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What does an emergency planner do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read

As an emergency planner, it is their responsibility to assess risks, write and implement safety development plans and reports, organize safety exercises, and train people for emergency response operations in case of a crisis, natural calamities, and accidents may arise. By anticipating these unfortunate events, they could help avoid or lessen the damage that may cost the company's fortune. Emergency planning officers are also responsible for conducting research and develop policies in line with the government's laws.

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Emergency planner responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real emergency planner resumes:

  • Identify facilities and personnel resources within the state to achieve rapid effective dispensing of SNS.
  • Participate in numerous training courses provide by FEMA and state agencies.
  • Assist in developing detail checklists for the emergency support functions in the EOC.
  • Act as applicant liaison by notifying FEMA of cost overrun/under runs, final inspection requests, appeals, etc.
  • Provide BOM updates and configuration control verification.
  • Double TOS copay collections by educating staff about insurance eligibility, copay interpretation and patients about their responsibility.
  • Provide process improvements to allow increase adherence to HIPAA guidelines.

Emergency planner skills and personality traits

We calculated that 12% of Emergency Planners are proficient in Emergency Preparedness, Public Health, and Public Safety.

We break down the percentage of Emergency Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Emergency Preparedness, 12%

    Awarded a National Achievement Award for contributions to the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Program and conference.

  • Public Health, 10%

    Collaborated with the Interior Heath Ministry (Canada) in fostering cross-border partnerships as pertains to public health response activities.

  • Public Safety, 8%

    Collaborated with town officials and public safety departments to understand and mitigate risks from potential emergencies.

  • Incident Command System, 5%

    Coordinated the direction, education and support for the commands incident command system and the hospital first responder teams.

  • Emergency Response, 5%

    Proposed alteration of emergency response procedures based on regulatory changes, technological changes, or lessons learned from previous emergency situations.

  • DHS, 5%

    Conduct vulnerability/risk assessments via DHS risk management methodology.

Most emergency planners use their skills in "emergency preparedness," "public health," and "public safety" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential emergency planner responsibilities here:

Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an emergency planner to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "emergency management directors must be able to clearly convey their emergency preparedness plans, both orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences." Additionally, an emergency planner resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "assess and maintain benton county eoc and communication equipment to support response personnel. "

Leadership skills. Many emergency planner duties rely on leadership skills. "to ensure effective responses to emergencies, emergency management directors need to organize and train a variety of people.," so an emergency planner will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways emergency planner responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "train uas staff, faculty, students, and leadership on emergency management activities. "

Most common emergency planner skills

Compare different emergency planners

Emergency planner vs. Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officer

The annual salary of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officers is $8,164 lower than the average salary of emergency planners.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between emergency planners and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officers are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like logistics, fema, and hazardous materials.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an emergency planner are more likely to require skills like "emergency preparedness," "public health," "public safety," and "incident command system." On the other hand, a job as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officer requires skills like "decontamination procedures," "cbrn," "nco," and "nuclear biological." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

On average, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officers reach lower levels of education than emergency planners. Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officers are 10.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Emergency planner vs. Civil preparedness officer

On average, civil preparedness officers earn a $2,744 higher salary than emergency planners a year.A few skills overlap for emergency planners and civil preparedness officers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "technical assistance," "fema," and "natural disasters. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, emergency planner responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "emergency preparedness," "public health," "public safety," and "incident command system." Meanwhile, a civil preparedness officer has duties that require skills in areas such as "emergency operations," "humanitarian assistance," "construction projects," and "local governance." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

In general, civil preparedness officers achieve similar levels of education than emergency planners. They're 1.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Emergency planner vs. Hazard mitigation officer

On average scale, hazard mitigation officers bring in higher salaries than emergency planners. In fact, they earn a $14,355 higher salary per year.By looking over several emergency planners and hazard mitigation officers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "provide technical assistance," "technical assistance," and "disaster response." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, emergency planners are more likely to have skills like "emergency preparedness," "public health," "public safety," and "incident command system." But a hazard mitigation officer is more likely to have skills like "foreclosure," "emergency operations," "loan modifications," and "mortgage loans."

Hazard mitigation officers typically earn lower educational levels compared to emergency planners. Specifically, they're 10.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Emergency planner vs. Co-owner & director

Co-owner & directors tend to earn a higher pay than emergency planners by an average of $19,305 per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An emergency planner uses "emergency preparedness," "public health," "public safety," and "incident command system." Co-owner & directors are more likely to have duties that require skills in "financial statements," "payroll," "human resources," and "child care. "The average resume of co-owner & directors showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to emergency planners. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 7.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.9%.

Types of emergency planner

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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