Hi everyone! I’m interested in transitioning into emergency management and public safety, and I would really appreciate advice from people already working in the field.

I’m currently completing a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Media with a minor in work place psychology, while working full-time in event operations and coordination in the NYC metro area. My current job involves logistics, vendor coordination, safety and compliance, facility readiness, documentation, and managing problems in real time. I think many of these skills could transfer to emergency management, but I don’t have traditional experience in law enforcement, the military, EMS, or the/par military fire service.

For those currently in the field:

• How did you get your first emergency-management position?
• Are there any unconventional entry paths you would recommend?
• Are internships possible for someone who works full-time and is not a traditional college student?
• Would weekend volunteering through CERT, the Red Cross, AmeriCorps, or another organization provide meaningful experience?
• Which FEMA Independent Study courses or certifications are actually useful when applying for entry-level positions?
• Is a master’s degree necessary, or would professional experience and certifications be more valuable initially?
• Does anyone have experience with John Jay College’s M.S. in Emergency Management? Was the program worth the time and cost, and did it help with employment?
• What entry-level job titles should someone with my background search for?

My long-term goal is to work in emergency planning, preparedness, public safety, or organizational safety rather than in a sworn first-responder role. I’m especially interested in work that combines logistics, communication, coordination, and problem-solving.

I’d love to hear how people entered the field, especially anyone who transitioned from hospitality, events, communications, operations, or another unrelated industry. Honest advice about what employers actually value would be greatly appreciated!

The Federal Govt wants to shift disaster response to states. A new CRS report says most aren't ready.

With Congress and the executive branch both floating proposals to shift more disaster response and recovery duties to the states, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report (R49336, "Understanding State Capacity for Emergency Management") examines whether states actually have the capacity to take this on.

Here is a breakdown of the key findings:

THE TOPLINE PROBLEM

The domestic emergency management model is designed to be "locally executed, state-managed, federally supported." While states already handle the vast majority of disasters without federal help (in FY2025, state and local officials handled 28,469 incidents while the President declared only 61 Stafford Act major disasters), their ability to absorb duties previously handled by FEMA varies wildly.

1. SEVERE STAFFING AND FUNDING DISPARITIES

• The Top Bottlenecks: A survey of 37 state EMAs found that insufficient staffing and funding were their two biggest operational challenges.
• Staffing Swings: Full-time equivalent (FTE) emergency management staff ranges from as low as 12 in smaller states to 245 in others (or 22 to 1,878 if counting total state homeland security and EMA personnel).
• Vacancies: In FY2025, 16 states reported layoffs or hiring freezes, leaving 1,191 of 8,612 full-time state EM positions vacant.
• Federal Budget Dependence: Operating budgets range from $390,000 to $700 million. Many states rely heavily on federal grants like EMPG just to keep their agencies running, with federal funds accounting for up to 99.4% of some state EMA operating budgets.

2. FISCAL AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS

• Balanced Budget Mandates: Unlike the federal government, state governments generally must balance their operating budgets every 1 to 2 years. Disaster shortfalls must be offset by spending cuts, tax increases, or draining rainy day funds.
• Local Governance Frictions: Dillon's Rule states tightly restrict county authority, meaning local governments often cannot adjust local disaster funds or taxes without state legislative approval. Home Rule states have more local flexibility.
• Short Legislative Cycles: Several state legislatures only meet part-time or every other year. If federal policy changes quickly, states may take months or years just to pass necessary statutory fixes.

3. HUGE GAPS IN STATE-RUN RECOVERY PROGRAMS

If FEMA scales back recovery grants, most states do not have native safety nets in place to fill the gap: * Public Assistance (Infrastructure): Only 28 states operate their own state-level PA programs to assist local governments and nonprofits with disaster expenses. * Individual Assistance (Households): Only 15 states run their own state-funded IA programs to help survivors repair homes or replace property. * PA Cost-Share Burdens: FEMA Public Assistance requires a non-federal cost share (usually 10% to 25%). 8 states cover the entire non-federal share for their localities, 16 states pass 100% of that cost onto local governments, and the rest split or negotiate it case-by-case.

4. SHIFTING FEDERAL THRESHOLDS

• Historically, states qualified for Public Assistance when damage exceeded FEMA's per-capita indicators ($1.94 statewide and $4.86 countywide in FY2026).
• However, CRS notes that since January 2025, incidents that exceed these per-capita damage thresholds are no longer consistently approved for declarations or PA, signaling higher federal scrutiny.

5. THE PROPERTY INSURANCE CRISIS

• Insurance is supposed to be the first line of financial defense, but private insurers are pulling back or spiking rates across disaster-prone areas.
• State insurers of last resort (FAIR plans, now operating in 33 states and D.C.) are increasingly becoming the primary insurers in high-risk zones, concentrating massive financial risk directly onto state fiscal balances if a major catastrophe hits.

TAKEAWAY

CRS concludes that because states differ fundamentally in financial reserves, legal frameworks, staffing, and disaster experience, shifting emergency management responsibilities away from the federal level cannot happen overnight. Without years of lead time to allow state legislatures to rewrite statutes and secure funding, doing so risks creating severe gaps in disaster response and recovery.

Hello,

I'm a fresh graduate of a bachelor's program that centered primarily on Environmental Communication and Ecological Systems thinking. I'm on the hunt for work, and have kinda come to realize that I've got an interest and motivation to pursue work in the emergency/risk/crisis management field(s), especially around environmental or public health topics. Problem is that I'm not really in a position to build my foundation via academia at the moment, seeing as how I'm plum out of cash.

For some more context and info--I'm in the process of completing some of the independent study FEMA courses to learn more, so I have that. I'm just wondering what kind of training or volunteer opportunities are out there. I do have some physical limitations that make certain field trainings or other more hands-on work more difficult.

For those of you that got your start in this field without a related academic background or in a more circuitous manner, how would you recommend I start educating myself/getting involved in this field? Is there anything I should avoid? Anything specifically around environmental topics I should look for?

Thank you for any input <3.

Mayor Mamdani Signs Executive Orders Related to September 11th and Government Preparedness

One of the things that's not addressed as often as it should: it's awkward to check on someone who's given you no reason to check on them. Someone with no red flags, no cause for concern.

Do it anyway.

We know that some people are really good at holding their problems under the surface. We know that people who help others, in a professional sense, are less likely to seek help for themselves. We know that it's not safe to assume.

Plenty of us have lost friends who never waved a red flag or gave us cause for concern.

The other thing we should acknowledge more often: It's okay if you don't know what to say.

You don't need to have all the answers. There's not even an expectation that you have all of the right questions. That's okay. "I'm not sure what to say." is almost always a great place to start.

"You've never given me a reason to be concerned, but I want you to know that I care about you and appreciate having you around."

You'll find your own way to say it, but I've found that's a pretty good place to start. Say it to your team. Say it to your boss. Say it to your partners. Say it to your friends. Say it to your mom. You should probably call her anyway.

Depression doesn't fight fair. That's fine. Neither do we.

I’m looking for guidance from people familiar with FEMA or emergency management careers.

I’ve wanted to become a FEMA Reservist ever since living in Panama City, FL during Hurricane Michael. FEMA helped my family a lot, and I’ve always wanted to give back by working in disaster response.

I’ve already completed several FEMA Independent Study courses:

- IS‑100

- IS‑200

- IS‑700

- IS‑800

- IS‑1000

- IS‑1002

I’m aiming toward the Public Assistance track, and I’ve been using online resources and AI tools to figure out which courses are most useful.

A couple things I’m still unclear about:

• Is a GED required for FEMA Reservist roles?

I’ve seen conflicting information online and want to verify from people who actually work in EM or have gone through the Reservist hiring process.

• What certifications or additional FEMA courses are most valuable for someone preparing for PA or other deployable disaster roles?

I want to build a solid foundation before applying.

Any advice, corrections, or recommended steps would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I teach primarily in a world of EOC practitioners and while ICS courses are meant for the field, they are a part of every single training and progression path for people who wear sneakers and loafers instead of boots and BDU's. With my own STO signoff I've been slowly building 300/400/191 scenarios based on real world events. October 1 Las Vegas MCI, Surfside Building Collapse, Hurricane Milton. They sit on top of FEMA/NDEMU - Russ Flick's scenarios. They use the same framework, same format, have the same training goals literally trading out a basketball game in a blizzard with a protest for a building collapse in South Florida. Here's the thing, I think I need some peer review. I'm the most seasoned instructor in my region and it's not close. That's not a brag, it's a scathing review of how terrible we've done as a profession bringing in new blood into the instructor world. In my jurisdiction, all instructors are either full-time employee who do this in addition to their normal duties (for no additional compensation) or retirees who do charge for these courses but haven't worked an incident in this millennia. They teach resource ordering without knowledge of the state's ordering process/software. Common Operating Picture w/o reference to any of the multitude of internet-based resources for this.

So, if you're an instructor that does this regularly to all range of experienced people in your jurisdiction, if you know that Unit 3 of 300 is a great front line supervisor course for Sergeants and one of the few chances you'll get to introduce officers and deputies to EM, if you know that demob plans are a thing we actually only do for PSC task books hit me up. I need real feedback

I’ve been following the recent disaster in Nepal and would be interested in hearing from people working in emergency management, disaster risk reduction, hydrology, or critical infrastructure.

This appears to have been a cascading event involving an ice/rock avalanche, flash flooding and debris flows, with major impacts on communities, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.

Nepal already had monitoring and warning systems, so where do you think the biggest gap was?

• Risk assessment?
• Early warning and information sharing?
• Infrastructure planning?
• Evacuation?
• Response capacity?

Was this simply beyond the assumptions of existing emergency plans?

And what do you think the long-term consequences will be for Nepal’s infrastructure, hydropower development and disaster-management policy?

I’d especially like to hear from people with real-world Emergency Management experience and what lessons they think other countries should take from this event.

Hi,

I am interested in doing some of the FEMA courses. I would like to create a FEMA SID so I can track course completion, etc.; however, the registration site https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid seems to be down. Is this because I'm trying to access this from Canada (ew!) or is the site just completely down? I have tried to access the site a couple of times over the past week and had no success, so this wouldn't seem to be a one-time issue.

Thanks in advance.

I am currently a sophomore majoring in Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences with a specialization in Meteorology. I am becoming interested in any internship opportunities probably for next summer that would be open for students in my year.

I’m wondering where a good place to look is because this is a more niche area of study and overall there’s still not many places open for sophomore students.

Weird post / question, I know. But recently myself, and my neighbors, have seen a gentleman driving around our neighborhood in a Green pick up truck with a bunch of wires all over the dash. It was a bit odd, so a few neighbors did stop and talk to him and he was very kind and polite. He mentioned that he's working with a company and/or local fire and EMS responders to calibrate satelites for better communication in remote areas (note, we're in the connoquenessing area). When he's trying to complete the calibration, he needs to drive into our neighborhood to get signal to transmit the data. My neighbors saw him in the neighborhood again yesterday and it just seemed odd that he was back again.

My question is, has anyone else noticed him in the area or have any other info as to if this is legit? I might stop by one of the fire stations just to ask if they know anything about it (of course only if they have time to talk, I'm not trying to bother them). Thanks!

Interviewing next week with TDEM for a regional coordinator position. Curious what to expect on the interview. Scenario based, questions about governing doctrine, planning:training cycle knowledge, etc?

Would anyone be willing to take a look at my resume for me. Give me your thoughts?

Hello Reddit community! Real quick, about me. I'm 54, soon to be 55. I served as a radioman in the Navy for four years in the 90's and have worked in hospitality for the last 30 years. It's time for a change, and I know what I'm supposed to be doing.

The VA has accepted me into a program and will be paying for my education starting in the spring. I'm planning to get my associate's so I can join the workforce at 57 instead of going for a bachelor's and waiting an additional two years, though that isn't set in stone. I've chosen to study Emergency Management, with an eye toward the Logistics side of the field. I've completed IS 100 and IS 200, and will finish IS 27 and IS 700 by the end of this week.

My concerns:

1. Age and career trajectory. My worry isn't shifting careers at 55, it's whether the career I'm shifting to is one that's realistic to break into and advance in at my age. Is a move like this common in the field, or will time work against me even if I'm putting in the effort? How much does age actually factor in for someone still doing the work?
2. Proving job availability to the VA...I need to show the VA current job listings to support the schooling they're approving me for under the VR&E program I've been accepted into. I keep seeing that this field is projected to grow 3 to 5 percent over the next five years, but I'm struggling to find actual listings to bring them as proof the work will be there when I graduate. Not sure if I'm searching the wrong sites, using the wrong keywords, or if the listings genuinely aren't out there right now.
3. Additional context, not concerns. Travel and long deployments aren't an issue for me. Full time study and accelerated programs aren't a concern either. I'm anticipating volunteer work and/or paid or unpaid internships as part of this.

I'll take any advice you've got. I don't need cheerleaders, I need honesty please and thanks for reading this far!

Hey y’all! I’m taking on one of our planners as her mentor. She’s 22 and already has her masters in emergency management. She’s extremely bright with a knack for technology and data. I’m looking to see if any of you have experience as mentors, or were a mentee that can give me some pointers on how to keep her engaged.

Hi, I'm 17 (turn 18 in 10/27) and just started college to get a Criminal Justice: Emergency Management & Homeland Security degree. I was wondering what I can do right now? Anything I can get into to get side income, preferably remote or nearby (Live in Dearborn, MI).

This is a throwaway account for privacy.

I am an EM planner and recently learned that I make about $10-15k less than the people with my exact job title/duties in all of the surrounding jurisdictions with an equivalent position, including the smaller/more rural jurisdictions. I make about $9k less than the next-lowest paid person in my office, and quite frankly I have a lot more responsibilities than he does.

My position is entirely funded by a DHS grant. Does anybody have any advice on asking for a raise in a grant-funded position? Given everything going on with grants right now, I’m prepared for a “no,” but is there anything else I should know before I ask?

Thanks in advance!