New Course: Emergency Management, HCA 705

In this innovative new online emergency management course, YOU are the manager of a simulated emergency. Every choice you make influences the range of decisions that you can make later on in the course. First off, you must staff a team of experts to manage your emergency – whom do you choose?

Take your emergency management skills out of the theoretical realm, and apply your knowledge in a simulated emergency – and cope with the consequences of your decisions, just like in a real-life scenario.

Program Director Matt Kaszubinski gives the details.

What makes this new online emergency management course outstanding?

It’s a chess game of disaster and response. Students are grouped into management teams at the beginning of the course, and the decisions that are made at the beginning of the course follow the student throughout the rest of the course.

Right away, students are making decisions about communications, supply chain, etc. Being able to apply their theoretical knowledge in a simulation and then creating an after-action report allows for a great deal of reflection – and by examining their decision-making process, students learn from their mistakes differently.

The course software tracks the choices made by each group. Among learning design experts, this is known as a type of sophisticated branching scenario. The simulated emergency provides a direct context for the content students are learning each week – in a safe environment.

Students will also be certified in five FEMA competencies by the end of the course, which is a great resume-enhancer. 

Is emergency management going to be offered as an interprofessional elective option?

Yes, anyone in CGPS will be able to take this course as an elective. There are no prerequisites. The course functions as an introduction to the concept of emergency management.

It has been specifically designed to be integrated with other programs as a multidisciplinary accreditation requirement. This allows CGPS to adapt the course in the future.

Is the use of branching scenarios common?

There is a great deal of peer-reviewed information in the literature about the efficacy of and increased student engagement with branching scenarios and simulations in graduate education settings, particularly in the health sciences. Two examples that reinforce these principles are: Perceived Impact of Virtual Scenario-Based Branching Simulations Among Radiology Program Students, and Nursing students’ perceptions towards branching path simulation as an effective interactive learning method.

There is also a very keen interest, especially during COVID times, to develop simulations in learning experiences, not to replace real clinical experiences but to augment them. This new Emergency Management course is by no means the first time we’ve developed something like this for our courses, but it is unique in its depth/complexity and in that it is woven throughout the length of the course.

In which FEMA competencies will the student be certified by the end of the course?

IS-230.D: Fundamentals of Emergency Management

The goal of this course is to introduce you to the fundamentals of emergency management. This course presents emergency management as an integrated system with resources and capabilities networked together to address all hazards. This is the first course in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute’s independent study Professional Development Series.

IS-800.D: National Response Framework, An Introduction

The goal of the IS-0800.d, National Response Framework, An Introduction, is to provide guidance for the whole community. Within this broad audience, the National Response Framework focuses especially on those who are involved in delivering and applying the response core capabilities.

IS-240.B: Leadership and Influence

Being able to lead others—to motivate them and commit their energies and expertise to achieve the shared mission and goals of the emergency management system—is a necessary and vital part of every emergency manager’s, planner’s, and responder’s job. The goal of this course is to improve leadership and influence skills.

IS-700.B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System

This course provides an overview of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The National Incident Management System defines the comprehensive approach guiding the whole community—all levels of government, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and the private sector—to work together seamlessly to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the effects of incidents. The course provides learners with a basic understanding of NIMS concepts, principles, and components.

IS-100.C: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100

ICS 100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher-level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Why do you use FEMA competencies?

FEMA competencies are the playbook of federal response, and are goldmines of information. The competencies taught within them are the fundamentals of organization and leadership, which are foundational to this course. In addition, these skills are what FEMA requires of their staff. We produce graduates who are ready to step into those FEMA roles.

Is HCA 705 a core course or an elective?

Emergency Management is only a core course for students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management. For all other students, it can be taken as an elective.

Is this online emergency management course a resume-booster?

Students have the opportunity to walk away from this course with five separate credentials when they complete a FEMA competency. For each FEMA course, the student earns a certificate of completion, which looks great on a resume.

In addition, if you need Continuing Education (CE) credits for your job, each certificate is worth a certain amount of CE credits. You can achieve two goals at once!

If you are interested in registering for Emergency Management, HCA 705:

• Accepted students should reach out to their student support specialist to add it as an elective.
• Those looking to register for an individual course without enrolling in a program can do so here.
• Those curious about the Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management can:

Learn more about our healthcare-related graduate certificates