Shawnee County Emergency Management is tasked with keeping residents, property, businesses, and infrastructure protected in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. Including everything from droughts to flooding, Shawnee County Emergency Management will be there when its citizens are most in need.
Emergency management coordinators play a key role in this agency, making sure there is a contingency plan for every threat and ensuring that local, state, and federal forces are ready and informed when disaster does strike. Emergency management training in Shawnee County is therefore conducted jointly among medical, law enforcement, and other disaster management agencies.
Planning Ahead for a Shawnee County Emergency Management Career
Citizens who are interested in becoming emergency management specialists in their local community can qualify for these jobs through a variety of educational programs. Classes for emergency management degree and certification programs in Shawnee County are offered at a variety of local institutions, as well as many throughout the state and online. Emergency management coordinators work in a range of fields and usually hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. A variety of supplemental educational programs can help candidates qualify for these positions:
The American Red Cross of Kansas Capital, Shawnee County Emergency Management, and the Shawnee County Health Agency provide local classes and certification programs for:
- First Aid, CPR, and Bloodborne Pathogens
- Bioterrorism Training
- Emergency Preparedness and Community Outreach
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management, in cooperation with federal emergency and disaster agencies, offers certification courses such as:
- Emergency Management and Public Health
- Disaster Preparedness
- Disaster Health
- Emergency and Disaster Management
Public, private, and online education institutions offer additional two- and four-year degrees in relevant fields such as:
- Engineering
- Business
- Public Health
- Homeland Security
- Social Sciences
Shawnee County at the Mercy of Nature
As the National Weather Service was reporting snow falling at the rate of 3 to 3.5 inches per hour, Shawnee County emergency management specialists were busy coordinating the disaster response and resource distribution to counter the massive snow storm that would soon prompt officials to declare an emergency a few hours later. Those entrusted with emergency management jobs in Shawnee County are responsible for keeping all residents safe in the event of such as storm that occurred in late February 2013, which translates into ensuring emergency vehicles are able to drive on plowed roads and the electricity for heating stays on. Emergency management coordinators had already prepared the public for severe snowstorms with informational classes, alerts broadcast on social and local media, and recommendations to government officials to close public facilities and schools while also encouraging people to stay off the roads.
Because of the amount of tornadoes Shawnee County emergency management coordinators deal with, officials have worked out disaster response for these storms to a science. However because of the random nature and potential severity of these storms, no matter how well prepared people are, they may still end up at the complete mercy of this force of nature. This is what recently happened on May 21st, 2011 prompting the governor of Kansas to declare a disaster for Shawnee County and 15 others in the vicinity. Emergency management coordinators worked around the clock to assess and respond to the destruction inflicted by this storm, which damaged or destroyed the majority of the City of Reading in a neighboring county.