Emergency management is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a discipline that involves preparing, supporting, and rebuilding society when natural or human-made disasters occur. Similar, it is the continuous process by which all individuals, groups, and communities manage hazards in an effort to avoid, or better the impact of disasters resulting from the various hazards. In fact, “emergency management is a relatively new field but one that can call upon an 88-year tradition of scholarship and research” (Alexnder, 2008). In “emergency management and homeland security curricula: contexts, cultures, and constraints,” professors Thomas E. Drabek and John Evans discuss the evolution of emergency management (Drabek & Evans, 2007, pg. 1). Drabek & Evans (2007) believe the academic side of “emergency management has become more professionalized” (Drabek & Evans, 2007, pg. 3). Professors Drabek and Evans describe how programs have been developed in high education to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills required of emergency manager. With that said, emergency management has taken an enormous transformation since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the United States. Professors Drabek and Evans point out three key factors such as governmental influence, the development of the Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental agencies that has brought a “bureaucratic buffet” to emergency management planners (Drabek & Evans, 2007, pg. 5). On the other hand, the relevance of academic knowledge to the practice of emergency management is more evident with the emerging new role of emergency managers (Woodbury, 2005, p.82). Leaders in the field of emergency management need to know the science behind the threats, the potential, and operational consequences when hazards manifest themselves. Emergency managers “must have the tools and education to argue for preventive policies regardless of the near-term
