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Online PhD in Emergency Management

As manmade and naturally occurring disasters around the world continue to stretch the ability of response agencies in the U.S. and abroad, a greater need for experts who have an online PhD in Emergency Management, has emerged. Online PhD Emergency Management degrees are tailored to develop scholars and practitioners who possess both the practical skills as well as theoretical knowledge to be effective. Students who obtain this degree will be capable of teaching the leaders of tomorrow, overseeing emergency outfits and responders, and consulting on efficient management of complicated emergency scenarios in order to aggressively mitigate or even eliminate such crises in advance of them fully unfolding.

Online PhD in Emergency Management Requirements

The skills that are necessary to obtain an online doctorate in emergency management include the composure, knowledge, foresight and acumen to deal with nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical, and explosive threats in advance of their occurrence, while they are happening, and after they occur. The best online doctorate in emergency management courses covering these five areas of manmade disasters will teach participants how to operate on NIMS, the National Incident Management System, so that they can effectively deal with the aftermath of these kinds of crises situations.

Master’s degrees that are useful in proceeding on to this PhD include the following:

• Masters Degree in Emergency Management
• Masters Degree in Public Safety
• Masters Degree in Leadership
• Masters Degree in Fire Science and Administration
• Masters Degree in Psychology of Crisis Management and Response

Most people who enroll in an accredited Online PhD Programs in Emergency Management are likely coming out of one of the following careers: Fire and Emergency Services, Emergency Operations Management, Public Safety Management, or Biosecurity.

Online PhD Emergency Management Education

The top Online PhD Programs in Emergency Management generally require one hundred and twenty quarterly credits to obtain the degree. Both theoretical knowledge and critical thinking under pressure must be studied and internalized. The student will also be required to contribute his or her own proprietary doctoral level research in order to further the emergency management field.

Information on Online Emergency Management PhD Courses

There is a wide variety of required coursework for the online Emergency Management PhD. Categories of courses required include core courses covering such topics as public safety leadership, specialization courses covering specifics like crisis management and disaster mitigation, and elective courses. Some of the courses that are encouraged to be taken in the online doctoral programs in emergency management include the following:

• Advanced Research in Public Safety Issues, Theories, and Concepts
  This course reviews the various bodies of thought and works that have been published recently on the core ideas of the theory and concepts of public safety issues.
• Global Issues of Disaster Management
  This class covers a wide ranging host of issues and problems in dealing with and mitigating disasters as they happen. The framework includes consideration of disasters from different countries and cultural points of views.
• Stress Management in Public Safety Organizations
  The course deals with the ways to handle stress effects and situations accompanying dealing with disasters in the public safety organizations’ operational frameworks.
• Case Studies in Critical Incident Management
  This practical and hands on class goes through a number of specific case studies relating to the management of critical incidents that actually happened both in the U.S and abroad.
• Theoretical Constructs of Emergency Management
  A course based on theory, it covers the various ideas underlying the principles and practice of emergency management at a variety of local, state, and national levels.
• Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation
  This practical course covers the effective means of being best prepared for disasters both before they happen and dealing with the consequences once they have really occurred.

Specializations and Concentrations

There are actually seven recognized concentrations within the online doctoral programs in emergency management. One might elect to consider such a specialization in order to dig deeper into a particular area of knowledge and enhance opportunities for careers within the field.

The seven recognized concentrations are as follows:

• Public Policy and Management
• Public Health
• Public Administration
• Homeland Security
• Health Policy and Management
• Forensics
• Fire Service Administration

Careers in Emergency Management

There are a wide variety of practical career applications of the principles and practices learned in an emergency management PhD online following graduation from the program with an online Emergency Management Doctorate. One can learn more about such careers at online PhD programs. Among these are the following potential careers that the student may pursue:

• Emergency Management Specialists
  Emergency Management Specialists coordinate crisis management activities and responses to disaster. This is a high stress and highly rewarding field that pays its specialists an average of $49,350 each year. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the growth outlook for emergency management directors will lead to an increase in employment by about 28.2% through 2012 for employees in the field.
• Emergency Management First Line Managers
  The heads of area disaster management departments oversee the first line responders that handle natural and manmade disasters. These personnel make around $41,690 per year. Their demand is anticipated to grow by as much as 18.3% by 2012.
• Public Safety Directors
  These leaders both plan and deploy crisis management and disaster response activities, as well as design plans for emergencies and training for disaster preparedness. These career professionals average an annual salary of $53,000.
• Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
  Those professionals who design plans for emergencies and train the staff in disaster preparedness make an average annual salary of $54,000.
• Disaster Response Director
  The men and women responsible for dealing with the aftermath of both natural (earthquakes, flood, or hurricanes), technological (hazardous material spills or nuclear plant emergencies), or wartime (terrorism related) disasters do critically important work. These disaster response directors make a $65,000 average salary per year, per the Simply Hired Project’s Statistics.

In the present days of terrorist and rogue nuclear state threats that abound, emergency management is a critically important field. More a calling than a job, protecting the citizens of the United States and the West needs dedicated men and women to pursue it with a passion. It may be high stress, but it proves to be highly rewarding in terms of salary and satisfaction of a critical job well done.