Ironraven;

I work for a three county Health Department. For the first couple of years the Emergency Preparedness section was run by first a grant writer/administrator (with a double bachelors degree- i. e. professional student) then by a Registered Nurse. It seems as though they were having trouble "coordinating" with Police, Fire, EMS, and other emergency service partners. It seems they couldn't "speak the language" of our partners nor were they interested in learning.

I came into the job with a background in Law Enforcement (20+ years as a cop) and communications (911 Dispatcher/Certified EMD) and I understood the concept of 'emergency operations'. Within a few months I had agreements set and fences mended. Now it is a matter of applying common sense to outrageous demands (planning around state and federal requirements). I do however love every minute of it. I was a "survivalist" in the 70's and 80's and found that Emergency Preparedness was a great way to get into the real world planning necessary to actually have an effect on other folks lives.

At first we had a strict focus on "Bioterrorism" but lately (post-Katrina) we have taken an All Hazards approach which seems to better incorporate the needs of our communities. The key is to be useful and let folks know you are there.

Good luck.

well in my country things are set up diffrently, the firedeparment is the primairy emergency service during an disaster. I'm currently employed by the regional firedepartment. I'm currently assiting the training of officers and preparing the firedepartment emergency centre for major events.

But when compairing mine job with ets, it has very little to do with each other. ALthough we do have to be equipped for those who aren't.