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Education
Education on topics related to emergency management is important both for formal first responders (firefighters, police officers, physical or mental health professionals, military, public works or volunteer agency professionals, and government agencies) as well as for citizens. It provides responders with benefits during all phases of emergency management: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. In addition to formal education, the experience responders receive from incidents offer invaluable lessons, with each one a stepping stone to becoming more aware, better equipped, and more proficient in the field. Citizens incrementally add to that benefit through individual responsibility and education, which leads to better-prepared communities and more efficient use of vital resources. It is a systematic approach that includes a coupling of private and public educational programs resulting in future successful response and recovery missions.
Programs for firefighters, law enforcement agents, and health professionals have existed for many years with consistency and recognition, unlike emergency management programs. There is a need to recognize and advance the professionalism of the emergency management field. Emergency management as a profession is evolving from the early civil defense days to the current all-hazards approach. The transformation of a community of practitioners into an educated group of professionals is driven by emergency management degree programs established at colleges and universities. These programs provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for current and aspiring first responders, emergency managers, healthcare providers, and other professionals to effectively prepare for, prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all types of hazards. It brings multiple disciplines together with a common language and goals, and can foster partnerships.
Professionalism Through Education
Education builds professionalism. The Higher Education Project, supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute, was created to focus on the development and progression of degree and certification programs offered in this discipline. Higher education within emergency management not only adds to the overall knowledge base, but can also develop business and management skill sets (such as leadership, strategic thinking, and customer service orientation). Degree programs now offer options ranging from an associate's degree through the doctorate level, which can be accomplished through the traditional classroom setting as well as distance learning. For example, FEMA's Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) is active in the review and development of standardizing the higher education process for fire science programs.
Response personnel can also benefit from government and private-sector training and educational programs. Educated responders lay the groundwork for more efficient response and recovery efforts, which citizens can then collaboratively build upon.
Public education, which can be delivered in various formats, provides the tools for better-prepared citizens. Educated and experienced response personnel can effectively partner with the community by providing educational opportunities to all citizens and populations. Programs must deliver clear, consistent, and accurate information suitable for the audience being trained.
Educating the public offers opportunities for citizens to understand the limitations of emergency responders before, during, and after a disaster. These programs can assist in shifting the mindset of the public from a reliance on government agencies for survival to that of a more individual accountability. Citizens expect help when they dial 911 or signal for help in an emergency, which, under normal circumstances, is a reasonable expectation. After a disaster strikes, however, the dynamics of the situation change as resources may become overwhelmed and/or responders may be unable to reach citizens for days. Education allows for a better understanding of response limitations; how mitigation will save lives, property, and money; and how everyone can be better equipped to protect themselves until responders can reach them. If citizens can be trained to self-prepare, they can better rescue themselves in future events.
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- Africa, North
- Africa, Sub-Saharan
- Asia, East
- Asia, West, Central, and South
- Australia and Pacific Region
- Canada
- Caribbean Island Region
- China
- Desertification
- Earthquake Zones
- Europe, Eastern
- Europe, Western
- Evacuation Routes
- Glacial Melt
- Hurricane Zones
- Japan
- Mediterranean Region
- Mexico
- Middle East
- Ring of Fire
- Russia
- South America
- United Kingdom
- United States, California and West Coast
- United States, Great Lakes
- United States, Hawaii and Pacific Territories
- United States, Mid-Atlantic
- United States, Midwest
- United States, Mountain States
- United States, National
- United States, Northeast
- United States, Northwest and Northern Plains
- United States, Southeast and Gulf Coast
- United States, Southwest
- American Red Cross
- Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- ChildFund International
- Coast Guard, U.S.
- Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE)
- Defense, U.S. Department of Direct Relief
- Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Associations
- Doctors Without Borders
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Habitat for Humanity
- Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Institutional Coordination
- InterAction
- International Law in the Prevention and Mitigation of Disasters
- International Medical Corps
- International Red Cross
- Interpol
- Lutheran World Federation
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- National Governments
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- Relief International
- Relief Rules
- Salvation Army
- St. Vincent de Paul
- State Governments
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- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
- World Concern
- World Emergency Relief
- World Food Program
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- World Relief
- World Vision
- History of Disaster Relief, Africa
- History of Disaster Relief, Ancient World
- History of Disaster Relief, China and East Asia
- History of Disaster Relief, Europe
- History of Disaster Relief, India
- History of Disaster Relief, Middle East
- History of Disaster Relief, North America
- History of Disaster Relief, Pacific Region
- History of Disaster Relief, Russia
- History of Disaster Relief, South America
- Chemical Disasters
- Cyberattacks
- Economic Disasters
- Food Contamination Disasters
- Gulf Coast Oil Spill (2010)
- Pandemic/Biological Accidents
- Poverty and Disasters
- Radiation Disasters
- Terrorism
- Wars
- Air Transport
- Food Distribution Infrastructure
- Internet
- Mass Transit
- Ports
- Railroads
- Roads
- Schools
- Utilities
- Water Systems
- Community Preparedness
- Community Response
- Evacuation
- Fire Departments
- Home Preparedness
- Local Hazards
- Municipal Offices of Emergency Management
- Personal Preparedness
- Police Departments
- Private Sector Preparedness
- Public Agency Preparedness
- Public-Private Partnerships
- University Preparedness
- Warnings
- Bubonic Plague
- HIV/AIDS
- Malaria (20th Century-Present)
- Measles (1850-Present)
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
- Smallpox (20th Century)
- Tuberculosis (20th Century-Present)
- Earthquakes
- Famine
- Fire
- Floods
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- Volcanoes
- Wars
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- Pandemic Planning
- Panic
- Panic
- Psychology, Mass
- Psychology, Personal
- Social Work
- Stress Syndromes
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- Working With the Bereaved
- Agricultural Production
- Business Continuity Planning
- Citizen Preparedness Programs
- Cooperation Between Civilian and Military Agencies
- Crisis Management
- Education
- Emergency Response Guidelines and Regulations
- Emergency Rooms
- Evacuation Planning
- Evacuation, Types of
- Exercise Planning
- Food Distribution Systems
- Healthcare
- Hospital Preparedness
- International Standards
- Language Issues and Barriers
- Levels of Nutrition
- Mass Casualty Management
- Media
- National Incident Management System (NIMS)
- National Standards
- Packaging and Tracing of Food
- Paramedics
- Political Economy of Food
- Provision of Food in Disasters
- Refugee Policy
- Refugees, Care of
- Reserve Storage and Transport
- Transportation
- Vulnerable Populations
- Incentives, Intergovernmental and Intersystem
- Mitigation, Benefits and Costs of
- Private Sector, Role in Mitigation
- Public Sector, Role in Mitigation
- Public-Private Interactions in Mitigation
- Regulatory Approaches to Mitigation
- Risk, Government Assumption of
- Risk, Individual Assumption of
- Structural (Engineering) Options for Mitigation
- Avalanches
- Diseases
- Droughts
- Earthquakes
- Fires, Forest
- Fires, Urban
- Floods
- Heat Waves
- Hurricanes/Typhoons
- Landslides
- Pest Invasions
- Sea Surges
- Tornadoes
- Tsunamis
- Volcanoes
- Winter Storms
- Bilateral Versus Multilateral Aid
- Domestic Corruption in International Disasters
- Domestic Politics in International Disasters
- Donations, National
- Donations, Personal
- Funding of International Relief
- Fundraising Cycles
- Politics in International Funding
- Rejection of International Aid
- Intergovernmental Relations and Preparedness
- Planning for Disasters, International
- Planning for Disasters, Local
- Planning for Disasters, National
- Political Support for Preparedness
- Preparedness, Function of
- Preparedness Policy Implementation
- Private Sector, Role in Preparedness
- Research-Based Disaster Planning
- Private Sector, Role in Recovery
- Recovery, International
- Recovery, Local
- Recovery, National
- Recovery, Phases of
- Recovery, Role of Governments in
- Private Sector, Role in Response
- Response, Management Strategies
- Response, Operational Strategies
- Response, Stress Impacts of
- Data Processing
- Early Warning and Prediction Systems
- Funding, U.S.
- Global Warming
- Modeling
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Real-Time Communications
- Research
- Technology
- Technology, Military
- Causes of Complex Emergencies
- Cross-Cultural Interactions
- Cycles of a Disaster
- Disaster Experience
- Education
- Emergency Management Resources
- Ethics of Charity Relief
- Ethnicity and Minority Status Effects on Preparedness
- Gender and Disasters
- Human Rights
- Humanitarian Intervention Versus Humanitarian Action
- Income Inequality and Disaster Relief
- Laws
- Personal Preparedness
- Politics, Domestic
- Politics in International Funding
- Protection of Civilians in Conflict Zones
- Public Policy
- Refugees
- Relief Versus Development
- Risk Communications
- Risk Management
- Risk Perceptions
- Social Impact of Disasters
- Training for Disasters
- Victimology
- United States, California and West Coast
- United States, Great Lakes
- United States, Hawaii and Pacific Territories
- United States, Mid-Atlantic
- United States, Midwest
- United States, Mountain States
- United States, National
- United States, Northeast
- United States, Northwest and Northern Plains
- United States, Southeast and Gulf Coast
- United States, Southwest
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