Get Involved in Emergency Management

Interested in the field of emergency management? Emergency Management is a unique discipline within the public safety family. It deals very little with the tactics of life safety, and far more with the coordination of complex situations. Emergency managers are generally adept at wrapping their arms around fast-paced, dynamic situations while maintaining a calm and outcome-focused demeanor. Effective EMs also have to be comfortable in delegating, developing creative solutions, promoting collaboration, diffusing conflicts and keeping the big picture in mind.

Emergency Management as a practitioner discipline came to the forefront in 1979 when the Carter administration created FEMA. Emergency Management as an academic discipline took shape after the 2001 terrorist attacks. As the industry continues to define itself, a wide range of opportunities exist to join organizations, receive formal training and obtain certifications and degrees.

This page includes resources to help you get involved (especially locally) and find opportunities to grow in this discipline.

Organizations

• ISU Emergency Services Club
• McLean County Emergency Management Agency (EMA)
• Illinois Emergency Services Management Association (IESMA) - $15/year student rate
• International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) - $55/year student rate
• IAEM Student Chapters - Various EM-related student chapters around the nation

Getting Involved

• CERT (future)
• McLean County EMA - McLean County EMA manages 3 volunteer teams (Operations, Ground Search & Rescue and K9 Search & Rescue) and is always looking for interested new members

Training

• FEMA Independent Study - Hundreds of on-line, self-paced courses in the field of emergency management
• IEMA classroom training - Dozens of classroom-only courses; several are held every year in Bloomington-Normal
• IFSI classroom training - The Illinois Fire Service Institute conducts many command-level courses. Scroll down until you find "Homeland Security"

Certifications

• FEMA Professional Development Series - Pass 7 on-line, self-paced courses and you will automatically receive this certification from FEMA
• IEMA Professional Development Series - Builds atop FEMA's PDS by requiring attendance to several in-person courses
• IEMA Illinois Professional Emergency Manager - Builds atop IEMA's PDS by requiring written essays and proven time within several EM areas
• IAEM AEM/CEM brochure - Brochure outlining the two international certifications - Associate and Certified Emergency Managers
• IAEM Certified Emergency Manager - the industry's top certification

Conferences & Professional Development

• Illinois Emergency Management Training Summit - Annual conference held in Springfield during the three days following Labor Day; currently no admission costs
• IAEM Annual Conference - the largest EM conference in the world; student rate

EM Higher Education

• FEMA's Higher Education College List - FEMA maintains the definitive list of colleges and Universities offering certifications and degrees in EM

EM Employment

• EM Internships
• EM Careers

GIS in Emergency Management

• IS-922: Applications of GIS in Emergency Management - Free, on-line course that provides an overview of how GIS can support emergency management
• IS-103: GIS Specialist - Free on-line course that provides an introduction into GIS usage during disasters
• E0190: ArcGIS for Emergency Managers - Free, 3-day in-residence course at the Emergency Management Institute covering how to use both ArcGIS and HAZUS-MH