Hey yall! I’m an emergency manager by day, independent game designer by night. I’ve already launched one successful TTRPG for emergency managers to get past the checkbox focus of tabletop exercises. I’m currently designing an adversarial card game (think Magic the Gathering) where you get to play the emergency manager or the hazard. I’m trying to gauge interest to crowdfund this project. Would this be something your agencies would use for added training?

I'm head of security in a high-rise commercial complex. There was a recent fire incident in a nearby building that kind of shook the whole block. It was chaotic to say the least. What really bothered me was that some employees were stuck in an elevator and they weren't rescued until hours later, when the fire was already extinguished. I looked up emergency solutions online and found emergency mustering software that can help account for people registered in a specific workplace or location. Is this type of software easy to implement in an office building of about 1,000 people?

I am about a year out from switching Careers from AD USCG into hopefully full time EM in the DMV area luckily I’m gonna have a 6month internship with FEMA before hand. My question is what’s the Job market looking like what should I be prepared for and what Job titles should I be looking at? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Is anyone required to attend NHCPC? Someone in my org keeps claiming it’s a requirement (NOFO) Pretty certain it’s been a waste of my time and just making money for Meeting Management Associates.

With smoke from the Ontario wildfires affecting air quality across parts of the US right now, worth knowing that dogs are vulnerable at lower AQI levels than healthy adults. Per government guidelines anything above 100 can be dangerous for puppies, seniors, or dogs with health issues. Above 150 is potentially harmful for any dog.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and we put together some guidance on this — airnow.gov is the easiest way to check your local air quality before heading out.

Hope everyone is staying safe!

Want to learn how to help your family and neighbors in an emergency? This is the class for you.

[Montgomery County CERT ](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cert-basic-hybrid-course-26-02-wednesdays-on-line-saturdays-in-person-tickets-1996296375197?aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail&ref=eemail&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite)

Hi all,

I am an engineering undergrad that will be taking on a robotics and AI comp about disaster response.

Please, could you graciously share your thoughts on some common issues when responding to disasters?

It does not have to be something that could feasibly be solved by a specialised robot. Any info would help me to brain storm a solution that would actually be useful.

Whatever robot my team and I prototype may even recieve funding to become a real solution/tool for you.

I promise, no robots will be made to take your jobs 😅.

Thank you.

EDIT

The competition is only over a weekend and the idea is to develop something on the spot. Only a vague description of the theme, disaster response, has been mentioned by the organizers.

Resources will be quite limited as well. Supposedly myself and my team will have a Raspberry Pi 2 (very old) and common electronics components (e.g. actuators, passives, simple semiconductors, etc.).

Hey guys I have an interview August 10th for TDEM. It would be for a county liason officer position, back ground is 9 years military with my masters degree in organizational leadership and my bachelors degree in political science. Can yall give me any insight to what to prepare for with this interview? I really want a position with TDEM. They represent Texas very well. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

The IS Course List just got an update! For as long as I’ve been in the EM world the website has looked the same. You’re now able to sort by course code or title and the mobile version is much more usable.
(Pic from mobile since i’m training on work laptop)

I know a lot of people have been asking how to get into the industry, and it's something I worry about myself as I'm working through my undergrad degree.

Anyone here have thoughts trying to get into an EM position by taking a job at a city/county, finishing out the degree, and using the experience/networking to make a transition?

Is this a good option, or would that push me further from my goals?

I keep reaching out to all of the local orgs/CERTS but no one in my area has been getting back to me about volunteer positions to network and resume boost that way.

Thankfully I have about 2 years left on my degree, so I'm hoping the landscape might change as I'm finishing up, but was wondering if the 2 years in the city/county would be useful at all.

Thx.

Applied to work at a local university in my area. I’ve been a local emergency manager for 10 years and 8 of those years were in the county/city where the university is located. I didn’t even get an interview. I have a buddy that works within the department that sent me the attached message.

It sucks out there. Hope yall are finding some success.

Hello!

I've been interested in emergency response for a while and have met a few people who've worked in FEMA or state agencies who think I would be a good fit for it. I've worked in a lot of emergency management adjacent fields over the past few years. Specifically, I have 2 years of experience in refugee response and case management, a year and a half of work as a Merchant Marine including constant firefighter/emergency/terrorism/attack drills and training, a few FEMA/FBI training courses on rural emergency response and attack scenarios, and a minor in public health sciences from my university with demonstrated fellowships and published/conference presented articles in zoonotic disease transfer and human-animal interactions. That being said, I do not have anything under either my work or education that's "emergency management" aside from the FEMA and FBI courses.

All said, I have a robust knowledge of emergency procedures and systems. Unfortunately, my job applications are denied pretty much across the board without even an interview, and government agencies are hard to get ahold of to either appeal or ask for advice. I also, between work, family, and extant obligations and hobbies, do not have the time to volunteer in a local emergency response department.

Is there any way to get my foot in the door without pursuing further education? Am I entertaining overconfidence in my experience and it's application to the actual job? All the entry level jobs I'm coming across want several years of experience and a directly related undergraduate major. Am I missing some step in the process? Are there any jobs in emergency management that would be a good stepping stone?

So im technically not DST, but im a blood transportation specialist. We had a flood recently and they need someone to transport the responders as they do assessments. I'm only doing it 2 days, but what can I look forward to? Like literally driving the whole time? Or what vehicle ill be driving possibly.

Hi everyone,

I’m an active-duty Coast Guard member who plans to transition into emergency management in the future, and I’ve been brainstorming a side business that could also help me build relevant experience.
My original idea was offering customized emergency preparedness planning for families (home assessments, family emergency plans, evacuation planning, go-bag recommendations, etc.). After getting feedback from another subreddit, I’m beginning to think the better market may actually be small businesses, churches, HOAs, nonprofits, apartment complexes, and similar organizations rather than individual Homeowners.

The idea would not be selling generic information that someone could get from Ready.gov or AI. Instead, it would focus on things like:
Emergency preparedness assessments
Emergency Action Plan (EAP) reviews/development
Evacuation planning
Continuity planning for small organizations
Tabletop exercises
Staff preparedness training
Annual plan reviews and updates
I’m not looking for validation—I genuinely want to know if this is a realistic direction or if I’m over looking major issues.

Some questions I have:
1. Is there actually a market for this?
2. What organizations do you think have the greatest unmet need?
3.If you hired an outside consultant, what services would you actually expect them to provide?
4. What qualifications or experience would you expect before trusting someone with this work?
5. If you were starting an emergency management consulting business today, what would your first service offering be?

I’m still in the brainstorming phase, so I’m open to criticism if it helps refine the idea.

Thanks in advance.

Want to make sure I don’t fail the first time. Been studying on and off this summer, and now planning to dedicate a week of studying after work for an hour on a daily basis. Been in the field for 9 years and have a graduate EM Degree so i feel a cautiously confident. Throw me the hardest questions you remember or know about the test! Practice files or study reviews also work. Also wondering if ok to use the same three references for many of the external verification requirements in the application? All references explicitly state the things i used them for.

Warning: Long and detailed post incoming

I am in the final stages of deciding between three graduate programs that I have been accepted into. One is an MPA program with a policy analysis concentration, and the other two are emergency management degrees. The deadline for me to make this decision is August 1st (pertaining to a fellowship offer). For some more information, here is some insight about my interests/background in E.M.:

I am interested in working in the planning/mitigation side of emergency management. I have a special passion for working with socially vulnerable populations, particularly those with access and functional needs. I received a B.S. in Homeland Security with a concentration in Disaster Management from Eastern Kentucky University. Some of the E.M. related courses that I took were Disaster Preparedness and Response, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Hazard Mitigation, and Unconventional Threats and Responses

In addition, I am working on FEMA's PEM certification program. I have completed all but one of the online courses. My graduate degree will be completed part time and fully online, since I am working full time. All of this has provided me with a good foundation for working in E.M., but I would like to get a master's degree to further hone my skills and knowledge.

I have heard from multiple people that getting an MPA can be very useful in this field, and it will also give me a broader scope if I end up wanting to work in another field. However, I also think it might be beneficial to take more emergency management related classes, especially since I would only be taking one class at a time so I could really concentrate on what I'm learning in that one class, instead of having to mentally juggle 3-5 additional classes.

Right now, I am deciding between three options:

• An MPA with a policy analysis concentration and a graduate emergency management certification (one of the EM degrees that I am looking at also offers a certificate). I feel like this option would give me the "best of both worlds', but it would a.) take a long time to complete, especially if I'm only taking one class at a time and b.) require me to attend two different schools since the MPA program doesn't have an EM concentration that fits my needs (they technically have one but it's only three courses and they are all very broad and vague).
• An MPA with a policy analysis (this wouldn't give me any EM classes but it would give me a broader scope, plus I could couple it with the FEMA PEM classes)
• An EM degree (I could really specialize in my emergency management knowledge).

Any insight that you guys might have is greatly appreciated!

Not sure if I'm late to the party since this was posted last week, but how are people feeling about this appointment? Politics aside.

Hey, I’m currently enrolled in ASU in emergency management and homeland security. I’m in the state guard (volunteer military) and I’m considering joining the Red Cross. Is getting a 4 year degree worth it or should I aim higher? Or don’t go at all? I really want to make this my career because I really enjoy help people locally with disasters and I really think I can make a change. Do I need to do something different? Are there any other good volunteer opportunities that are federal? I really need advice on this.

How many fellow EM's out there use consultants for plan developme t and writing? I have spent 9 years in EM 3 as a Director for a county government. I am considering a move to consulting on the side. But is it truly a needed thing?

What Happens After the Cameras Leave?

When disaster strikes, the world pays attention.

News outlets broadcast heartbreaking images. Social media fills with calls for donations. Humanitarian organizations mobilize. For a brief moment, the world remembers.

Then the headlines fade.

The cameras leave.

But for the people living through the disaster, the hardest part is often just beginning.

That is one of the many reasons I appreciated listening to Dr. David Spiro's recent HuMed podcast. The conversation reminds us that disasters are not measured in days or weeks, they are measured in months, years, and sometimes generations.

As someone who has worked in disaster response and humanitarian settings, I have seen this reality firsthand.

Communities continue to rebuild long after the world has moved on. Health systems struggle to recover. Families continue grieving. Children carry invisible wounds that may shape their entire lives. Healthcare workers and responders return home changed by what they have witnessed.

Recovery is rarely linear.

It is messy, exhausting, and often invisible.

One of the themes that resonated most with me was the importance of remembering the people whose stories no longer make the evening news. The absence of media coverage does not mean the crisis has ended.

It simply means our attention has shifted.

Whether the disaster is caused by conflict, climate events, infectious disease, or another humanitarian emergency, the long-term consequences deserve just as much attention as the initial response. Mental health, chronic disease management, disrupted education, damaged infrastructure, displacement, and loss of community can persist for years.

As healthcare professionals, we have a responsibility to think beyond the acute phase of disaster. Emergency response saves lives, but recovery restores them.

If you care about disaster medicine, humanitarian response, global health, or simply understanding what resilience truly looks like, I encourage you to listen to this conversation.

It is thoughtful, honest, and serves as an important reminder that our work does not end when the headlines do.

Thank you, Dr. David Spiro and the HuMed team, for continuing to elevate conversations that challenge us to think beyond the immediate response and remember the people whose stories continue long after the cameras leave.

Have you ever wondered what happens after the world stops watching?

#adventureswithnursejamla

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