Everyone remembers the noise and disruption associated with a school fire drill. For some of us who were around before the Internet, we remember the “duck and cover” drills that came when air raid sirens sounded.
Today’s students and teachers, however, need training for other emergency situations. This type of training is designed to keep people safe and alive.
Campus Shootings Heighten the Need for Emergency Plans
Emergency management training can help all institutions of higher learning react properly to domestic and international terror threats. Recent, highly publicized campus shootings have heightened the need for advance planning to address emergencies when they arise. Schools have invested in security training, and all teachers must learn safety procedures to keep themselves and their students safe.
Unlike a fire drill in which the goal is to get out of danger quickly and safely, emergency management training means finding the safest way to handle on-campus threats such as active shooters. This kind of training and its associated drills foster an awareness of these dangers and highlight the need to make emergency training more common on campus.
Training needs to cover multiple situations, where potential victims may need to make decisions based upon only partial information. Campus shootings and terrorist tactics call for programs and training that are not only adaptable, but can also address evolving threats on campus.
In the case of an active shooter on campus, for example, students and teachers might not have to leave the area as in a fire drill. Taking emergency action might mean taking cover and hiding in place until help arrives.
Emergency Training Professionals in Increased Demand
More and more educational institutions are engaging experts who can offer life-saving methods to address these new and different threats. The field of emergency management has expanded and the need to routinely update training has made this field a growth area of employment.
Furthermore, the importance of the field for good career opportunities is increasingly apparent as students are exposed to emergency drills and plans. When people are involved as part of a solid emergency plan, it breeds confidence in the safety and security of the educational institution. Drills can help instill the sense of safety that some people have lost in different institutions due to recent campus and workplace shootings.
To meet the demand, more universities now offer emergency training courses and degrees. Although emergency management was once considered a static career field, the emergence of new threats led to a re-examination of this field. As society becomes more complex, emergency management will grow and expand to meet and address new dangers in the world.
In the end, emergency management training is not only an interesting area of study, it gives people the opportunity to make a positive contribution to society.
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