CHAPEL HILL – As lessons from Hurricane Katrina continue to unfold, the University of North Carolina’s School of Public Health is helping prepare officials to better manage the next disasters more effectively.
The UNC Board of Governors has approved a graduate program in disaster management. The curriculum, which will be developed and administered by the School of Public Health’s department of health policy and administration, will lead to a Master of Science in Disaster Management.
The program is expected to begin admitting students for classes which are expected to begin this December, contingent upon approval of operating funds.
“This is an important step in educating and training a group of emergency professionals and leaders who are going to need better analytical, critical thinking and managerial skills in order to respond to the kinds of catastrophic disasters we have seen in the past and will see in the future,” said Peggy Leatt, PhD, chair of the department. “As a leader in health policy and administration, we see this program as a natural extension of the work that we are currently doing, which is training the health leaders of tomorrow.”
Disaster management is quickly becoming an important discipline of study as the lessons of Katrina have demonstrated the need for better planning, coordination and delivery of services to vulnerable populations. In addition, the multiple threats of large-scale nuclear, biological, radiological, and weather hazards have prompted increased awareness and concern at all levels of government, which has in turn led to more rigorous research and study of disaster management.
“I think you’re going to see an even greater interest in the near future, especially if we are once again faced with calamitous events and we don’t have the executive leadership or disaster management training to deal with these kinds of catastrophes,” said Jim Porto, PhD, director of the program. “In this country, emergency personnel at the local and state levels are very well-trained to respond to a variety of different situations of limited scope. But if and when a catastrophic event occurs, such as was the case with Katrina or 9/11, a different and complex set of dynamics occur that threaten all of our usual operations. Large-scale disasters require a very different set of critical thinking and systems in order to lessen the human suffering and physical damage.”
The disaster management program will offer 60 credit hours of curriculum, which will include classes in the science of disasters, public decision making, function and organization of disaster management systems, public health and environmental disasters, and disaster management and leadership. The primary format to be used will be distance learning, with the majority of classes offered online. The department expects to enroll about 35 students a year.
The primary target audience for the program will be professionals who are currently working in various disaster-related fields, such as fire, law enforcement, emergency management, veterinary medicine, allied health, emergency medical services, the military and public health. Other healthcare officials, such as hospital administrators and government personnel, are also expected to have interest in the program.
The master’s program is an extension of the department’s certificate program in community preparedness and disaster management, which is directed by Bill Gentry. Gentry says the certificate program has graduated more than 200 students since its inception in 2003. The program has attracted students from 17 states and more than one-half of all the counties in North Carolina. In addition to focusing on a variety of different disaster scenarios, the certificate program has also focused specifically on the “lessons learned” from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
