The Overlooked Profession: Why Emergency Management Needs a New Generation of Practitioners

Every year, lists circulate online describing the “top careers” in public safety. They highlight police officers, firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, corrections officers, probation officers, and related professions. These roles are essential and deserve recognition. But something stands out every time you read those lists:

Emergency Management is typically not in the top 10.

It is rarely mentioned. It is not viewed as a frontline career choice. It is not presented to students. It is not listed among the fastest-growing, most impactful, or most needed public safety jobs.

And that is exactly the problem.

Emergency management remains invisible to the general public, under-recognized by career counselors, and misunderstood even within public safety itself. It is often seen as a behind-the-scenes, administrative, or end-of-career role. Yet the responsibilities placed on emergency managers today are more complex, more demanding, and more consequential than ever. Why do we treat it as a second career in the majority of the field?

This profession is not a fallback. It is not a retirement landing pad. It is not a “bonus skill” added to another job.

It is a career. A critical one. And the field urgently needs a new generation of people who recognize it as such.

The Field Is Built on Experience, But Lacks a Pipeline

For decades, emergency management has evolved as a second career path. Someone spent twenty or thirty years in law enforcement, fire, EMS, or the military, and then stepped into emergency management near the end of their service. That model brought valuable experience, but it also created a major gap.

When those individuals retire, entire decades of institutional knowledge leave with them. And because EM has not been developed as a standalone professional pathway, the system is not prepared to replace them.

This is why younger practitioners matter. Not as replacements, but as the next generation who will grow with the field rather than inherit it at the end of a career.

The Disconnect: Emergency Management Isn’t Seen as a “Real” Career Yet

Despite being responsible for the planning, coordination, and leadership behind the largest crises a community can face, emergency management is rarely framed as a viable career for young professionals. Students are told about careers in policing, fire service, paramedicine, and corrections. Colleges highlight criminal justice programs. Career guides point toward predictable pathways.

But almost no one says:

“You should be an emergency manager.”

The result is predictable. Many practitioners fall into the field by accident. Others arrive because they were filling a seat rather than building a profession. And younger professionals who are interested often struggle to find mentors or pathways to grow.

EM is not excluded from top-10 career lists because it lacks importance. It is excluded because the profession has never been properly recognized, defined, and marketed as a foundational part of public safety.

That must change.

Why the Field Needs Early Practitioners—Not Just Experienced Ones

Emergency management is built on expertise, but expertise must start somewhere. Young professionals bring skills that are increasingly necessary for the modern threat environment. They contribute strong technical skills, adaptability, new perspectives, confidence working across multiple disciplines, and the capacity to develop into long-term leaders.

When new practitioners enter the field early, they gain years of experience that compound over time. They learn the operational side, the planning side, the policy side, and the human side of disasters long before stepping into senior roles. They become practitioners, not placeholders.

And most importantly, they carry forward the institutional knowledge that the current generation is working hard to pass down.

Emergency Management Is Not a Seat to Fill

Across my time in emergency management, I’ve seen the consequences of treating EM as a temporary assignment rather than a profession. Many people are placed into roles without proper training, mentorship, or foundational understanding. They are filling availability gaps rather than contributing true capability.

This is not the fault of the individuals. It is the result of a system that has not built an intentional pipeline of practitioners.

Emergency management requires real competency. It requires education, field exposure, and structured development. It requires leaders who are willing to mentor early and consistently. And it requires organizations that understand the difference between a “role filled” and a “practitioner developed.”

I cannot count the number of times I was told, “Just go take some FEMA courses online if you want to get started.”

Professionals looking to become practitioners should not have to search for a roadmap.

What the Profession Needs Next

If we want emergency management to finally be recognized as a core public safety career, not an afterthought, three things must happen.

1. We must introduce the profession earlier. High schools, colleges, and public safety programs should view emergency management as a primary career path, rather than a specialty add-on.

2. Leaders must intentionally mentor younger practitioners. Knowledge-sharing cannot wait until someone is already halfway through another career.

3. The field must stop relying on reactive staffing. We cannot expect excellence from people who were never given the chance to be trained for it.

Emergency management is a profession that shapes how communities prepare, respond to, recover from, and grow after disasters. It deserves recognition. It deserves investment. And it deserves a new generation of practitioners who choose it on purpose.

A Final Thought

Emergency management may not appear on the typical “top 10 public safety careers” lists, but that says more about public awareness than professional value. The truth is simple:

Emergency management is one of the most consequential careers in public safety, and the future of the field depends on the people who enter it now.

• About the Author

  Isaiah La Masters is a public safety and emergency management professional with extensive experience in physical security, critical infrastructure protection, and large-scale emergency preparedness. He is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Red Slice Group, LLC, and has served in multiple roles supporting emergency coordination, training, and exercise at the state and local levels. Isaiah holds an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and Political Science, a Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Public Safety—Homeland Security at Liberty University. Passionate about leadership and organizational resilience, he is committed to strengthening collaboration between agencies, responders, and communities to build a safer, more resilient world.