I like putting a label on things.
I like the clarity it provides and the ambiguity it dispels.
Humans are drawn to make sense of the world by categorizing and organizing information. It gives us a sense of comfort and control. The better we understand something, the better we can make decisions. This is why, for years, I have gleefully participated in emergency management’s national sport: trying to define what emergency management (EM) is.
I have always considered it to be a worthwhile endeavor. The field of EM has undergone drastic changes in the last couple of decades. The nature, rate and impact of hazards emergency managers have to deal with has steadily evolved over the years, and the make-up of the people hired to handle them has changed along with it. Amidst all this change, being able to clearly articulate our value proposition is key, especially when our departments are continually under-resourced from both a funding and staffing perspective.
Defining EM may seem like a silly exercise to outsiders. Shouldn’t we know what we do at work day in and day out? The problem is that if you ask any 50 emergency managers to define our profession, you risk hearing 50 different answers.
Case in point, this exact scenario unfolded earlier this month when I attended the first of four week-long sessions of FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy at the Emergency Management Institute. The class, composed of 34 emergency managers spanning county-level agencies, the Coast Guard, higher education and other work settings, was tasked with writing down our definition of emergency management. Then, we split into five groups to merge our 34 different definitions into only five. Of those five, we had to pick our favorite.
This exercise sparked vivid debate.
After all, what do you do when you do not feel represented by something meant to do just that… define you?
Here are the things we did agree on: We agreed that emergency management…
…requires an all-hazards approach—this includes natural hazards, technological disasters and human-caused ones. But it also includes planning for events that carry innate risks like elections or sporting events.
…must serve all stakeholders (“whole community”)—let’s not forget the backbones of our economy and society: small businesses, schools, healthcare institutions and everything—and everyone—in between.
…is meant to address complex problems—combine our project management know-how with our collaboration skills and we can tackle any issue thrown in our lap, including newer, “hot topic” ones like homelessness and the migrant surge.
…more than anything is about helping people. Full stop.
So why is it that we could not reach a consensus? Rather than fully disagreeing with one another, it became apparent that we live in different realities. These different realities are marked by diverging needs, resources and viewpoints. Some of us work in megacities with 30+ strong emergency managers on staff, while others work in deprived rural areas. Some of us are embedded in first responder organizations like sheriff’s offices or fire departments, while others report to individuals who have never been up close to a crisis before in their lives. Closing that chasm by curating one unifying definition seems improbable, if not counterproductive.
As best as I can tell, emergency management is about mitigating and solving risks that can carry devastating human and financial consequences. How one goes about doing so will be as diverse of an approach as the nature of the risks themselves, the people who have a stake in the outcome, and the resources we have at our fingertips. As a classmate best put it, “If we say ‘all disasters are local,’ shouldn’t our definition be local?”
Labels are useful, but they can also be limiting or oversimplified. Similarly, one definition of emergency management may never fully capture the complexity or nuance of what we are trying to achieve. When asked what emergency management is, isn’t it best to fit our answer to our audience at that moment? That’s how our value proposition can truly land.
Things that caught my eye…
Finland advocates for a Preparedness Union Strategy for the EU. In his speech at the European Parliament, Finnish Prime Minister Orpo shared his vision for a “resilient, competitive and secure Europe.” He defines preparedness broadly and touches on societal resilience, physical defenses and climate policy all at once.
“Preparedness for crises is one of the cornerstones of security. The EU and its Member States must be better prepared for a growing number of increasingly complex crises, as we have learned from the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. It is in everyone’s interest to improve the level of preparedness of all Member States and the EU as a whole […] This is why we ask the Commission to develop and publish the first EU Strategy for a Preparedness Union. The strategy should be based on a whole-of-society approach, where the needs and contributions of all policy sectors are taken into account. We are not suggesting another policy document; we are calling for an innovative blueprint that ensures the European Union’s resilience in the face of complex challenges.”
Geopolitics in the C-Suite: More Than Ever, US Foreign Policy Depends on Corporations—and Vice Versa - In a recent poll of 500 institutional investors, geopolitics ranked as the top risk to the global economy and markets in 2024. In an economically interconnected world, economic and technological competition have emerged as “the main battlefield of global politics.” The authors call for US policymakers to develop new economic expertise and adopt a more collaborative approach with the private sector to navigate the current great-power rivalry successfully.
A new study analyzing Medicare records both prior to and following billion-dollar disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and intense storms from 2011 to 2016 has revealed elevated rates of emergency admissions and fatalities persisting for days and even weeks after these events. This underscores the notion that the true toll of climate-related disasters on human lives is significantly underestimated.
Germany joined the ranks of France, the UK and the US and published its first Strategy on Defense and Climate Change. Designed to ensure the “continued and unrestricted operational readiness of the Bundeswehr,” the strategy presents eight fields of action to adapt to our changing environment:
Things I’m looking forward to…
Week 2 of FEMA’s National Executive Academy at the end of April will cover “Leading Complex Systems.” Let’s see what engaging topics and debates we dive into next!
My wife and I are in the midst of a big life change that will open many new doors personally and professionally… excited to share more next time! 🌆
It is an industry that requires a specific set of knowledge and skills progressing towards a profession. Many have sacrificed their education and careers to promoting this. This is not a 10 minute google search, this is a complex industry and part of that is defining it and the role of the Emergency Manager. This does several things, it enables people to understand the complexity and is required to stop charlatans from promoting themselves and selling snake oil. It its the exact same reason certain other professions are protected, like medical doctors, police, paramedics, lawyers. Failure to provide clarification can, as we have seen over the past 30 years a profound impact on the community and the industry. There is a n industry definition of Emergency Management but not one that explicitly defines the role of the Emergency Manager which are two very seperate and distinct areas. Just as one can work in the medical profession without being a medical doctor. One can work in EM without being an 'Emergency Manager'. Unfortunately, there are many who fail to meet any level of basic standards and would drive a lower set of standards simply because they are either unable or unwilling to put the work in. They think a short course or even a Google search makes them qualified. That must stop, and defining and regulating the industry can do this.
Hi Lorraine - I think there is value in self-promoting a definition of 'Emergency Management', at the very least for two major reasons: One, society/the public in many countries - including the U.S. - does not know what we do holistically (especially beyond supporting emergency services in response/interim recovery); and two, even professionals in allied fields do not know what we do. That coffee mug I have, which really says it best:
1) a person who solves problems you can't.
2) One who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge.
See also wizard, magician, miracle worker
The best examples of this are in the recruiting field (staffing/human resources) - places like Indeed, LinkedIn, even USAJobs. See how many times the 'drop-down' for professions (or majors at a college/university) include 'emergency management'. Watch closely how the Information Technology profession uses the same terms and wording for incident management and business continuity to only describe IT aspects, when we have a much broader understanding and relevance to the operational and tactical aspects of Risk Management. Count the number of times someone thinks you work in an Emergency Department of a hospital. Even our methodologies for agile continuous improvement of project management fits a business school model, yet POETE is not taught alongside of Six Sigma, TQM, and others.
- Mike Prasad, Executive Director, the Center for Emergency Management Intelligence Research. Now on Substack at https://thecemir.substack.com/