The essential skill set of a resilient emergency manager

Jenna Tyler, MS; Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, PhD

doi:10.5055/jem.2019.0395

Authors

Jenna Tyler, MS
Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2019.0395

Keywords:

resilient emergency manager, effective emergency manager, emergency management, skills, competencies

Abstract

The broadened mission of emergency management has required emergency managers to develop and maintain a diverse and evolving set of skills and competencies. While several scholars and practitioners have offered guidance on the skills, competencies, and education needed to be an effective emergency manager, there are other equally important characteristics of an effective emergency manager that have received relatively less attention in the emergency management literature. This article seeks to provide a more comprehensive list of the characteristics of an effective emergency manager by introducing the notion of the resilient emergency manager. A resilient emergency manager is someone who is able to adapt to changing conditions, make agile decisions, function interoperably, mobilize resources, scale programs, policies, and procedures, develop robust collaborative networks, and build redundant emergency management systems. This article concludes with a discussion on how to build and sustain the essential skill set of a resilient emergency manager.

Author Biographies

Jenna Tyler, MS

Doctoral Student, School of Public Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, PhD

Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

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