The East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (MOHSEP) will be there for its residents when a natural or man-made disaster strikes. MOHSEP works as the coordinating body for disaster relief and emergency management agencies that operate throughout East Baton Rouge Parish to promote citizen awareness, provide accurate disaster warning, and provide targeted emergency response and cleanup.
Emergency management coordinators from disaster relief agencies throughout the parish work together through joint emergency management training in East Baton Rouge Parish to provide these three pillars of disaster service. Their skills were recently put to the test during the Hurricane Isaac event and severe flooding at the beginning of 2013.
Obtaining the Right Education for Emergency Management Jobs in East Baton
Rouge Parish
There are options for earning an emergency management degree in or around East Baton Rouge Parish, at public and private universities as well as online. These include associate and bachelor degrees in:
- Business
- Public Health
- Emergency Management
- Homeland Security
- Psychology and Mental Health
- Engineering
Emergency management coordinators work in a variety of specializations, and therefore there are a number of educational programs through which candidates can gain qualifications for the position. Emergency management certification opportunities are offered as follows:
- Baton Rouge Red Cross
- CPR and First Aid
- Foundations of Disaster Mental Health
- Disaster Action Team Workshop
- Shelter Operations and Simulation
- Federal certification programs:
- Emergency and Disaster Management
- Advanced Homeland Security Management
- Disaster Health
- Emergency Management and Public Health
Recent East Baton Rouge Disasters
Hurricane Isaac wrought more destruction in some places than Hurricane Katrina. Those working in emergency management jobs in East Baton Rouge Parish in August of 2012 will well remember this destructive storm, which dumped more than one foot of rain breaking a levee in a nearby parish and flooding 90 percent of an adjacent town. However the job of emergency managing started long before the storm ever made landfall while it was still hundreds of miles out at sea off the Gulf Coast. Emergency management specialists were issuing public notifications as soon as meteorologists indicated the possibility the then-tropical storm could make landfall in East Baton Rouge Parish. Members of the public, having previously been instructed through public education campaigns organized by emergency management coordinators, went into action boarding up their windows and taking inventory of their survival resources.
Even more recently, severe rainstorms in January of 2013 caused widespread flooding prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency across Louisiana as well as in East Baton Rouge Parish. For this disaster response by emergency management coordinators was similar to that for Hurricane Isaac. In both cases these experts began by first directing emergency personnel, law enforcement, and utility companies to places in need of immediate assistance. After urgent situations had been dealt with, emergency management coordinators began the cleanup operation, assessing damage and organizing the removal of debris. Often times emergency management careers in East Baton Rouge Parish require strong networking skills. In the cases of Hurricane Isaac and recent flooding relief, participating agencies included:
- Federal emergency agencies
- The American Red Cross in Baton Rouge
- Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge
- East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department
- Baton Rouge Police Department
- East Baton Rouge Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management