Emergency Management Organizational Structures, Staffing, and Capacity Study

Argonne National Laboratory is partnering with the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), Big City Emergency Managers (BCEM), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to gain a greater understanding of current state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency management organizational structures, staffing, and capacity. Together, this work provides important insights on how emergency management organizations across the nation are structured and staffed, where they get their funding, and how staff time is focused. This information provides great value to the jurisdictions themselves, as well as everyone who is working to support the emergency management community.

As part of this study, four surveys were launched – one for local jurisdictions, one for states, one for territories, and one for tribal nations. The study also included listening sessions of local emergency management agencies to collect qualitative information and follow up on survey responses, as well as a review of existing research and data from FEMA, emergency management associations, and other publicly available materials.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of this study?

Emergency management agencies, organizations, and associations often make resource, policy, and program decisions based on limited data and assumptions. This study is intended to provide a more comprehensive picture of all types of emergency management organizations across the nation and the needs they face, including how organizations across the nation are structured and staffed, where they get their funding, and how staff time is focused across the spectrum of emergency management activities. This information will provide great value to the jurisdictions themselves, as well as everyone who is working to support the emergency management community.

Who is leading the development and implementation of this study?

This study is a partnership between the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), Big City Emergency Managers (BCEM), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne).

What data collection is involved in this study?

This study includes four surveys – one for local jurisdictions, one for states, one for territories, and one for tribal nations. The study also includes listening sessions with local emergency management agencies, interviews with territorial emergency management agencies, and a review of existing data from FEMA, associations, and other public sources. All data collection has been completed, except for the tribal survey, which remains open through September. 

When were the state, local, and territory surveys conducted and who was eligible to participate?

• Local jurisdiction survey: The local survey was conducted from August 13, 2024 – March 7, 2025. This survey was intended for local level chief officials performing the duties of the emergency manager (chief emergency management official). This is the official who has primary responsibility for emergency management functions, including but not limited to planning, training, exercising, securing resources, and implementing strategies to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from hazards and disasters, whether that person has an emergency management-specific title or not. Local jurisdictions included jurisdictions such as municipalities, villages, townships, counties, parishes, boroughs, multijurisdictional/regional entities, and special districts. Other types of organizations, such as hospitals, universities, and businesses also often have emergency management staff, however these types of organizations were not eligible to participate in the survey.
• State survey: The state survey was conducted August 13, 2024 –  March 7, 2025. This survey was intended for state emergency management directors.
• Territorial survey: The territorial survey was conducted August 20, 2024 – March 7, 2025. This survey was intended for territorial emergency management directors.
   

Who is eligible to respond to the tribal nation survey?

The tribal survey was launched on January 29, 2025 and is still ongoing. This survey is intended for tribal emergency management directors, or chief official performing the duties of the emergency manager. Only one response to this survey should be received from each tribe or nation.

I received a request to participate in one of the surveys, how did you get my email address?

Email addresses for the state, local, and territory surveys were collected through state contact lists that were provided to the emergency management study researchers. Where information was incomplete or unavailable from state emergency management agencies, the research team reviewed publicly available information to try to identify the best email address for emergency management officials.

Email addresses for the tribal nation survey were identified through the Bureau of Indian Affairs website.

How do I sign up to participate in the study?

The local, state, and territorial surveys are now closed. 

The tribal survey was sent to tribal leaders on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 and is currently open. If you have not received the survey, please fill out this form and someone from the research team will be in contact with you shortly.

Is this study voluntary?

Participation in all aspects of the study is entirely voluntary.

Can participants withdraw their data from the study after completing the survey?

Analysis and reporting for the local, state, and territorial survey, and the listening sessions is now complete. Respondents who participated in these components of the study can no longer withdraw their data. 

For the tribal survey, if a study participant decides they do not wish to have their survey responses included in data analysis after completing the survey, they can contact the research team at EMStudy@​anl.​gov.

Is there compensation for participating in the study?

No, there is no compensation associated with participating in the study.

Will participants’ information be kept confidential?

All individual responses to the surveys have and will continue to be kept confidential. Any attributable data is only viewable by a small number of survey staff and researchers for the purposes of data tracking and compilation at IAEM and Argonne. All direct identifiers were removed from the data prior to analysis and all findings and reports resulting from this survey are fully aggregated. Additionally, all data shared with IAEM, NEMA, BCEM, FEMA, as well as any other interested parties, will be fully aggregated and will contain no direct identifiers. As such, no responses from the surveys will be traced back to the associated jurisdiction, nor will they directly influence funding, technical assistance, or any other support specific to that jurisdiction. Data with direct identifiers removed may be stored to conduct additional data analysis.

How will results and findings be shared?

Results and findings are expected to be shared through a publicly available report prepared by Argonne in collaboration with project partners including IAEM, NEMA, BCEM, and FEMA. 

Was this study approved by an Institutional Review Board?

This research has been reviewed and approved by the Central Department of Energy Institutional Review Board (CDOEIRB), an administrative group of people who oversee the rights and welfare of human-research subjects participating in research activities conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy.