In February of 2013, President Obama declared a national emergency when a severe snowstorm dumped a massive amount of snow and ice in Washington County, Rhode Island. While the storm was especially severe, this area of Rhode Island experienced drastic weather changes, which have become the primary focus of emergency management professionals, organizations, agencies and private sector businesses in the area.
Emergency management services in all of Rhode Island’s five counties are the domain of the State of Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. The agency is responsible for overseeing all emergency management operations done in Washington County and has nine offices located in the area. The emergency management offices are located in the towns of:
- Charlestown
- Exeter
- Westerly
- Hopkinton
- Narragansett
- New Shoreham
- North Kingstown
- Richmond
- South Kingstown
Each office consists of a small staff of building planners, city planners, emergency management coordinators and supervisors.
Emergency Management Degrees in Washington County
In order to be considered for emergency management jobs in Washington County, applicants are required to have a degree in a related field. The following are some of the most common emergency management related degrees offered in and around Washington County, via universities, community colleges and online schools:
- Associate’s Degree in Homeland Security (online)
- Bachelor’s Degree in Homeland Security (online)
- Master of Science in Homeland Security- Terrorism, Mediation and Peace (online)
- Associate’s Degree in Emergency Management
- Associate of Applied Science in Emergency Management
- Master of Science in Disaster Science and Emergency Management
Emergency Management Certificates and Training
Emergency management careers in Washington County also often require that professionals also have certification from the state, as well as extensive training in a variety of subjects. The areas of training include the following:
- Fundamentals of emergency management
- Disaster response
- First Aid and CPR
- City planning
- Emergency and disaster stress management
- Public relations
- Mitigation procedures
- Bioterrorism and public health
- Citizen preparedness
Once training is complete, emergency management professionals will receive certification from the State of Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (SRIEMA.) The agency has three types of certification: basic, intermediate and advanced. The number of training hours that must be completed are as follows:
- Basic: 200 hours of core curriculum training with 100 hours of optional training
- Intermediate: 250 hours of additional training (450 hours total, 12 classes must be core curriculum) with 100 hours of optional training
- Advanced: 250 hours of additional training (700 hours total, 9 classes must be core curriculum) with 100 hours of optional training