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Grow Your Own Staff

See what Chicago OEM is doing.

I'm always interested in new innovative ideas. So this one caught my attention: "Emergency management class ends in jobs for City College students ‘who want to help other people.’"

The positions they were looking to fill relate to the operation of a 911 call center, and it is a great example of not sitting back and waiting for people to beat a path to your door. And, it's beneficial to have a class with influence from Dionne Tate, the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communication's deputy director, who helped develop and teach the course.

Everyone I talk to is having trouble filling 911 center positions and keeping the staffing levels up to provide the level of service their communities expect to have. Congrats to Chicago for taking a positive step to fill the need.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.