Responder To Emergency Manager: How Do The Skills Translate?

Abstract 

What happens if the emergency responder wants to expand their skills to focus on  preparedness, mitigation, or recovery? Perhaps it is time to consider a career shift to become  an Emergency Manager. The expanded scope of the emergency management profession will  require the new emergency manager to build and maintain a framework of systems to prepare,  mitigate, respond and recover. When an emergency responder considers a shift to emergency  manager, a common question is “How do the Skills Translate?” 

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Naval officer, paramedic, Air Force MP, firefighter, sheriff deputy, Coast Guard Petty Officer, 911  dispatcher; whatever the uniform, emergency responders possess a unique combination of skills  and experiences. Personnel who work in emergency response spend years developing the skills  and qualifications to respond to adverse conditions while keeping themselves, the crew, and  the community safe from harm. Responders gain additional years of experience applying these  skills to unthinkable scenarios, most of which those in civilian life will never encounter. This call  to duty is strong and noteworthy, such that it is the topic of research by sociologists. In the book  Response to Disasters, Fischer states that during times of disaster, “[p]olice and fire personnel  stay on the job, putting the needs of the victims and the duty they have sworn to uphold before  their own personal needs and concerns.” ¹ What happens if the emergency responder wants to  expand his or her skills to focus on preparedness, mitigation, or recovery? Perhaps it is time to  consider a career shift to become an Emergency Manager. As someone who worked for years  as a Fire/EMS responder and then made the transition to Emergency Manager, I am using this  essay to share my insights on that transition process.  

The terms emergency response and emergency management are often used interchangeably  in casual conversation. While the terms sound the same to the public, there are key  elements that make emergency management broader than response. The Federal Emergency  Management Agency established principles of emergency management in which it offers the  following definition: 

Emergency Management is the managerial function charged with creating the  framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope  with disasters.²  

This is not to say that one is more important than the other. While both responders and  emergency managers provide vital services, they differ in their scope of practice. Emergency  responders are more tactical and hazard-specific. Emergency managers foster programs that  support numerous emergency responders by creating and maintaining systems that enable  the emergency responder community’s work. William Waugh, Jr. acknowledged the wide breadth and scope of emergency management by saying, “[i]n the simplest terms, emergency  management is the management of risk so that societies can live with environmental and  technical hazards and deal with the disasters they cause.” ³ 

The transition from responder to Emergency Manager can feel like a shift in identity. A specific  focus on motivation will bring clarity and focus during the time of change. This evolution of  introspection is critical to pursue a role that will enable future happiness and success. Bill George,  former CEO of Medtronic and author of Discover Your True North, explores the journey to  authentic leadership. George writes, “[l]eaders who have reflected on their stories understand  how important events and interactions with people have shaped their approach to the world.”⁴  Tactical skills and response experiences will enable the emergency managers to build a response  framework that enables future responders as a vital link in community preparedness. 

Up-and-coming emergency managers need to understand the formal education of professional  peers laterally and upward in the organization. City managers and county or state department  heads will likely have a bachelor’s degree, and in many cases a graduate degree, such as a  Master of Public Administration. A bachelor’s degree is often the baseline in the private sector,  with many leaders having a Master of Business Administration or another relevant advanced  degree. A college education is important for the Emergency Manager. Public speaking, critical  thinking, research, finance, and writing are vital skillsets for success that are further developed  through higher education. Additionally, a well-rounded college education can develop a more  global-minded leader who is more politically and culturally aware. These are dramatically  important attributes for someone who will be developing programs and systems for the people  in their community. This includes people with different ethnic backgrounds, languages, and  socioeconomic status. Fortunately, as the profession grows and expands, there are more options  for how to earn a degree. Online and hybrid models better accommodate working students who  want to pursue higher education.  

It is also important for aspiring emergency managers to become familiar with regulations,  understand what governs the work at hand, and what assigns authority to the Emergency  Manager’s role. Responders interested in emergency management should review a policy manual  for their respective organizations and read the policy manuals like an Emergency Manager. This  will serve as a test to see the framework emerge from the policies as explained in the FEMA  definition of Emergency Management. A broader look at a city or county emergency response  plan will outline each organization’s authorities within the emergency management system. Those  in the military need to understand whether the activation orders are Title 10 vs. Title 32. For the  tactical responders it may not appear to be different; however, emergency managers appreciate  the differences in scope, authority and funding represented by both regulatory frameworks.  

Industry standards are a vital link in this process as well. As Deming points out, “[t]here are  regulations made by government, and there are voluntary standards made by committees,  and also unguided choices made by enterprises and individuals.”⁵ The standards are not a regulation but a set of best practices agreed upon by leading authorities in their field. They are  often written and published by independent organizations that serve as authorities for their  respective industry. Standards are more specific by discipline or industry, but the standard  alone is not enforceable as regulation. The governing authority must adopt the standard as written, which can be achieved by city or county ordinance or state law. In the private sector,  the organization must create a policy statement to adopt the standard. For example, a city  government could choose to write its building codes and make them the law. Alternatively, it  could elect to adopt industry-standard building codes that are written, reviewed, and updated  by an external group, such as the Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) or the  International Building Code (IBC). In this scenario, the government adopts the industry standard as law to make it enforceable.  

I have provided a list of regulations and standards organizations below in Figure 1. While this is  not an exhaustive list, it represents a starting point for the prospective emergency manager to  gain deeper subject knowledge. Additional references are available through the International  Association of Emergency Managers, using their webpage and the Resources tab. 

When considering the responder’s transition to an emergency manager, it may be possible for  an emergency responder or emergency management student to attend a community meeting  related to emergency management, such as a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)  meeting. These meetings are generally open forum, meaning they are open to the public. Their  meeting times and location(s) are often posted on a website or communicated through an email  notification process. Another option is to contact the local Emergency Manager and shadow  her for a day to learn more about her role, what she finds most rewarding and what is most  challenging. Many emergency managers began their career in some form of a responder role,  and most are eager to offer their suggestions to an aspiring emergency manager.

During an interview, it is crucial to avoid the pitfall of telling war stories. Field experience is  important, as it prepares the emergency responder for this transition. While the experiences  will help the new emergency manager be a sharp decision-maker, in the interview, examples of  tactical or field operational experience should serve as a bridge in the conversation to highlight  how that experience will enable the prospective emergency manager to develop and implement  a system or framework. The audience may not be peers in the responder community, instead  representing human resources or a team leader from a different department. Too many tales  from the field, or too much detail, can be a distraction. 

The move from the responder to emergency manager is an exciting journey. The transition  brings growth opportunities to develop and maintain programs. The new job scope requires  firsthand knowledge from field experience to advocate for all the responders in the system.  The pursuit of higher education provides the aspiring emergency manager a more thorough  understanding of principles, regulations, and industry standards. As an emergency responder  prepares for a change in job scope, it is important to know how to answer the question…  “how do the skills translate?”

Notes 

1. William H. Fischer, Response to Disaster: Fact vs. Fiction and Its Perpetuation: The Sociology of Disaster,  (University Press of America: 1998): 18-19.  
2. FEMA, Emergency Management Principles, FEMA- Emergency Management Institute, 2007. 
3. William L. Waugh Jr, Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters, (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2000): 3. 
4. Bill George, Discover Your True North: Becoming an Authentic Leader, (Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &  Sons, 2015): 25. 
5. E.W. Deming, Out of the Crisis, (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced  Engineering Study, 1986): 297.