National Emergency Management Awareness Month - August 2025

09/04/2025

The first National Emergency Management Awareness Month (NEMAM) was truly a success. We are very proud of what we accomplished together. None of it would have been possible without your participation!

Throughout August, we elevated the voices of emergency managers, showcased the critical work being done in every community, and strengthened the connections that define our profession.

Thank you to everyone who participated by hosting events, sharing stories, or engaging with leaders. Your contributions helped lay the foundation for what we know will become a lasting tradition.

Explore our StoryMap and this dashboard that showcases the participation that was captured.
🔹 StoryMap: https://loom.ly/1KoTJVE
🔹 Dashboard: https://loom.ly/GNED0Jg

NEMAM has shown that while the challenges we face are complex, our capacity for collaboration and resilience is even greater. Together, we are building stronger communities and a stronger profession.

09/02/2025

In August, we raised awareness about the role of emergency management in creating safer and stronger communities. Awareness is essential, but it is only the beginning. September is National Preparedness Month, and this year’s theme is "Preparedness Starts at Home."

Preparedness means turning awareness into action. When individuals and families take simple steps like knowing their risks, making a plan, creating a kit, and staying engaged with their community, they strengthen the foundation that emergency managers build on when it matters most.

Let's carry the awareness we built in August into year-round action. Resources to help you get started are available through FEMA's Ready campaign: https://loom.ly/HonxTzw

National Preparedness Month (NPM) is recognized each September to promote family and community disaster planning now and throughout the year. FEMA’s Ready Campaign has observed National Preparedness Month since 2004 to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies. The month is a great time to ta...

08/29/2025

As August and National Emergency Management Awareness Month come to an end, we’re celebrating the incredible partners who make emergency management possible.

Emergency management is a team effort. From fire and police departments, hospitals, and schools to public health agencies, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and volunteer groups, each partner plays a crucial role in preparing, responding to, and helping communities recover from disasters.

Every partnership is unique, and every partner matters. Whether it’s a school, a hospital, a local government office, or a volunteer group, collaboration is what makes our communities safer and more resilient.

Who helps your team succeed in emergency management? Tag them or give them a shoutout in the comments. Let’s celebrate the people and organizations that make a real difference—and end National Emergency Management Awareness Month by recognizing the power of working together.

08/27/2025

Why am I an emergency manager?

Vincent Holman, Sr., Civilian Deputy Surgeon with U.S. Army Pacific, shares what inspired him to pursue a career in emergency management:

"I was exposed to emergency management during a fellowship while on active duty. It provided me a front row seat, boots on the ground experience with emergencies and disasters that the National Disaster Medical System responded to during September 1999 to September 2000."

Learn more about National Emergency Management Awareness Month: https://loom.ly/5RIeI8U

08/26/2025

Mitigation in Action

When disasters strike, the best outcome is damage that never happens. That is the power of mitigation.

Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters before they happen. It can take many forms: stronger building codes, property buyouts, floodwalls, seawalls, safe rooms, or even turning high-risk land into green space. These projects save lives, protect infrastructure, and reduce costs for future disasters.

Across the country, emergency managers are leading efforts that show the measurable value of mitigation.

In Miami, Florida, raising the seawall along Biscayne Bay protected the city’s only hospital during Hurricane Irma, allowing lifesaving care to continue even as the city evacuated.

In Galveston, Texas, a program of property buyouts and home elevations reduced damage during Hurricane Ike, while newly created green space absorbed storm surge and protected surrounding neighborhoods.

In Grand Forks, South Dakota, after devastating floods in 1997, more than 800 flood-prone homes were purchased, and a new floodwall system was built. Since then, the community has withstood multiple flood events with dramatically reduced losses.

From safe rooms and floodplain management to preparedness training and community partnerships, mitigation is shaping safer futures.

How has your community put mitigation into action? Share your story with us for National Emergency Management Awareness Month.

International Association of Emergency Managers

08/25/2025

Hospitals can’t close their doors when disaster strikes. That is when emergency managers step in.

For Rebekah Reynosa, CEM, Manager of Emergency Management & Business Continuity at Penn State Health, preparedness means ensuring hospital staff are ready for the unexpected. From cyberattacks and utility failures to patient surges and infectious disease outbreaks, she ensures teams understand their roles and can continue providing lifesaving care.

Rebekah’s career began with a love of studying disasters and grew through EMS, mentorship, and advanced training. Today, she leads planning and exercises that strengthen healthcare resilience and demonstrates that emergency management is essential far beyond government agencies.

🔹 Why do you think emergency management matters?

"What we do matters because the worst will happen, and on that worst day, the things we've put into place and the training we've done – it could save lives. It matters. I always hope that my job is obsolete – that nothing bad will happen, so none of the training or education I do with the hospital teams will be needed. But that's not the world we live in, and on that bad day, I want my staff to rely on the things they have been taught so that they can continue to provide the best patient care even in the face of disasters."

🔹 I describe my job to people outside the field as _________.

"Disaster preparedness. I tell people that I work for the hospital - planning and training for all sorts of possibilities (utility failure, cyberattack, surge of patients, Ebola). It's my job to make sure the staff are ready and understand their roles. Plus, I have to help the hospital stay accredited – and there's a lot of performance metrics and regulations we must meet to do that!"

🔹 One misconception about emergency management I wish more people understood is ________.

"There are SO MANY fields and so many ways you can be an emergency manager. Local/government or FEMA are not the only ways you can get into EM. I have worked in the healthcare sector for 10 years, and it is vastly different than jurisdictional EM. You can work in private industry, banking, utilities/power, schools, and higher ed. The potential or field that an EM can work in is vast – EVERYONE NEEDS US!"

Learn more about National Emergency Management Preparedness Month: https://www.iaem.org/KnowYourEM

08/22/2025

📸 Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of an Emergency Manager

What does emergency management look like day-to-day? It can involve everything from preparedness exercises and community events to coordinating with partners, engaging the public, and ensuring operations can continue during any incident. These photos offer a glimpse into the many responsibilities of Brandon Larson, AEM, Director of Vernon County Emergency Management, and the crucial role emergency management plays in keeping his community and others like it safe.

Now, it's your turn. Share your own photos that capture emergency management in action and join us in showcasing the work that you do every day.

International Association of Emergency Managers

08/22/2025

Go behind the scenes with Miami Beach as they tour their Emergency Operations Center!

08/22/2025

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐞𝐭!

There are 10 days remaining in National Emergency Management Awareness Month, and thanks to you, the engagement has been remarkable!

Together, here is the impact you've helped us achieve this August on social media through IAEM's official social channels:
🔹1,700+ new followers on IAEM social media.
🔹177,800+ impressions on Awareness Month social content.
🔹800+ shares expanding our reach.
🔹165,850+ views on our launch video.

These numbers don't capture the influence of your personal social media campaigns.

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠:

1. Post and share using , , . Remember to tag IAEM!
2. Share the activities your team has hosted by filling out this quick form - https://tinyurl.com/2azkmkj6.
3. Review our resources available here. - https://tinyurl.com/37xkrtuk

08/22/2025

During an emergency, your local emergency management agency is working behind the scenes to keep your community safe.

08/22/2025

Preparedness is Built—Not Born.
It’s Achieved Through Training and Dedication.

Emergency managers don’t just show up ready—we train regularly to be ready. Becoming an Emergency Manager means completing a rigorous path of education, experience, and professional development.

📘 From day one, we dive into foundational courses through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI), including:
• ICS-100/200/300/400: Mastering the Incident Command System to coordinate complex emergency responses
• IS-700/800: Understanding the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and National Response Framework (NRF) for seamless collaboration

But that’s just the start. Emergency managers also undergo specialized training in:
• Planning for all-hazards scenarios
• Exercises to test and improve response capabilities
• Recovery strategies to rebuild communities
• Mitigation techniques to reduce future risks
• Weather and hazard-specific courses to prepare for everything from hurricanes to hazardous materials

✅ Why does it matter? Because when disaster strikes, certified emergency managers ensure that every responder—from local to federal—is speaking the same language and working toward the same goal: protecting lives and restoring communities.

National Emergency Management Awareness Month - August 2025

08/21/2025

From planning and preparedness to response and recovery, emergency management touches every stage of disaster. But it’s not always well understood.

That’s why we asked: What do you want more people to understand about emergency management?

Here's what emergency managers shared with us:

🔹 "Emergency management is about quiet, steady leadership that makes the worst days a little less bad — and the best days safer for everyone."

🔹 "Emergency management is more than being a face during a disaster. There's a lot of planning beforehand, the effort to help build up a community's preparedness capability, and the dedication afterwards in order to help pick up the pieces that they handle on a day-to-day basis. Emergency management may look like an office job; however, they are on call on a regular basis, for disasters aren't working that 9-5 effort either."

🔹 "Too often, people only notice emergency managers when something goes wrong — a storm hits, a building is evacuated, or an alert goes out. But the real heart of emergency management happens before and after the headlines: Mitigation reduces the damage disasters can cause. Planning and training prepare people and systems to respond effectively. Recovery coordination helps rebuild lives, not just infrastructure. Partnerships build trust and resilience long before an emergency."

Join the discussion in the comments. Share your thoughts!