EVI1003 Emergency Management

Contents and structure

The course provides a introduction to emergency management and gives the participants a solid basis to become able to carry out emergency management related tasks before, during and after accidents, crises and other unexpected incidents. The two following questions are central in the course:

• What is good emergency preparedness planning to be able to manage accidents, crises and other unexpected incidents in an adequate way?
• What is good management and handling of accidents, crises and other unexpected incidents when they occur?

 In this course there will be special focus on principles and methods concerning emergency management related tasks. More precise, the course deals with the Norwegian system of emergency- and crisis management, the structures and tasks of emergency organizations, the assessment and dimension of emergency response arrangements (including the use of risk- and vulnerability analyses and emergency preparedness analyses), preparations and applications of contingency plans, critical factors that influence the management of accidents and crisis (leadership, decision making, coordination, communication, stress etc,), human reactions in crisis situations, organization of psychosocial support for emergency response personell, planning and carrying out training sessions and exercises, and evaluating and learning from training/exercises and incidents/responses.

 

Practical information:

The length of study will be one year of gatherings on a part-time basis. It will be a combination of lectures, discussions, assignments, supervision, and practical exercises. During the two semesters there will be altogether 6 gatherings with a duration of 3 days each. The first 5 gatherings will be in Haugesund at the ¿Høgskolen Stord/Haugesund¿, while the last gathering will be at the ¿Samfunnssikkerhetssenteret¿ in Rogaland outside of Sandnes. The gatherings will mainly contain of lectures on the different topics the course contains of but also discussions and minor group tasks. At the last gathering a whole day will be set off to perform a practical exercise concerning the management of responses. Between the gatherings the students are supposed to work with assignments. The internet-based platform (Fronter) will be used to distribute and exchange information; communication in the study and subject-related discussions among the students and the supervisor. The content of the curriculum contains of ca. 1500 pages. The literature will be mainly in Norwegian, some articles and chapters are in English.

 

The practical exercises are supposed to provide the student with experience in managing realistic accident- and crisis situations, as well as they are supposed to transfer the theoretical knowledge about emergency management into practice. The practical exercises will be executed on one of the days at the last gathering. The participants will be gathered in smaller groups to perform central management tasks on different levels of management systems of an emergency management organization. Several experienced instructors will supervise the exercises and give the participants advice. The participation in the practical exercises is mandatory.

Learning Outcome

The purpose of this course is to prepare the participants to be able to plan and prepare emergency response arrangements that enables persons and organizations to manage accidents, crises and other unexpected incidents in an adequate way, and to manage and lead responses in an adequate and efficiant way  when such incidents occur. The main focus will be on developing the participants' understanding of what makes an adequate emergency response arrangement and good management of responses, as well as an understanding of the connection between emergency planning and adequate management of incidents.

After completing the course the participants are supposed to be educated in following knowledge, skills and general expertise:

-Knowledge:

• Describe and explain the emergency planning process and how risk- and vulnerabilitet analyses and emergency preparedness analyses is used to assess and dimension the emergency response arrangement for accidents, crisis and other unexpected incidets.
• Describe the structure and composition of emergency management organizations and explain how the management organization should function.
• Identify critical factors that affect the management of accidents, crisis and other unexpected incidents, such as decision making, leadership skills, team-work and human interaction, communication, interaction between different actors who cooperate in the operation, and human stress-reactions in crisis situations.
• Describe and explain how to facilitate learning in relation to emergency response work, both in the form of planning carrying out training and excersise activities and in the form of evaluating and follow-up of exercises and incidents/responses.
• Plan the organisation of psychosocial support and care of emergency response personnel after incidents/responses.

 -Skills:

• Apply approved principles and methods for emergency planning to analyze and assess the need of emergency response arrangement for enterprises/areas and to prepare contingency plans to ensure adequate emergency preparedness for those needs.
• Analyze and evaluate responses (based on acknowledged knowledge in the area of emergency management) to assess the adequacy of the management of responses, including recommend possible suggestions for improvement.
• To lead responses on different leadership levels in accordance with approved management systems, including the ability to make decision, communicate and interact with others in stressful situations in operations.

 

-General expertise:

• Acquire knowledge related to emergency management and communicate this in straightforward written form.
• Discuss the need and challenges related to emergency planning, management of accidents and crisis, evaluating/learning, and psychological support after responses.
• Assess and evaluate the adequacy of a good emergency response arrangement to be able to manage accidents, crisis and other unexpected incidents in an adequate way, as a well as being able to assess and evaluate the adequacy of a good management performance in case of such events.

Entry requirements

None

Recommended previous knowledge

None

Teaching methods

Lectures, discussions, assignments, supervision, and practical exersices.

Compulsory learning activities

Participation on one day with practical exercises.

Assessment

Three projects throughout the course, in addition to a final take-home exam.

The three projects focus on the following:

1. Emergency response planning (group work, counts 25 % of the grade).
2. Analysis of a major emergency response (group work, counts 25 % of the grade).
3. Learning in emergency response work (individual work, counts 20 % of the grade).

The take-home exam have a duration on 3 days (individual work, counts 30 % of the grade).

Examination support material

All

More about examination support material