Baylie Karmie was well on her way to becoming a professional emergency management specialist, a full-time conqueror of crises. She was in her final semester at The University of Akron and needed only to complete her internship at the Stark County Emergency Management Agency.
But experience, that best and subtlest teacher, slid into the office one morning and announced a “pop” final exam. He held in his hand a little red, spiked germ. Lifting it to his mouth, he coolly intoned, “Manage this” — and blew.
Baylie Karmie ’20 helped collect and distribute personal protective equipment to first responders and health care workers as an intern at the Stark County EMA this spring.
And so Karmie spent the next couple months beating back that windborne foe, equipping first responders and health care workers with latex suits of armor and face shields.
Like many others combatting the coronavirus, she trained for battle in UA’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security (EMHS) bachelor’s degree program.
Making the world safer
Housed in the Department of Disaster Science and Emergency Services, the EMHS program prepares students to manage and respond to major disasters and emergencies, including natural catastrophes, hazardous materials leaks, terrorist attacks, cyber warfare — and infectious outbreaks.
Students gain firsthand experience through internships with emergency management agencies, hospital systems and businesses. The program’s more than 1,000 graduates are working throughout the world in risk and emergency management, public health planning, protective services and related fields.
At the Stark County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), Karmie helped distribute personal protective equipment and wrote the county’s first donation management plan for similar situations in the future.
“Not only did we learn about outbreaks in the EMHS program, but also how to lead in the field at a time of crisis,” said Karmie, who graduated in May and plans to earn a master’s degree and work as an emergency management director for a private transportation agency.
Garret Blevins ’19, Fairfield County EMA operations manager, has been distributing personal protective equipment to health care facilities and other community partners.
Other recent graduates — including Joseph St. John ’20, emergency management specialist at the Summit County EMA (where he interned this semester), and Garrett Blevins ’19, operations manager at the Fairfield County EMA — have also been working hard to distribute medical supplies and equipment throughout the state.
“The EMHS program at UA provided me with the foundational knowledge of emergency management to respond to this pandemic,” said Blevins, whose director, Jon Kochis ‘05, is another program graduate. “As every event is different, whether it be a tornado or COVID-19, there is no routine disaster, and we pull from this foundation to adapt and respond.”
Another alumnus, Josh Sigmon ’07, is the chief of regional operations for the Ohio EMA, where he’s been working with the state’s 88 county agencies to coordinate the response to COVID-19. As the civilian liaison between the Ohio National Guard and the State Emergency Operations Center, he helped oversee the construction of a 1,000-bed alternate care site at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
“Our graduates are making the world safer in so many roles and ways, it is remarkable,” said Dr. Stacy Willett, department director and one of the original developers of the program.
Setting the standard
In 1998 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) called upon universities to establish emergency management education across the U.S. In response, UA developed a pilot program that was the first of its kind to be accredited, and the third of its kind to be established, in the world.
For the past two decades, the program’s faculty members have worked with FEMA — and, since 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — to set national educational standards, conduct research and develop training courses for FEMA/DHS.
Dr. Stacy Willett
Today the program remains the only accredited EMHS bachelor’s program among public universities in Ohio, meeting a critical need as emergencies become more numerous and complex.
“People every day rely on EMHS functions to keep systems going, businesses running and people safe,” Willett said. “The need for disaster specialists of all kinds in government, business and hospitals has really expanded. Climate extremes are increasing in places across the globe. Droughts that strip resources from areas spawn new sets of issues like migration, wars, terrorism and economic instability. These are all connected systems.”
Another growing threat — to which the University has responded by offering the state’s first bachelor’s degree in computer information systems with a focus in cybersecurity — is cybercrime.
“The hacking, the infiltrating of our common systems is commonplace now,” Willett added. “It is the combination of threat systems that is most difficult. There are threats evolving so rapidly we often don’t understand the tactics until they are used against us.”
In anticipation of these challenges, the EMHS degree program will, along with 10 other new programs, be offered fully online beginning this fall, making it more accessible to remote and working students, including military personnel, fire fighters, police officers and parents.
Online learners will still have the opportunity, if they are able, to participate in internships — and discover, as Karmie did, that experience really is the best teacher.
Especially when he pops in, unannounced, with a pandemic in his palm.
About UA’s Department of Disaster Science and Emergency Services
In addition to the bachelor’s degree in EMHS, which is accredited by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, the Department of Disaster Science and Emergency Services offers:
- associate degrees in emergency medical services (with EMT/paramedic and fire/medic options) and fire protection technology;
- minors in EMHS, computer security, and computer forensics; and
- certificates in cyber disaster management, emergency management, computer security, and computer forensics.