Emergency Management Careers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

In the event of a city-wide disaster the Milwaukee Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is prepared to coordinate the response efforts and maintain law and order. It does this by working with locally-based government agencies and other municipal departments such as fire, police, and public health. The OEM maintains other professional partnerships with meteorologists, broadcast media companies, and government intelligence services like the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Intelligence Fusion Center. The Milwaukee OEM is also part of the Urban Area Security Initiative, a collaboration with:

  • Office of Justice Assistant
  • Wisconsin Emergency Management
  • The counties of
    • Ozaukee
    • Waukesha
    • Racine
    • Washington
    • Milwaukee

FIND SCHOOLS
Sponsored Content

An Education in Emergency Management

Because of the variety of emergency management jobs in Milwaukee the required certification, training and education for these positions varies greatly. Certification courses are sponsored by a variety of public and private agencies and generally meet professional standards in specific skill areas. These can be certification courses in CPR, hazardous materials response, or courses for first responders, to name a few.

Many emergency management careers will additionally require higher education in the field. This can be in the form of an associate or bachelor emergency management degree. The two-year associate degree provides a sturdy foundation in emergency management theory, history, and practice, while the four-year bachelor degree takes students into specific specializations of in-depth study and practicums. These include sub-fields in:

  • Logistics and coordination
  • Agency jurisdiction and law
  • Technological advances in emergency management
  • Natural disasters
  • Terrorism threats: biological, radiological, chemical, nuclear

The emergency management field also includes a variety of specialists who come from different backgrounds and contribute an individual level of expertise necessary to allow the field to run efficiently. Specialist backgrounds include:

  • Information technology
  • Business
  • Criminal justice
  • Law enforcement
  • Biology
  • Meteorology
  • Engineering

Throughout the metropolitan area of Milwaukee prospective employees and students will find a number of educational institutions offering degrees in emergency management and its associated fields.

Emergency Management Certification Opportunities in Milwaukee

In association with Wisconsin Emergency Management the city of Milwaukee holds a number of emergency management certification courses throughout the year covering a variety of subjects. These allow individuals to be certified in specific skills in order to meet job requirements or increase their competitiveness. Recent courses include:

  • Hazardous material and emergency response
  • Incident Command System
  • Mitigation for Emergency Managers
  • National Incident Management System

The Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross offers classes in the following for concerned citizens and those wanting to gain some initial emergency management training:

  • First aid and CPR
  • Bloodborne pathogen training
  • CPR and AED training

The Milwaukee Fire Department also offers a number of educational courses and seminars in the emergency management field that are generally open to the public:

  • EMS stroke screening
  • Evacuation and emergency preparedness
  • Fire apparatus exhibition
  • Fire extinguisher safety certification
  • First Responder

Back to Top