Episode Details

How Do We Take Emergency Management Seriously If We Do Not Support Research?

There has been a debate about whether or not someone should have a college degree to be an emergency manager. The second side of the argument is whether we should have emergency management degree programs. For full disclosure, I am an emergency management educator. If you read or listen to the Emergency Management Network, you know that I also write and research trends in emergency management. 

The field of emergency management is "the discipline and profession of applying science, technology, planning, and management to deal with extreme events that can injure or kill large numbers of people, do extensive property damage, and disrupt community life. When such events occur and cause extensive harm, they are called disasters" (Hoetmer, 1991). This definition eloquently defines emergency management, explaining what a disaster is, and exemplifies how academia and research provide conceptual and practical tools for emergency managers. Researchers tell us who we are, what we do, how and why we do the things we do, and provide guidance and advice as to where we should be going.

Emergency management relies on researchers to observe, evaluate, and provide references and reports offering recommendations; reflect on how and what we have done; and help us define, recognize, and understand the multitude of issues we face in emergency management. Dr. Carol Cwick argues that similar disciplines fund research through education programs and advance beyond a mere job to a profession. She continues by stressing that without higher education programs, the field of emergency management is doomed to disappear and be absorbed by public safety programs. Her full interview will be published soon. 

How do we take a field or discipline seriously if we do not research the issues and the programs' effectiveness? 

There are areas of study dedicated to the supply chain in the business world. They study disruptions, forecast needs and increasing product varieties, shorter product life cycles, ever-growing expectations of consumers, and rising cost competition due to globalization. The business makes forecasting essential to matching supply with demand. Hundreds of publications, TV news programming, think tanks, and thousands of books are dedicated to business research. You rarely hear people questioning the need for business and MBA education programs.  

Over the last few decades, Scholars researching emergency management have accumulated literature. This has opened great opportunities for further development of EM theories and strategies.

I was asked why we even care to do disaster research. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that globally from 2000 to 2012, disasters killed 1.2 million people, affected 2.9 billion others, and claimed $1.7 trillion in material damage. The United States has moved into a "new normal" of frequent, billion-dollar hurricanes, eight of the ten costliest occurring since 2004. The Department of Defense warns that climate change threatens national security and will cause global political instability due to "prolonged drought and flooding … food shortages, desertification, population dislocation, mass migration, and sea level rise." Not a week goes by without news of a new technological "accident" and the long-term malignant impacts of chemicals, radiation, plastics, and petroleum—the material markers of technological society—on our bodies, communities, and the planet.

How do Colleges and Universities Make A Difference In Emergency Management? 

Academic research looks beyond emergency management's immediate needs; the university's role involves exploring all phases of disaster.  As an institution of higher education and research, they, by definition, are responsible for contributing to the body of knowledge for emergency management. And to society as a whole.