­ty or Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Dis­as­ter Response. Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees require stu­dents to com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its to grad­u­ate. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from Franklin’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment enter the work­force as casi­no secu­ri­ty offi­cers, busi­ness con­ti­nu­ity man­agers, cor­po­rate secu­ri­ty direc­tors, home­land secu­ri­ty spe­cial­ists, and sur­veil­lance spe­cial­ists, among oth­ers. The con­ve­nience of Franklin’s degree pro­gram allows work­ing learn­ers the oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­plete the degree in less than four years.

Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a com­merce school in a YMCA in 1902. Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty was devel­oped to serve work­ing learn­ers and adult stu­dents in the Colum­bus area.

What We Like: Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Wis­con­sin, Indi­ana, Penn­syl­va­nia, and Illi­nois, in addi­tion to Ohio.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment and Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty Emer­gency Man­age­ment and Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

7. Western Carolina University

West­ern Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is avail­able 100% online. Stu­dents enrolled in West­ern Car­oli­na University’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees are required to com­plete 120 cred­it units to meet pro­gram require­ments. Course­work for West­ern Car­oli­na University’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment & home­land secu­ri­ty includes social dimen­sions of a dis­as­ter, EMC sys­tems man­age­ment, dis­as­ter response oper­a­tions, emer­gency plan­ning, meth­ods of dis­as­ter research, plus meth­ods of research project, to name a few.

West­ern Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty (WGU) is a mem­ber of the UNC sys­tem that was found­ed in 1905. The university’s val­ley cam­pus in rur­al North Car­oli­na is home to more than 12,000 students.

What We Like: West­ern Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first teacher’s school that was run using pub­lic funds in the state.

Degree: Emer­gency and Dis­as­ter Man­age­ment, BS

West­ern Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty Emer­gency and Dis­as­ter Man­age­ment, BS

8. Jacksonville State University

Jack­sonville State Uni­ver­si­ty School of Human Ser­vices & Social Sci­ences offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is one of the state’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. Jack­sonville State University’s under­grad­u­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment requires the com­ple­tion of 120 semes­ter cred­its. Man­dat­ed class­es include dis­as­ter mit­i­ga­tion & pre­pared­ness, intro­duc­tion to dis­as­ter man­age­ment, pop­u­la­tions at risk, research in emer­gency man­age­ment, and an emer­gency man­age­ment cap­stone course. This Jack­sonville State Uni­ver­si­ty, emer­gency man­age­ment degree, offers degree can­di­dates a pub­lic safe­ty telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions minor.

Jack­sonville State Uni­ver­si­ty (JSU) was estab­lished in 1883 as a nor­mal school. JSU’s 400+ acre sub­ur­ban cam­pus in Jack­sonville is home to more than 8,900 stu­dents vying for degrees offered by JSU’s six colleges/schools.

What We Like: Jack­sonville State Uni­ver­si­ty is the flag­ship cam­pus of the state sys­tem and is locat­ed at the Appalachi­an foothills.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Jack­sonville State Uni­ver­si­ty Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

9. Upper Iowa University

Upper Iowa Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA Emer­gency and Dis­as­ter Man­age­ment that can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. In addi­tion, UIU’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees are also avail­able in loca­tions in Illi­nois, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Okla­homa, Kansas, and Wis­con­sin. Upper Iowa Uni­ver­si­ty boasts a stu­dent-to-fac­ul­ty ratio of 13 to 1.

Upper Iowa Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1857 and ini­tial­ly affil­i­at­ed with the Methodist Church. The university’s stu­dent enroll­ment exceeds 6,000 stu­dents, of which more than 5,000 stu­dents study online or in one of the school’s fif­teen aca­d­e­m­ic cen­ters around the globe.

What We Like: Dur­ing World War I, the gym­na­si­um at Upper Iowa Uni­ver­si­ty was con­vert­ed to a bar­racks, with ath­let­ic facil­i­ties used for mil­i­tary drills.

Degree: Emer­gency and Dis­as­ter Man­age­ment, BA

Upper Iowa Uni­ver­si­ty BA Emer­gency and Dis­as­ter Management

10. Drury University

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is con­sid­ered among the state’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. Drury’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment requires can­di­dates to com­plete 124 semes­ter cred­its to meet pro­gram require­ments. Core require­ments for the emer­gency man­age­ment major include class­es in haz­ard mit­i­ga­tion, finan­cial basics for lead­ers, haz­ard iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, social aspects of dis­as­ter, and grant writ­ing, plus an intern­ship in emer­gency man­age­ment, to name a few. Stu­dents can enter Drury Uni­ver­si­ty’s degree pro­gram five times each year.

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1873. The university’s urban cam­pus in Spring­field cov­ers more than 75 acres and serves more than 1,600 stu­dents. Drury Uni­ver­si­ty often nears the top of US News’ list of great schools for a great price.

What We Like: Drury University’s first-class includ­ed four women students.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Emer­gency Management

11. Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA in Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is rec­og­nized as one of the state’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. This emer­gency man­age­ment bac­calau­re­ate degree from Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty is the only pro­gram of its kind in the state, with two minor options in crim­i­nal jus­tice or unmanned air­craft sys­tems. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from KSU’s emer­gency degree pro­gram to find reward­ing careers in busi­ness­es, hos­pi­tals, col­leges, the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, the Red Cross, or pub­lic schools, to name a few. Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty was select­ed to host FEMA’s Mul­ti-Haz­ard Plan­ning for Emer­gen­cies coursework.

Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in 1886. Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty remains affil­i­at­ed with the Unit­ed Method Church. Kansas Wes­leyan University’s cam­pus in Sali­na is home to more than 700 students.

What We Like: Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty boasts an impres­sive stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio of 11 to 1.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BA

Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Emer­gency Management

12. Waldorf University

Wal­dorf Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA in Emer­gency Man­age­ment that can be com­plet­ed 100% online. Wal­dorf University’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees require degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 semes­ter cred­its, with a ‘C’ or bet­ter in all work. Class­es for this bac­calau­re­ate degree pro­gram includes an intro to emer­gency man­age­ment, spe­cial oper­a­tions, inter­a­gency dis­as­ter man­age­ment, social-psy­cho­log­i­cal nature of emer­gency man­age­ment, ter­ror­ism response oper­a­tions, weapons of mass destruc­tion, and com­mu­ni­ty risk reduc­tion for emer­gency & fire ser­vices, plus an emer­gency man­age­ment cap­stone pro­gram, to name a few.

Wal­dorf Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1903 as an inde­pen­dent uni­ver­si­ty but was sold as a for-prof­it school to Colum­bia South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty. The university’s cam­pus in For­est City is home to more than 4,300 students.

What We Like: Wal­dorf began as a school to train pas­tors, plus busi­ness stu­dents and edu­ca­tion specialists.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BA

Wal­dorf Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Emer­gency Management

13. Crown College

Crown Col­lege offers a BS in Dis­as­ter and Emer­gency Man­age­ment that is avail­able 100% online. These best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees from Crown Col­lege offer stu­dents the option of accel­er­at­ing their bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s degrees in emer­gency man­age­ment. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in Crown’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in emer­gency man­age­ment requires the com­ple­tion of 125 semes­ter cred­its. Class­es for this degree include man­age­ment prin­ci­ples, cri­sis and risk com­mu­ni­ca­tion, dis­as­ter response and recov­ery, emer­gency pre­pared­ness and plan­ning, sta­tis­ti­cal con­cepts, and social sci­ence research meth­ods, among others.

Crown Col­lege was estab­lished in 1916. This Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion is locat­ed on Lake Par­ley, with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 1,200 stu­dents. The online plat­form of Crown Col­lege offers more than 20 aca­d­e­m­ic degrees.

What We Like: Crown Col­lege is home to a pro­fes­sion­al disc golf course.

Degree: Dis­as­ter and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Crown Col­lege BS in Dis­as­ter and Emer­gency Management

14. New England College

New Eng­land Col­lege offers a BA in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness that is con­sid­ered among the state’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in New Eng­land College’s bachelor’s degree in emer­gency man­age­ment must com­plete class­es in cri­sis com­mu­ni­ca­tion, intro­duc­tion to home­land secu­ri­ty plan­ning, cyber-crime, and war­fare, emer­gency plan­ning & response, and research meth­ods, plus a senior the­sis, to name a few. NEC is a mem­ber of the Yel­low Rib­bon pro­gram and is des­ig­nat­ed as a mil­i­tary-friend­ly high­er learn­ing institution.

New Eng­land Col­lege (NEC)was estab­lished in 1946 as a for-prof­it high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion. The university’s rur­al cam­pus in Hen­niker serves more than 2,600 stu­dents. NEC was orig­i­nal­ly char­tered to serve men and women return­ing home from World War II.

What We Like: NEC’s cam­pus runs adja­cent to Con­toocook Riv­er and is about an hour and one-half from down­town Boston.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness, BA

New Eng­land Col­lege BA in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Preparedness

15. Immaculata University

Immac­u­la­ta Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Emer­gency Plan­ning and Man­age­ment that one of the only degrees and one of the commonwealth’s best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees. This under­grad­u­ate degree from Immac­u­la­ta can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. Class­es for this degree pro­gram include risk analy­sis & threat eval­u­a­tion, prin­ci­ples of emer­gency man­age­ment, legal aspects of emer­gency man­age­ment, human dimen­sion com­mu­ni­ca­tion in dis­as­ter man­age­ment, plus a cap­stone project, to name a few. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Immac­u­la­ta Uni­ver­si­ty’s degree pro­gram to find reward­ing careers in the areas of home­land secu­ri­ty, hos­pi­tal secu­ri­ty, spe­cial agen­cies, bor­der patrol, pri­vate secu­ri­ty, and gov­ern­ment agen­cies, to name a few.

Immac­u­la­ta Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1920 as Vil­la Maria Col­lege for women. This Roman Catholic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing is home to more than 1,400 stu­dents. The school’s cam­pus in Immac­u­la­ta cov­ers more than 200 small-town acres.

What We Like: Immac­u­la­ta was intend­ed to serve women in the City of Broth­er­ly Love.

Degree: Emer­gency Plan­ning and man­age­ment, BS

Immac­u­la­ta Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Emer­gency Plan­ning and Management

Why Should I Get My Emergency Management Degree Online?

An online degree in emer­gency man­age­ment also offers stu­dents who may not live near the school of their choice an oppor­tu­ni­ty to attend albeit from a dis­tance. The online learn­ing for­mat makes it pos­si­ble for stu­dents to com­plete their home­work and turn in assign­ments from almost any loca­tion where they can find a sol­id inter­net con­nec­tion. The online for­mat also allows stu­dents who are try­ing to earn their Bach­e­lor’s degree in Emer­gency Man­age­ment an oppor­tu­ni­ty to vol­un­teer at orga­ni­za­tions like the Sal­va­tion Army where they can put the lessons they are learn­ing into action.

What Can I Do With a Bachelor’s in Emergency Management?

Jobs in emer­gency and dis­as­ter man­age­ment can be found in every lev­el of gov­ern­ment, as well as in the pri­vate sec­tor. State and fed­er­al emer­gency man­age­ment agen­cies hire indi­vid­u­als who work with com­mu­ni­ties to cre­ate dis­as­ter action and recov­ery plans so that com­mu­ni­ties are pre­pared pri­or to a dis­as­ter occur­ring. Emer­gency man­age­ment jobs on the city and state lev­els can include fire mar­shals, crime scene inves­ti­ga­tors, and emer­gency man­age­ment teams that work to orga­nize com­mu­ni­ty resources in case of an emergency.

Non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tions like the Sal­va­tion Army are always look­ing for­ward to hir­ing grad­u­ates who have com­plet­ed accred­it­ed degree pro­grams, either online or in a class­room set­ting. These orga­ni­za­tions play an inte­gral role in large-scale dis­as­ters like hur­ri­canes and tor­na­does. They have team mem­bers who set up shel­ters, dis­trib­ute food to indi­vid­u­als who may not be able to leave their homes, and assist with the evac­u­a­tion process if it has been put into effect. Non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tions hire grad­u­ates who show promise in terms of orga­niz­ing resources, dis­trib­ut­ing sup­plies, and assist­ing in the recov­ery efforts of the community.

Emer­gency man­age­ment ser­vice jobs are very reward­ing and allow grad­u­ates an oppor­tu­ni­ty to work with com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers as well as the pub­lic at large. Indi­vid­u­als with an emer­gency man­age­ment degree are capa­ble of work­ing with groups like FEMA and Home­land Secu­ri­ty. They are able to assume many of the respon­si­bil­i­ties asso­ci­at­ed with cre­at­ing a safe and secure envi­ron­ment, as well as dis­trib­ut­ing sup­plies, and work­ing out the logis­tics of mov­ing both sup­plies and peo­ple to areas where they are need­ed the most.

What Does an Emergency Manager Do?

An emer­gency man­ag­er has many respon­si­bil­i­ties. First and fore­most, they must be able to eval­u­ate and assess what is need­ed in terms of an emer­gency response. Is there a need to evac­u­ate the area? Has the threat passed? Are peo­ple still in dan­ger? What resources are need­ed? Who can I call to assist in the recov­ery effort? An emer­gency man­ag­er must be able to effec­tive­ly answer all of these ques­tions and at the same time, bring togeth­er a team of pro­fes­sion­als who have the capa­bil­i­ties of doing what needs to be done to take con­trol of the situation.

Emer­gency man­agers must be able to orga­nize large groups of peo­ple and an exten­sive amount of sup­plies. They must be able to effec­tive­ly uti­lize logis­tics to ensure that both peo­ple and sup­plies can be moved to where they need to be in a short amount of time. They must be able to take action on sev­er­al lev­els from work­ing with the com­mu­ni­ty to work­ing with elect­ed offi­cials and pub­lic ser­vants to secure an area and keep it safe for vol­un­teers and employ­ees to pro­vide assis­tance to those in need.

An effec­tive emer­gency man­ag­er must also be able to work in a non-dis­as­ter envi­ron­ment — most impor­tant­ly before a dis­as­ter, devel­op­ing pro­to­cols and guide­lines that can be used if and when an emer­gency occurs. Each type of dis­as­ter is dif­fer­ent and may require a spe­cif­ic type of plan to ensure every­one’s safe­ty. The man­ag­er must be able to work with fire­men, law enforce­ment agen­cies, and util­i­ty com­pa­nies to ensure that every­one is on the same page when it comes to know­ing their respon­si­bil­i­ties and tak­ing the appro­pri­ate actions.

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