TOP TEN COMPETENCIES FOR PROFESSIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
B. Wayne Blanchard
October 7, 2005
The purpose of this document is to provide assistance to academicians who have the responsibility of designing or maintaining a collegiate emergency management program (such as a degree, certificate, or concentration). The design of individual college courses and an emergency management curriculum should be informed by an appreciation of the functions of emergency management and skill sets needed to perform those functions.
A previous and different version of this document was developed in the Spring of 2003, in preparation for a presentation at the 28th Annual Workshop on Hazards Research and Applications in Boulder Colorado. Since that time there have been two FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Conferences which included breakout sessions to discuss emergency management competencies and curriculum as well as a workshop in Denver Colorado in the Fall of 2004 on The Hazards Manager of the 21st Century. In addition, the recent failure of governments to quickly and adequately respond to Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf and subsequent levee breaks in New Orleans, has caused me to re-evaluate and re-write the earlier document.
The format will first be a simple listing, to be followed by amplifying notes.
1. Comprehensive Emergency Management Framework or Philosophy
2. Leadership and Team-Building
3. Management
4. Networking and Coordination
5. Integrated Emergency Management
6. Emergency Management Functions
7. Political, Bureaucratic, Social Contexts
8. Technical Systems and Standards
9. Social Vulnerability Reduction Approach
10. Experience
1. Adopts Comprehensive Emergency Management framework or philosophy.
Comprehensive emergency management can best be summarized as all hazards, all phases, all actors.
This is in contrast with a homeland security (terrorism) response primary orientation. It should be obvious by now that an imbalanced focus on uniformed first responders and their response to a terrorism event has harmed the development and maintenance of broader capabilities for a broader audience and broader range of hazards. The best response capability in the world does little or northing to address future disaster losses. Only mitigation, reduction, prevention and readiness activities address the ever increasing vulnerability of the United States to disasters and ever increasing disaster losses.
2. Leadership and Team-Building
The necessity of good leadership is another obvious lesson to be tragically relearned yet once again in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Especially, but not just, in the immediate pre-impact and early response phases, leadership is needed not just an ability to provide a command presence, but the demonstration of vision, compassion, flexibility, imagination, resolve and courage. Without leadership, bureaucratic organizations and their personnel will tend to stay within more or less business as usual bureaucratic systems and methods of operation. It takes a leader to break down theses barriers to expeditiously move people and resources to where they are needed. Leadership is also needed in the hard-to-sell mitigation, reduction, prevention arena of emergency management to seek to create an culture of disaster prevention and preparedness. Leadership means fighting for resources so that not only good risk assessments can be made, plans developed, people trained and systems exercised, but equipment, facilities, supplies can be procured which allow plans to be implemented. Without resources, even the best laid plans are but fairy dust.
3. Management
Leaders need also to be able to manage, or have managers under them people who have the ability to implement, to make happen. This was singularly lacking in pre-impact and initial Hurricane Katrina response wherein very detailed plans existed at local, state, federal levels and in the private sector, many hundreds of people had been trained and exercised against those plans, and yet the plans were not adequately implemented. This disconnect between good planning, training and exercising on the one hand and implementation on the other demonstrates, among other things, the criticality of managerial implementation abilities.
4. Networking and Coordination
Emergency management offices are typically short staffed or no staff at all just someone with the responsibility but insufficient resources. This situation requires that emergency managers network and coordinate with a broad range of other organizations — up, down and laterally in government levels, private sector, voluntary associations and community based organizations. Particularly in large scale disasters, the failure of emergency management officials and their supervisors to adequately network beforehand with other levels of government, will prescribe a second governmental failure disaster. Within a jurisdiction or an organization, stakeholder organizations need to plan, train and exercise together. Indeed, one disaster researcher has suggested that successful and unsuccessful disaster response operations can be predicted beforehand based on knowledge of two variables alone (1) the extent and variety of an emergency managers network (how many different stakeholders are communicated with and involved), and (2) the frequency of contact once a year, twice, monthly, weekly, daily.
5. Integrated Emergency Management
Beyond the importance of networking and coordinating with a broad range of stakeholders, is the need to integrate hazard, disaster and emergency management concerns into broad range of organizational entities. In the local government context, for example, this means integrating emergency management planning into not just all the emergency services, but such other organizations as public works, public health, human services, transportation, planning, etc.). Emergency managers are seldom thought of until a threat looms, are too few, and typically have too little in the way of resources. This requires that emergency management organizations work to get other governmental organizations within their jurisdiction to integrate emergency management concerns (such as risk assessment, planning, training, exercise participation) into their thinking, systems and operations. The more heads the better.
6. Key Emergency Management Functions
Emergency management functions are variously described and enumerated as in lists of 10 or a dozen or 16, etc. These should be consulted. Herein will be stressed several key functions:
Risk Assessment what are the hazards facing ones jurisdiction/organization, their scope and probability, and the demographics, capabilities and resources of ones jurisdiction or organization
Planning emergency operations, mitigation, tie in to comprehensive plan
Training
Exercising
Emergency Operations Center Operations setting up, equipping and managing
Establishing interoperable communications within jurisdiction/organization
Applying lessons learned and research findings to emergency management functions on an on-going basis
7. Political, Bureaucratic, and Social Contexts
Emergency management is situated and must operate within various constraining and enabling circumstances. Key among them are the political, bureaucratic (or organizational), and social contexts of a jurisdiction/organization and those of lower and higher jurisdictions. Thus there is a great need to instruct on forms of government and bureaucratic politics, but also a need to understand the social dimensions of a jurisdiction/organizations and the social dimensions of disaster (how people and organizations react to disaster).
8. Technical Systems and Standards
Students need to learn the tools of the trade, which today include such subjects as:
National Incident Management System (NIMS)
National Response Plan (NRP)
NFPA 1600 (National Fire Protection Association Standard for Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs
Certified Emergency Manager credential administered by the International Association of Emergency Managers
Geospatial and geographical information systems (GPS and GIS)
Communications systems
Warning systems
Computers and hazard and emergency management related software packages
9. Social Vulnerability Reduction Approach
The Hurricane Katrina experience provides yet again the lesson that there are groupings of people in most, if not all jurisdictions, who are more vulnerable than others and are differentially impacted when a disaster crosses a community. The make-up of highly vulnerable groups varies across communities, so there is no simple listing of poverty, race or gender, for example, that allows one to simply fill in the blanks. The prevailing emergency management approach in the U.S. has been variously label, but a label that can be found in the academic community is technocratic getting at reliance on traditional governmental managerial approaches, technology, and engineering to solve the problems of hazards. In looking at how many emergency management organizations spend their too-limited resources, there is frequently to be found a utilitarian, or . This often translates into what can be done for the largest numbers of people in a community for the most people. Frequently, though, the most does not translate into the most vulnerable and in need of assistance the most often translates into white middle class. The social vulnerability perspective teaches practitioners to focus first and foremost on those most vulnerable to disasters in their communities, instead of the largest number of people, in recognition of the fact of life that most emergency management organizations have traditionally not had, and probably will not have in the future, the resources to do both things well to do their job adequately. There is an upper division college course on the FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education website precisely on this topic entitled A Social Vulnerability Approach to Disaster and accessible at: http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/completeCourses.asp
In my opinion, no upper division or graduate degree program in emergency management should be viewed as complete without the inclusion of this or a similar course.
10. Experience
It has been stated since the beginning of the FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project in late 1994, that the three keys to emergency management are education, training, and experience (preferably disaster experience). Successful disaster operations, for example, work best when standard bureaucratic methods of operating can be modified to act more expeditiously or outside of normal business as usual constraints. This is easier learned through experience than taught. There are many ways administrators of collegiate emergency management programs can assist their traditional (non-emergency management practitioner) students with the gaining of experience such as through internships, service learning, exercise participation, CERT Team training and membership, and registration with disaster response organizations (such as the American Red Cross or as a FEMAs disaster reservist. The gaining of even modest experience will be of assistance to traditional college students who will need to find jobs upon graduation and will be competing against those without the educational foundation, but with experiential credentials.
OUTLINES OF COMPETENCIES TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL 21st CENTURY
HAZARD or DISASTER or EMERGENCY or HAZARD RISK MANAGERS
By
B. Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM
Higher Education Project Manager
Readiness Branch
National Emergency Training Center
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Department of Homeland Security
16825 S. Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
(301) 447-1262
[email protected]
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu
2003 Draft
The development of the emergency management competences outlines below began with an invitation to participate on a panel on Hazard Managers in the 21st Century: Needs in Higher Education, July 15, 2003 at the 28th Annual Workshop on Hazards Research and Applications, in Boulder Colorado, sponsored by the Hazards Research and Applications Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The description of the panel in the Workshop Program document read:
To meet the challenges of disaster reduction in the 21st century, todays hazard managers must possess some distinctly different characteristics from more traditional emergency managers. Hazard managers must develop a body of knowledge that goes beyond incident response to include expertise in social science and technology. Fostering interdisciplinary opportunities at colleges and universities is one way to build these capabilities. Unfortunately, there is no agreed-upon framework that currently exists to guide these programs. This session addresses the fundamentals of an educational framework for refining a hazard management core curriculum.
In that I believe that a hazard or emergency management curriculum should be informed by the expected competencies of a hazard or emergency manager, my approach to preparing for the panel was to put on paper thoughts, in an outline format, on hazard/emergency management core competencies. This is a subject that I have some familiarity with, having collected several attempts to address occupational competencies from a range of perspectives emergency management, public entity risk management, industrial safety management, and the training and education field having participated in one of those exercises, and having observed and participated in discussions of this topic at every Emergency Management Higher Education Conference held at the Emergency Management Institute.
My own exercise started with the requirement of the Hazards Center for every panelists to submit an abstract of their remarks in no more than one-page (outline acceptable) prior to the workshop for insertion in participant packages. To accomplish this, I sought to put on the hat of an academic who had the task of developing a curriculum to support a degree in emergency management. Having developed the required one-page document I began to solicit comments from academics, practitioners and other interested parties. The responses, acknowledged at the end of this document, tended to fall into three categories:
(1) A one-page treatment is just about right neither too hot or too cold, as Papa Bear would say and all that was needed was tinkering here and there, and a variety of recommendations were forthcoming on that score.
(2) While , the one-pager struck several reviewers as potentially off-putting to emergency management students or others interested in attempting to join the profession could be viewed as too daunting, intimidating, or even impossible of accomplishment. Or, it was just too busy or too long. Thus, could I come up with a shorter, simpler treatment. This I did by changing hats from one of a hazard or emergency management academic to that of someone responsible for hiring a future emergency manager for a political jurisdiction, and drafting the second document of ten things I would look for in a candidate.
(3) The third type of response was that there were many subjects on the one-pager that just cried out for expansion, description, explanation, detail. Thus, would it be possible to expand on the one-pager. In that I was in agreement with such commentaries, I sought to begin the process of expansion though with absolutely no attempt to aim at comprehensiveness. As comments came across the desk and as additional thoughts came into my own head based on whatever I happened to be reading at the moment, I have attempted to expand in an illustrative manner. The following is the on-going result.
Document One:
Outline of Core Competencies to Develop Successful 21st Century Hazard/Emergency Managers
1. Personal, Interpersonal and Political Skills, Traits and Values
a. Listening, Communicating (oral and written superior level) and Presentation Skills
b. Networking, Facilitating, Partnering, Coalition-Building, Community Consultation
c. Negotiating, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution Skills
d. Representational, Marketing, Salesmanship Skills Visible, Engaged, Effective
e. Bureaucratic, Organizational, Public Policy and Political skills
f. Committed, Dedicated, Enthusiastic, Reliable, Imaginative, Creative
g. Diverse Social/Cultural/Class/Special Needs/Disadvantaged Sensitivity and Activity
h. Leadership and Motivational Skills walks the talk, compassionate, has integrity
i. Proactive, Progressive, Open to Change and New Ideas, Life-Long Learner
j. Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Decision Making
k. Flexibility, Adaptability and Improvisational Skills
l. Strategic (long term) thinking and planning, visionary, ability to anticipate
2. Administrative, Management, Public Policy Knowledge, Skills and Principles
a. Personnel Mgmt.–Recruiting, Retaining, Managing People (staff/volunteers), Teams
b. Program Management — Developing and Managing Programs
c. Fiscal Management — Acquiring and Managing Funding (Budgets)
d. Resource Management technical and physical
e. Information Management gather, analyze, interpret, sort, act upon
f. Organizational Management (normal and crisis)
g. Creating Public Value Skills getting others to value and promote disaster reduction
3. Subject Matter Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities i.e., Theory, Principles, Fundamentals of Hazards, Disasters, and U.S. Hazard, Disaster, Risk, Emergency Management
a. What Are Hazards and Disasters, including Related Terms and Definitions
b. Hazard Taxonomies or Categorization Schemes (natural, technological, intentional)
c. Theories of Disaster (acts of God, acts of nature, social/nature intersection, societal)
d. Hazards Foundation, and exposure, risk, vulnerability, risk communication treatment
e. History and Theory of Emergency Management
f. Hazard/Risk/Emergency/ Management Scope/Approaches, Public and Private Sectors, including Traditional Technocratic, Social Vulnerability, Risk-Based approaches.
g. Emergency Management Models, e.g. CD, Emergency Services, Public Administration
h. Emergency Management Fundamentals, e.g. CEM, IEM and intra-governmental context, 4-Phases, Intergovernmental (local, state, federal) context
i. Emer. Mgmt. Functions/Practice/Operations, e.g. risk assessment, planning, public ed.
j. Roles and Responsibilities of Key Players in Emergency Management
k. Roles of Other Disciplines (e.g. engineering, geology, sociology, psychology, met.)
l. Sustainable Development, Community Organization, and Urban and Regional Planning
m. Legal, Ethical, Social, Economic, Ecological, Political Dimensions and Context
n. Emergency Management Best Practices Identification and Application
4. Technical Skills and Standards i.e., Tools of the Trade
a. Technological tools e.g. computers (software), GIS, mapping, modeling, simulations
b. Scientific Method; Research, Analysis, Evaluation Tools and Methods
c. Experience (practicum, internship, service learning, volunteerism, professional orgs.)
d. Professional Standards, Procedures, Certifications, Organizations
e. Emergency Management Systems — EOC Operations, ICS, warning, communications
Document Two:
April, 2003
Top Ten Things BWB Would Look For in 21st Century Professional Emergency Manager
1. Philosophy: Disaster Reduction through Building Disaster Resilient Communities
2. A People-Person Personable with people-oriented skills, traits, and values e.g. communicating, networking, representational, customer service oriented
3. Politically Savvy Organizational, Community, EM System knows importance of partnerships, networking, inclusiveness, and flexibility
4. A Leader — who walks the talk and demonstrates integrity and compassion.
5. A Professional, with Executive-Level Administrative and Management Skills
6. A Visionary — Strategic, Big-Picture Thinker, Strategic Planning Ability
7. Motivated and Energetic Positive attitude hard worker can motivate others
8. Hazards Foundation and Legal, Ethical, Social, Economic, Ecological, Political Contexts
9. Technical Skills and Standards, e.g., computers, GIS, research, analysis, evaluation
10. Has Experience And Learned From It Successful at Improvisaton
Document Three:
Expanded Outline of Competencies for Successful 21st Century Hazard/Emergency Managers
1. PERSONAL SKILLS, TRAITS, ABILITIES AND VALUES
a. Committed, Dedicated, Reliable, Hark-Working
b. Imaginative, Creative, flexible, can improvise
c. Enthusiastic
d. Proactive, Self-Starter, Displays Independent Initiative, Willing to Take Risks
e. Progressive, Open to Change, New Ideas and Research Findings, Flexible, Adaptable
f. Life-Long Learner
g. Problem Solving knowing the rational thinking processes that assist problem-solving
h. Demonstrated Decision Making Skills, Decisive
i. Ethical, Responsible, Tolerant, Demonstrates Integrity, Promotes Diversity, Inclusive
j. Compassionate
k. Can Apply Lessons Learned
l. Ability to Respond Appropriately to Criticism, Advise, Guidance, Direction
m. Can Function Under Stressful Conditions
n. Intellectual Versatility ability to recognize, explore and use a broad range of ideas and practices thinking logically and creatively without undue influence from personal biases
o. Demonstrates Sound Judgment and Discretion
p. Can Obtain, Evaluate, Analyze, Synthesize, Organize Data and Information
q. Customer Service Oriented
2. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND TRAITS
a. Listening (sometimes referred to as Active Listening) and Observational Skills
b. Communicating Skills (oral, written, via visual mediums superior level)
1. Recognizes that communication is a two-way street
2. Open to participative communication
c. Presentation Skills
d. Networking, Coordinating, Facilitating, Partnering, Coalition-Building, Community Consultation, Outreach Skills and Abilities
1. Understands Obstacles to Successful Coordination, etc., e.g., independent or egotistical individual or organizational mindsets, competition for scarce resources, personal and organizational rivalries, lack of trust, no history of, lack of upper-level support, lack of common terminologies and understanding.
2. Knows how to address networking, coordination obstacles and challenges
e. Tactful and Diplomatic Traits
f. Negotiating, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution Skills
g. Diverse Social/Cultural/Class/Special Needs/Disadvantaged Sensitivity and Activity
3. POLITICAL SKILLS AND TRAITS
a. Bureaucratic, Organizational, Public Policy and Political Skills
1. Familiar with political and legal institutions and processes
2. Familiar with economic and social institutions and processes
b. Representational, Marketing, Salesmanship Skills Visible, Engaged, Effective
4. LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS AND TRAITS
a. Visionary
b. Strategic (long term) thinking and planning, ability to anticipate
c. Walks the Talk, sets the example
d. Creating Public Value Skills getting others to value and promote disaster reduction
e. Capacity to act as agent promoting needed change in organizations, communities, society
5. ADMINISTRATIVE, MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC POLICY THEORY, PRINCIPLES, SKILLS
a. Understands Basic Management Theory, Principles and Tools
b. Familiarity with Organizational Management, Theory, Concepts, Environment and Behavior (Normal and Crisis)
c. Familiarity with Public Policy Environment
1. Understanding of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation processes
d. Demonstrated knowledge of Administrative Roles of an Emergency Manager
1. Personnel (Human Resource) Management–Job Analysis and Design, Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting, Placing, Training, Coaching, Retaining, Managing, Delegating, Appraising, Counseling, Rewarding People (staff/volunteers)
2. Team Building knowing the factors that inhibit team effectiveness and what can be done to promote teamwork
3. Program Management — Developing and Managing Programs
1. Proficiency in program formulation, implementation and evaluation
4. Fiscal Management — Acquiring and Managing Funding (Budgets)
5. Resource Management technical and physical
6. Information Management gather, analyze, interpret, sort, act upon
7. Technical Writing Skills (e.g. grants writing)
8. Adult Learning Understanding knowing how adults acquire and use knowledge, skills, and attitudes understanding individual differences in learning
9. Time Management
10. Can identify, set, review and assess goals and objectives.
6. SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES–THEORY, PRINCIPLES, AND FUNDAMENTALS OF HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
a. What Are Hazards and Disasters, including Related Terms and Definitions
b. Hazard Taxonomies or Categorization Schemes (natural, technological, intentional)
c. Theories of Disaster (acts of God, acts of nature, social/nature intersection, societal)
d. Hazards Foundation causes, characteristics, consequences, terminology, categorizations (meteorological, hydrological, geological, extra-terrestrial, etc.), countermeasures, trends, stakeholders
1. Can describe and discuss the trends in disaster losses in the US
2. Can describe and discuss major hazard specific stakeholders Local, State, Regional, National
3. Familiarity with Hazards Terminology, e.g.,
1. Fujita scale
2. Mercali scale
3. Richter scale
4. 100-year flood
e. Understanding of Key Hazard-Related Concepts, e.g. Exposure, Risk, Vulnerability, Resiliency, Risk Communication
f. Understanding of Societal Context of Hazards and Disasters
1. Understanding of the societal variables that bear on hazards exposure, vulnerability, resiliency and risk, e.g.,
1. Population growth/decline
2. Development, particularly inappropriate development (location, construction, materials)
3. Interdependencies, particularly technological and infrastructure
4. Countermeasures or lack thereof
5. Extent to which knowledge and lessons learned are or are not applied
7. SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIESTHEORY, PRINCIPLES, FUNDAMENTALS OF HAZARD/DISASTER/RISK/EMERGECNY MANAGENMENT
a. Scope of Hazard/Disaster/Risk/Emergency Management (Public and Private Sectors)
1. Terminology and Definitions
1. Understanding major U.S. public sector terms and concepts, e.g.
a. Emergency management or services
b. Disaster management or services
c. Hazards management
d. Hazards risk management
2. Understanding of major U.S. private sector terms and concepts, e.g.
a. Business contingency planning
b. Business continuity planning
c. Business crisis or consequence management
d. Business disaster recovery planning
e. Business impact analysis
f. Business resumption planning
g. Business risk management
3. Understanding of major International terms and concepts, e.g.
a. Civil defense
b. Civil emergency preparedness
c. Civil protection
2. What Does the Field Cover?
3. History of Emergency Management
b. Legal, Ethical, Social, Economic, Ecological, Political Dimensions and Context of EM
1. Social Dimensions and Context of Hazards and Emergency Management:
1. Develop a critical understanding of how society and social institutions operate
2. Acquire basic knowledge of social science research methods, advantages and limitations
3. Understand social science theory of the disaster behavior of organizations
4. Understand social science theory of the disaster behavior of individuals
5. Be able to adequate address Disaster Mythology
6. Be able to apply basic principles of sociology to the design of effective community warning systems
2. Knowledge of Economic Development Strategies and Community Impact
c. Approaches to Hazard/Risk/Emergency Management (Public and Private Sectors)
1. Traditional Technocratic/Managerial Approach
2. Social Vulnerability Approach
3. Risk-Based Approaches
4. Building Disaster Resistant and Resilient Communities Approach
5. Business Impact Analysis, Business Contingency Planning
d. Emergency Management Models
1. Civil Defense Model
2. Emergency Services Model
3. Public Administration Model
e. Emergency Management Fundamentals
1. Comprehensive Emergency Management (i.e. all hazards, actors, phases)
2. Integrated Emergency Management and intra-governmental context
1. Understands why it is necessary to integrate hazard/disaster/emergency management and community planning.
3. Four Phases of the Disaster Life Cycle Model
1. Mitigation
a. Understand mitigation legal basis, history, philosophy, strategies, methods, programs, obstacles, issues, concerns, and consequences
b. Can discuss structural and non-structural mitigation approaches
c. Can discuss historical and current trends in mitigation practice
d. Can discuss major Federal mitigation programs, including strengths and weaknesses, e.g.,
i. FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program, major elements
1. Can describe the Community Rating System
ii. FEMA pre- and post-disaster mitigation programs
iii. National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program
1. Can summarize roles and responsibilities of the four primary NEHRP agencies/organizations
e. Can discuss the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000
f. Can discuss major mitigation stakeholders — Local, State, Regional, National
g. Can discuss major obstacles/challenges to implementing mitigation
h. Can discuss the role of insurance in hazards mitigation
i. Describe adverse selection
2. Preparedness
3. Response
4. Recovery
4. Functional Approach
5. Intergovernmental Context (i.e., local, state, federal)
f. Knowledge of Key Players/Stakeholders in Emer. Mgmt.–Roles and Responsibilities
1. Public Sector
1. Local, State, Federal Legislators
2. Local, State, Federal Policy-Makers
3. Local, State, Regional, Federal, International Decision-Influencers, Decision-Makers, and Stakeholders e.g.,
a. Budget and Finance
b. Building and Inspections Departments
c. Communications Centers
d. Community Affairs
e. Community Right-To Know (Hazardous Materials) Committees
f. Convention Center Administration
g. Councils of Government
h. Economic Development
i. Educational Services, such as school districts
j. Emergency Services Personnel (Fire, Police, EMS/EMT, SAR, Public Health)
k. Floodplain and Storm-Water Management
l. Homeland Security
m. Land Use, such as planning, zoning
n. Law Enforcement
o. Legal Affairs
p. Military (Federal and State National Guard)
q. Natural Resources, e.g., agricultural, timber, water, environmental, fish and wildlife
r. Parks and Recreation, especially highly visible tourist attractions
s. Planning
t. Public Affairs
u. Public Health
v. Public Works
w. Public Utilities
x. Risk Management
y. Seismic Safety Commissions
z. Social and Human Services
aa. Transportation
bb. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, etc.)
4. Emergency Management Personnel
5. Community and Faith-Based Organizations
6. Associations, Professional and Voluntary Organizations (e.g., IAEM, State EM Associations, NEMA, NFPC, PERI, CUSEC, Western States Seismic Policy Council, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Project Impact Coordinators Association, ACP, DRI Inc., American Red Cross)
7. Issue Organizations (e.g. Sierra Club)
8. Business and Industry
a. Architects and Engineers
b. Better Business Bureaus
c. Building Administrators
d. Communications Sector
e. Construction Industry
f. Developers
g. Energy and Fuel Sectors
h. Health, Medical and Care-Giving
i. Insurance Industry
j. Safety, Preparedness, Recovery Specialists, e.g. business continuity planners (Association of Contingency Planners), recovery planners (Disaster Recovery International, Inc.), risk managers
k. Shopping Mall Administrators
l. Special Events Cite Administrators and Organizers, e.g. sports, concerts
m. Transportation Sector
n. Utilities
9. Academia
a. Recognizing, understanding, using contributions from such disciplines as:
i. Atmospheric Sciences
ii. Communications Studies
iii. Earth Sciences
iv. Economics
v. Engineering
vi. Environmental Science
vii. Planning
1. Knowledge of land use planning & strategies
2. Familiarity with community comprehensive plans
viii. Political Science
ix. Public Administration
1. Knowledge of community organization
2. Knowledge of community development
3. Knowledge of community change processes
4. Understands formal community power structures
5. Understands informal community power structures
6. Understands community norms, values, culture
x. Public Health and Medicine
xi. Sociology
b. Recognizing and using contributions from Disaster Research Orgs. e.g.,
i. Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado at Boulder
ii. Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware
iii. Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, Texas A&M
10. Media
11. Other Private Sector Entities
a. Dam Administrators
12. General Public
g. Emergency Management Functional Areas, e.g.,
1. Communications
2. Continuity of Government
3. Direction and Control
4. Energy
5. Essential Public Services Maintenance
6. Health and Medical
7. Information and Planning
8. Public Safety Maintenance
9. Public Works and Engineering
10. Resource Support and Management
11. Transportation
h. Emergency Management Practice, e.g.
1. Legal Basis (e.g. relevant laws, codes, ordinances, regulations, statutes, standards, governing authorities, standard operating procedures, guiding policies) and Liability Issues
a. Be able to identify and discuss local, State and Federal legal provisions relevant to emergency management
b. Be able to identify and discuss legal issues relevant to emergency management
2. Hazards Risk Assessment (hazard identification and analysis, community analysis/demographics/resources, risk assessment, vulnerability assessment)
1. Has an awareness of a variety of risk assessment methodologies
2. Can apply at least one risk assessment methodology
3. Hazards Risk Management
1. Plans e.g., emergency operations plans, mitigation, recovery plans
a. Demonstrate knowledge of emergency operations planning
2. Procedures (e.g. standard operation procedures)
3. Policies (e.g. families of emergency services personnel in disaster)
4. Programs, e.g., public education, mitigation, preparedness, training, exercises
a. Demonstrate knowledge of emergency management training programs
5. Measures, e.g., insurance, mutual aid agreements
6. Systems, e.g., warning, sheltering, communications, and Equipment
4. Hazards Risk Communication, e.g.,
1. Familiarity with risk communication theory, e.g.,
a. Actively seek to engage publics
b. Understand value systems and perceptions of various publics
c. Be open, fair, inclusive, transparent, dont keep secrets
d. Treat audience as equals respect the concerns of others, respect other points of views
e. Seek to empower the audience
f. Be truthful
2. Familiarity with risk communication models, such as Miletis eight steps to new behavior adoption process through risk communication:
a. Hearing the warning
b. Believing the warning
c. Confirming that the threat exists
d. Personalizing the warning, confirming that others are heeding it
e. Determining whether protective action is needed
f. Determining whether protective action is feasible
g. Determining what protective action to take
h. Taking the protective action
3. Understand how to tailor information characteristics based on specific communications goals, such as awareness or behavior change
a. Can translate technical risk information, terminology and data into the non-technical language of each communication partner or audience
4. Working knowledge of message characteristics, e.g., amount of material, speed of presentation, number of arguments, repetition, style, clarity, ordering, forcefulness, specificity, consistency, accuracy, and extremity of position advocated
5. Working knowledge of the major obstacles to communicating hazards risk and changing behavior, such as competing demands for attention, complacency, denial, the levee effect, conflicts with existing beliefs, differing value systems, the hazard adaptation phenomenon
6. Conversant with risk averse, risk tolerant and risk seeking typologies
i. Emergency Management Systems
1. Knowledgeable of the theory, purpose, design, management of or role in the range of emergency management systems, e.g.,
a. Emergency Operations Center Operations
b. The Incident Command System
c. Warning Systems
i. Can distinguish between watches and warnings
ii. Can discuss the major components of a wide range of specific hazard warning systems, e.g. hurricane
iii. Can discuss the functions of warning systems, e.g.,
1. Detection
2. Measurement
3. Collation
4. Interpretation
5. Decision to warn
6. Message content
7. Dissemination
iv. Can apply basic principles of sociology to the design of effective community warning systems
v. Can discuss the various warning system players and stakeholders
d. Communications Systems
j. Emergency Management Emergency Operations
1. Knowledgeable of Full Range of Emergency Operations Activities, such as:
a. Warning
b. Emergency Public Information
c. Emergency Operations Center Management
d. Evacuation
e. Mass Care, e.g. sheltering, feeding and provision of emergency services
f. Urban Search and Rescue
g. Damage Assessment
h. Debris Removal
i. Donated Goods Management
j. Volunteer Management
k. Restoration of Essential Services
l. Critical Incident Stress Debriefings possess background and knowledge of the theoretical concepts and practice of critical incident stress management
2. Capable of Coordinating Jurisdictional Emergency Management Operations
3. Knows how to seek immediate and short-term disaster recovery assistance
k. Sustainable Development, Community Organization, Urban and Regional Planning
l. Emergency Management Best Practices Identification and Application
m. Emergency Management Theory
1. Can discuss the major variables put forth as determinants of successful emergency management
8. TECHNICAL SKILLS AND STANDARDS i.e., TOOLS OF THE TRADE
a. Technological tools e.g. computers (software), GIS, mapping, modeling, simulations
1. Can apply technological tools within an emergency management context
2. Proficiency in and communications technology
3. Able to maintain currency in state-of-the-art information and communications technology
b. Scientific Method, Research, Analysis, Integration, Evaluation Tools and Methods
1. Ability to understand, evaluate, and analyze scientific data and reports (e.g., earth science and engineering information related to seismic hazards, reports on risks associated with weapons of mass destruction), including the uncertainties associated with such data
2. Ability to clarify choices, tradeoffs, costs and benefits of alternative loss-reduction strategies, so as to improve decision-making by households, businesses, community officials, owners of critical infrastructure facilities, and other stakeholders
3. Ability to perform cost benefit analysis assessing alternatives in terms of their financial, psychological, social, environmental and strategic advantages and disadvantages
c. Experience (practicum, internship, service learning, volunteerism, professional orgs.)
d. Professional Standards, Procedures, Certifications, Organizations
e. Ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, including other professionals, decision-makers, and the general public
Key Outcomes of and for Academic Programs:
1. Achieves a balance between academic (theoretical) and practical (applied) aspects of Hazard/Emergency Management
2. Enhanced emergency management professionalism, credentials, and recognition
3. Enhanced Community Outreach and Service mission of schools of higher education.
4. Contributes to multidisciplinary university initiatives.
Key Outcomes of and for Students:
1. The knowledge, skills, abilities and traits to efficiently and effectively manage and lead the hazard/disaster/risk/emergency management function.
2. Personable
3. Knowledgeable hazards, emergency management, research methods, analysis, evaluation
4. Leadership in building disaster resilient and resistant communities
5. Ability to articulate persuasive case for disaster prevention and reduction
6. Ability to find balance between technocratic and social vulnerability approaches to EM
7. Ability to integrate multi-disciplinary and multi-organizational perspectives
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following individuals who have reviewed, commented upon and/or contributed to this outline: Beth Armstrong, Richard Bissell, Jane Bullock, Arrietta Chakos, Louise Comfort, Henry Fischer, George Haddow, Walter Hays, Sam Isenberger, Lorna Jarrett, Ron Kuban, John Lunn, David McEntire, William McPeck, Jim Mullen, Laura Olson, John Peabody, Laurie Pearce, Robert Schneider, Guna Selvaduray, Greg Shaw, Gavin Smith, Stephen Stehr, Richard Sylves, Kathleen Tierney, Frances Winslow. I also wish to thank the participants of the six annual FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Conferences who have discussed and shared their thoughts on this subject.
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