Option 3: Volunteer – The biggest thing I credit for motivating me in this career is helping people. I was originally slated to be an aerospace engineer. How did I end up in emergency management? I fortuitously volunteered with the American Red Cross while I was in college. I saw a house fire here and a tornado touchdown there. I spent two weeks during one summer break-driving an emergency response vehicle (ERV) through flooded towns in Pennsylvania. These experiences changed my life. Not only did I change my career path, I gained a full appreciation for what I was doing: helping survivors.
Many states have what are called “disaster leave laws” for public employees. As an employee at a Florida public university, I can take up to three weeks of administrative leave to go serve on an American Red Cross disaster response operation anywhere in the United States. Even if such a law doesn’t apply to you, see if your institution will support such an activity. Use personal leave if necessary to invest in your career. Organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Adventist Community Services, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Disaster Response, Samaritan’s Purse, Southern Disaster Response and United Methodist Committee on Relief are just some of the organizations that would love to have you.
Option 4 – Debrief. If for some reason, options 1, 2 or 3 don’t work for you, at least take the time to sit down and chat with someone who has taken advantage of one or all of these opportunities. Look at their photos, hear their stories and relive their experience. Not only does this give you a chance to learn from them, it gives them another opportunity to vent. It’s a form of therapy for responders to be able to tell their story and share their experiences. Again, a win-win.
The most valuable commodity in the emergency management profession is field experience. Sometimes you just have to go out and find some if it doesn’t come to you.
Dave Bujak is the emergency management coordinator for Florida State University.
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Note: The views expressed by guest bloggers and contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Campus Safety magazine.
