PART 2 Harmony during Havoc: The Distinct Paths of Emergency and Crisis Management

The response to a disruption may be similar, but the roles of Emergency Management and Crisis Management can become uniquely their own, each articulating the strengths of both fields and the communities they represent. This is part 2 in the series comparing Emergency Management and Crisis Management. In Part 1 we reviewed how the 2 fields overlap and at times mirror each other, but now it’s time we examine how they can differ. Some may argue they are the same job and it’s simple semantics, others may draw the gap a bit wider. Let’s dive into a few of the areas where the two fields may stray farther apart.

Scope, Size, and Scale

?This is the area (no pun intended) that I think the two fields may differ the most. Emergency Management, for the most part, is tied to a geographic area as it tends to be more public sector facing. City, County, and State Emergency Management agencies arguably make up most of the public sector Emergency Management representation, although I don’t have a credible source to back that claim up. However, with that assumption in mind, there are geographic boundaries in place for Emergency Management, and these agencies represent and are responsible for everyone inside them. On the contrary, Crisis Management, these boundaries can vary widely and in some cases can expand across state lines, countries, and around the globe. Let’s take McDonald’s for example, they have over 40,000 locations in 118 countries . This means a Crisis Manager at McDonalds could be dealing with more international conflict than all the countries in NATO and the European Union combined. Perhaps world peace could come in the form of free nuggets and fries. Joking aside, this shows how big the scope and reach of crisis management can be.

?Community

The communities that Emergency Management and Crisis Management are responsible for serving are going to contrast as well. Going back to the assumption that largely speaking Emergency Management is public sector facing, they are responsible for the general public in their jurisdiction. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you work, or what you do, an Emergency Manager is there to help all who are affected by an incident. This is where the duty to act for Crisis Management can become limited. Crisis Managers hired on by a private organization is there to prepare, respond, and recover from incidents that disrupt the business operations of that entity. Their primary focus is going to be on company employees, assets, data, and customers. If there is a large fire in an apartment building in a downtown area but doesn’t spread to the office next door, that crisis manager isn’t going to have the same duty to act as the local Emergency Manager. That EM is not going to have a choice on whether they want to deal with that incident, if it happens in your jurisdiction, it’s yours!

Resources

Not only will resources look a bit different between the two fields, but also the way we get them is also widely different. The biggest distinction is going to be grants. In crisis management you’re able to perform all the functions of Emergency Management but without having to deal with applying to grants!! (no offense to my grant managers and writers, I appreciate you all) Now, although Crisis Managers don’t have to apply for grants, we still have to request money in an operating budget, but I’ll take the latter any day. Private sector entities are going to want to spend money and make investments in technology and resources that are going to protect their businesses. This also goes back to the scope of private organizations that have a presence all over the country and world, it’s going to take a lot of investment to manage the risk that comes with that footprint.

Now, the above 3 points are what comes to mind when I think of the most stark differences between the two fields. However, there is so much more to discuss such as: pay scales, work from home eligibility, career growth, community outreach, and more. However, I think with the above points it can be clear that there are differences in the fields. Are the differences big enough to separate them into two different professions, or are they just sub categories of a greater resilience type work category. In part 3 of the series, we’ll take about how the two fields can use their overlap and differences to work together in the most effective way.