TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A new degree at Tallahassee State College is aiming to train students to respond, prepare and recover from emergencies and disasters. <\/p>\n
The Associate of Science degree in Emergency Administration and Management will \u201cequip students with the knowledge and practical skills needed to serve in frontline and leadership roles across emergency management, public safety, homeland security, and related fields,\u201d according to the college. <\/p>\n
More Tallahassee news:<\/p>\n
The new EMA program will begin this fall. Dr. Nick Vick, the Dean of Applied Sciences and Technology at TCS, says the degree will expand the workforce. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe need for skilled professionals who can lead during crises will only continue to grow,\u201d Vick said. \u201cThis new degree program will prepare the next generation of emergency management leaders to respond with confidence and guide organizations and communities through recovery.\u201d <\/p>\n
Local leaders like Taylor County EMA Director Danny Glover said the need is great, especially in rural areas that are not always equipped to handle major disasters. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know our world is changing fast; it\u2019s a very fast pace. We have to be adaptable, you better be very flexible, especially in emergency management cause things can change very fast, you can go from blue skies to gray skies,\u201d Glover said. \u201cYou have a lot of people\u2019s lives, individual lives in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
The degree at TSC could also potentially fill a local need in Wakulla County. EMA Director Jennifer Nagy shared that on any given day, it\u2019s just her and one other person on staff. In the case of an emergency, that number quickly rises to about 60 people or more.<\/p>\n
\u201cEMA departments are small, they really are, as far as training staff that can actually, day to day, do all of the required planning because that\u2019s the other piece, it\u2019s not when a disaster happens that we need to do the planning … we need to do all of that before,\u201d Nagy said. <\/p>\n
She stated that the program is a game-changer. If more students choose EMA as their career choice, it could lighten the load and advance resources in our communities <\/p>\n
\u201cPublic health emergencies, and even in this day and age, especially cyber security threats and infrastructure disruption, so you know the need for trained emergency management professionals just continues to grow,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
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