Emergency Management SME's

Started by James Shaw, December 26, 2017, 09:37:16 PM

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James Shaw

As I start putting my material together for class I need to create some "Generic" questions to spark discussion. These discussions are not graded but just a way to get the student to start thinking about the various applications of the class materials.

All things considered equal and strictly referencing Emergency Services:

1)   Eliminate the Cadet Program
2)   Eliminate Aerospace Education

Please review the following websites for basic information.

https://www.capmembers.com/emergency_services/

http://cgaux.org/

Q) Do you feel that CAP or the USCGAux would have more direct and specific opportunities strictly related to Emergency Services?

Q) Would a "new member" have a faster route to direct participation in Emergency Response through the CAP or USCGAux?

Q) Do you feel that volunteer work/experience is relevant to a full time position in the field of Emergency Management?

Feedback appreciated.
Jim Shaw
USN: 1987-1992
GANG: 1996-1998
CAP:2000 - Current
USCGA:2018 - Current
SGAUS: 2017 - Current

grunt82abn

1) If the training is to national standards, I don't see why CAP or USCGA shouldn't have more opportunities to participate. Plus I would think you would need to incorporate a plan and regulations that would support gaining nationally recognized certifications. Don't think this will happen because of liability issues, but you never know. 

2) Most big Critical incidents are managed by full-time emergency services agencies, but CAP could allow a person enough to start leading into the EM field.

3) Depends in which specific field. Hobbyists get the basic training that usually leads to professional employment as a firefighter, so I don't see why CAP or the USCGA couldn't lead into a EM field, but it would take school and training beyond CAP/USCGA.

This is just my humble opinion as a federal firefighter paramedic. I am positive there are more people on here with better insight into what is needed to bring CAP into the professional arena.


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Sean Riley, TSGT
US Army 1987 to 1994, WIARNG 1994 to 2008
DoD Firefighter Paramedic 2000 to Present

Holding Pattern

1. At their current status levels and depending on your location, chances are USCGA will give you more EM opportunities.
2. USCGA
3. I think it is a good stepping stone that shows someone has thought through the basics and has taken appropriate courses to learn what they are getting into.

Ideally I believe that the opportunities should be equal. That being said, after 5 years of laying the groundwork my squadron MIGHT be truly GES capable this coming year, but more likely next year (as in, someone our local legal authority would bother calling in a SAR event along with the other active SAR teams in the area.)

Some of this has been due to wing politics, some due to an original lack of interest, and some just due to me not knowing enough to ask the right questions at the right time.

isuhawkeye

My career is in the Emergency Management Field.  I spent several years in the Preparedness bureau and as an operations officer with my state's Homeland Security and Emergency Management office.  My CAP experience was a significant part of my resume when I was hired by this agency.  My time in CAP helped me not only build skills and experiences that helped me get my job, but the networking that I experienced by being an Incident Commander and Liaison helped me become a known commodity within the industry. 

I would be happy to talk with anyone about career opportunities in the field. message me anytime. 

TheSkyHornet

1.) I think Coast Guard Aux will have more real-world Emergency Services missions on an actual SAR/Missing Person level, than the "random ELT" that goes off in a barn. I'd bet CAP trains much more, but the CG Aux has a much smaller range in ES missions than CAP. That said, CAP will have more opportunities overall because there are so many different categories to train in and "teams" to be a part of. Beggers vs. choosers.

2.) Real-world or training? Consider the location (i.e., Nevada will probably have less CG Aux participation than Missouri).

3.) Formal training and a "real job" will always overshadow volunteerism.


Comparing the CG Aux to CAP---very different organizations, albeit both Armed Forces auxiliaries.


I don't think there's enough detail in this thread to understand what exactly the intent of this discussion is. Are you preparing to further address something in CAP or is this something you're taking outside of CAP? If internal to CAP, maybe talk about the role of the CG Aux, but I wouldn't get too deep into the benefits of being a member of one versus the other.

James Shaw

Quote from: TheSkyHornet on December 28, 2017, 08:45:55 PM
I don't think there's enough detail in this thread to understand what exactly the intent of this discussion is. Are you preparing to further address something in CAP or is this something you're taking outside of CAP? If internal to CAP, maybe talk about the role of the CG Aux, but I wouldn't get too deep into the benefits of being a member of one versus the other.

These are generalized questions for a class I will be teaching next term at Waldorf University. I teach as an Adjunct Professor for the Emergency Management Undergraduate program online. The class is EMG3000 Introduction to Emergency Management. I am going to include these as 'Non-graded Discussion/Research". It is intended to get the students to look at Emergency Management from different perspectives.

I put them on CAPTalk to get a different viewpoint other than my own. I am not saying one is better than the other, I want the students to give me their thoughts on both. They do not have to say one is better than the other. 
Jim Shaw
USN: 1987-1992
GANG: 1996-1998
CAP:2000 - Current
USCGA:2018 - Current
SGAUS: 2017 - Current

grunt82abn

These should work decent for an online class. Several of my professors over the years have used discussions to provoke thinking versus answering pat questions found in a text book. One of my best classes was on Wildland Urban Interface and had discussions based on questions that were used to engage the students from different areas: structural, wildland, and the ecologists in the class.


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Sean Riley, TSGT
US Army 1987 to 1994, WIARNG 1994 to 2008
DoD Firefighter Paramedic 2000 to Present

Live2Learn

Quote from: capsafetyhibernation on December 26, 2017, 09:37:16 PM
As I start putting my material together for class I need to create some "Generic" questions to spark discussion. These discussions are not graded but just a way to get the student to start thinking about the various applications of the class materials.

All things considered equal and strictly referencing Emergency Services:

1)   Eliminate the Cadet Program
2)   Eliminate Aerospace Education

Please review the following websites for basic information.

https://www.capmembers.com/emergency_services/

http://cgaux.org/

Q) Do you feel that CAP or the USCGAux would have more direct and specific opportunities strictly related to Emergency Services?

Q) Would a "new member" have a faster route to direct participation in Emergency Response through the CAP or USCGAux?

Q) Do you feel that volunteer work/experience is relevant to a full time position in the field of Emergency Management?

Feedback appreciated.

It's unclear to me how much background you will provide your students so they can carryon an intelligent, knowledge based conversation.  For example, why USGAux vs CAP?  Are they the only shows in town w/ regard to EMS volunteers?  What about the Sheriff's posse as it operates in many western states, i.e. looking for the misplaced and missing?  Is your course Federal centric?  There are a lot of nuances to CAP vs USCGAux membership, as there are to the SM, Cadet, and other programs.  Do you discuss locational issues (i.e. the distributed nature of CAP vs. the perhaps water centric nature of USCGAux?)? 

Armed with a superficial understanding you might not get much in the way of creating thoughtful conversation.


James Shaw

Quote from: Live2Learn on December 28, 2017, 11:09:04 PM
It's unclear to me how much background you will provide your students so they can carryon an intelligent, knowledge based conversation.  For example, why USGAux vs CAP?  Are they the only shows in town w/ regard to EMS volunteers?  What about the Sheriff's posse as it operates in many western states, i.e. looking for the misplaced and missing?  Is your course Federal centric?  There are a lot of nuances to CAP vs USCGAux membership, as there are to the SM, Cadet, and other programs.  Do you discuss locational issues (i.e. the distributed nature of CAP vs. the perhaps water centric nature of USCGAux?)? 

Armed with a superficial understanding you might not get much in the way of creating thoughtful conversation.

Your response is kind of what I would be looking for from the student.
Jim Shaw
USN: 1987-1992
GANG: 1996-1998
CAP:2000 - Current
USCGA:2018 - Current
SGAUS: 2017 - Current

sarmed1

1-I assume you mean as far as the EM mission goes.  Since many places across the US still rely on volunteer fire and EMS agencies (or combination departments) they are still a prime entry point to the land of emergency services in the broader picture.  Include if you want things like volunteer SAR teams as well.  Where CAP/CGAux  have their own "missions" these rarely see the light of day as far as the rest of the ES community, which keeps them out of the loop when it comes to EM needs at the local level.  CAP may participate in just as many "missions" as the local SAR team, just the local team gets the news coverage, or is better known to the local ES community, because their mission likely started with a police, fire or EMS response.  As far as the EM side of missions: that is again a very local level thing.  CAP is often a desk at the EOC, but very rarely an actual player.

2-Yes, to a certain level if EM is where they want to be.  Locally, other than a handful of employees, our EMA "pulls" SME's from the local area to man things such as the EOC (the SME's volunteer to support the EMA needs) and otherwise uses NGO to provide the services it needs, ie Red Cross, local fire and EMS agencies, REACT etc etc.  So in essence if the want to do EM, they would have to join one of those other agencies, then volunteer to support the EMA mission (after becoming an "expert" in that agencies mission)

3-Yes, very important.  Again most EMA's are minimally staffed as far as dedicated employees go, the only way to have relevant "experience" in the EM field is to either volunteer of have some other "per diem" type of job in the field.  (and there are likely many, many, more volunteer opportunities vs paid ones, even part time)

MK
Capt.  Mark "K12" Kleibscheidel

Geber

The EM role that comes to mind first for CAP is aircraft or distress beacon related SAR. In my area such missions are few and far between. CAP policy allows for assisting other agencies, but the training provided by SAR would really only cover general SAR (no beacon or aircraft involved, no special skills such as high-angle or swift water). Policy would also let CAP assist other agencies as a general labor force, carrying sandbags and that sort of thing.

A quick skim of the USCGAux site doesn't seem to include providing assistance to other agencies as a general labor force, so perhaps CAP could participate in a greater number of incidents if we did a good job of marketing ourselves to local and state agencies. Not to mention CAP appears to have a greater geographic distribution.

As for CAP activities leading to a career, cadet-age people seeking an edge when applying to an EM college program would probably be best off volunteering for their local volunteer fire department or EMS agency if they live in a rural or suburban area. Since these opportunities may not exist in more urban areas, CAP could be a good choice for urban cadet-age people.