Becoming a Disaster Management Specialist

In a world where earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, landslides, floods, wildfires, droughts, terrorist attacks, civil conflicts, wars and chemical spills have become prevalent, global demand is surging for emergency professionals with the leadership skills to manage complex, crisis situations, and coordinate the many agencies that address emergency situations in order to mitigate the consequences of disasters and provide relief to victims in communities of all sizes. Emergency and disaster management professionals protect communities by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters.

Disaster Management on the Grow
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the emergency or disaster management specialist field is expected to grow at a 28.2 percent clip through the year 2012, which is one of the highest growth rates projected among all career fields for that time frame. Boasting an average salary of $101,000, disaster management may be an ideal career choice for nurses, allied health professionals, emergency medical technicians and public health professionals who want to take their career to the next level. Disaster management can also be a great choice for those with no prior medical experience as well.
Employment opportunities for professionals with a Disaster Management degree include
• Federal government (Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); Department of Health (DH); Department of Justice (DOJ))
• Each state government has a division or office of emergency preparedness/ management
• In the U.S., there are more than 15,000 political sub-divisions (counties, cities, towns), with each employing at least one individual who is responsible for emergency management
• Hospitals, health agencies, and numerous not-for-profit organizations, including the American and International Red Cross, Salvation Army, CARE, and others
• In the aftermath of 9/11, virtually every large corporation has, and will continue to focus on emergency preparedness/management/continuity of operations
Emergency and Disaster Managers enjoy opportunities to work globally with such organizations as the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the UN Commission For Refugees and with the Pan American Health Organization among others.

A Disaster Management Career Is Challenging… Different… Rewarding …
Your duties as a disaster management professional may include planning disaster preparedness; managing emergency response to crisis events, including overseeing search and rescue operations, medical relief, emergency shelter and food and water supplies; analyzing disaster risks; implementing strategies to reduce risk; devising and conducting training and education; coordinating with relief agencies, reconstruction after disaster; and much more.

Education is the Key Foundation for Success
Disaster Management education programs prepare students to understand, manage, and mitigate the physical and human consequences of natural, technological, civil and human-caused disasters. Studies include terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, hazardous materials, natural disasters, psychological aspects of disasters, acute traumatic-stress intervention, public-health considerations of disasters, research methods and disaster planning and management including risk assessment, incident command and resource allocation.

Be A Leader In Disaster Management
Physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in emergency medicine would benefit from a Disaster Management degree program as would EMTs and paramedics, environmental-health professionals, health care and government administrators, military members, non-governmental agency administrators, public-health professionals, and emergency managers. And with your degree in disaster management, you’ll be able to aid disaster victims as well as develop disaster management plans, shape response policy, conduct research, and ensure disasters are handled as effectively and efficiently as possible. If you are someone who is interested in helping others, who works well under pressure, who likes excitement as opposed to routine then disaster management could be the perfect career for you!

Earn A Disaster Management Degree Online
That’s right, you can now earn a degree in disaster management online via the 24/7 convenience of the Internet. Many of today’s online degree programs feature streaming video lectures that you can rewind and replay to ensure you catch all the important points, forums where you can ask professors questions and chat rooms where you can interact with other students along with many other convenient features.

Also, many online degree programs don’t require set class times, which make them a great way to earn your degree while continuing in your current job. Plus, you’ll be earning the same degree that students on campus earn. That’s right, the content delivered online is the same as the content delivered on campus in most instances – you’ll just be learning it in the comfort of your own home or office instead of a classroom filled with other students.