Online Undergraduate Certificate in Emergency Management

This is designed to introduce students to the concepts of emergency management. Students will gain a general understanding of the threats faced by communities. Students will explore the role of emergency management as well as the activities taken during the various phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Topics covered in this class include the history and development of emergency management, hazard identification and risk analysis, mitigation, communications, international disaster management, and the future of emergency management. Through a simulation exercise, the students use publicly available tools to take on the role of an emergency manager. They will be tasked with doing a comprehensive risk assessment of a fictional town and apply the results to a Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) using different man-made, technological, and natural hazards that culminates in a peer-review assessment.

Effective emergency planning is the key to surviving natural and man-made disasters. Risk analysis and the formulation of a comprehensive plan, followed by a vigorous and continuing testing program, are essential elements to surviving an emergency. Topics covered include threat assessment, risk analysis, the formulation of a plan, emergency operations center (EOC) staffing, coordination with supporting agencies, the importance of liaison continuity, actual incident management, and effective follow-up analysis. Various actual case studies are discussed. Students build upon their knowledge and use the Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) developed in EDMG101. If they have not taken the course, a generic completed HVA will be provided to develop a section of an Emergency Operation Plan. Students will also have the ability to work through a self-paced optional “refresher” module on the creation of the HVA.

This course is a study of the theory and practice of incident command, the various methods of incident command, and specific focus on the Incident Command System (ICS) used in crises, disasters, and emergency management response systems. The roles and responsibilities of the ICS system are identified. The different agencies and incidents in which the ICS system is used are discussed. Cases are studied in order to assist students in understanding the management and leadership complexity associated with modern emergencies and disasters. The student will participate in a 2D/3D simulation and take on a new role within an incident command scenario shifting from being an information producer, to an information consumer, and decision-maker. The scenario will feature a terrorist event at a university graduation where students will be required to activate their incident command system, working the scenario to its conclusion using decision-making points throughout.

This course will provide the student with an overview of society's need for planning for hazardous situations. Every community faces the potential of hazards, both natural and manmade. Only when people are injured and property is damaged by a hazard does a disaster occur. Due to patterns of population growth and development in the United States, disasters now occur more frequently than ever before. Mitigation and preparedness strategies are critical ways of making a community more resilient against the impacts of hazards.

This course explores social media and other forms of communication; their value and limitations in today’s environment; and cross-functional employment in support of emergency management, homeland security, and public health emergency operations. In addition, this course evaluates the contributions of the internet and social media within a larger media/public relations context, as a stand-alone mass notification/information-sharing platform, and as part of a communications strategy for disaster response. Through a simulation, the student experiences a vital role within emergency and disaster management, that of a public affairs officer. Within the course, the student explores the utility and challenges of using social media as an emergency management communication tool to support homeland security and public health emergency operations. Using private locked-down Facebook and Twitter groups, students develop social media posts specific to their assigned roles and what they need to convey to the town as the public affairs officers during a severe storm scenario and a terrorist attack threat scenario. In addition to these roles, one student is assigned the role of the antagonist, and another is assigned the disruptor role with the goal of spreading rumors, myths, and misinformation. The purpose is to emulate some of the key challenges that emergency management public affairs officers encounter on a regular basis. The intent is for all students to learn the use of social media and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Social Media Toolkit as a way to improve their communications during an emergency.

This course focuses on the psychological and physiological human response to natural and man-made disasters. Using clinical research and case histories, students will examine normal and abnormal psychological reactions, the recovery process and principles of mental health care for victims of mass disasters. Differences between natural and man-made disasters are examined and factors that mitigate post-traumatic effects are reviewed. Psychological aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) disasters are also considered.