Understanding where Emergency Management Gets the Knowledge to Solve the Problems They Face: Where are We More than 20 Years after the IJMED Special Edition Calls on Closing the Gap?

Abstract

In 1993, the IJMED published a special edition calling for a closing of the gap between academic research and the practice of emergency management. The goal of this paper is to understand where we are in the knowledge gap by examining where emergency management professionals get the information needed to solve the problems they face. Twenty—four interviews were conducted with emergency management professionals in the Southeast Texas and Houston-Galveston Regions along the Texas Gulf Coast. The findings suggest that experience is pervasive as a source and most report utilizing a network of peers to gain information to solve problems. Even among those with an advanced degree, there is a perception that there is either no research out there, or at least nothing that is readily available. The findings accentuate the need for research to focus its distribution efforts through federal and state training programs and planning, for academia to facilitate a mix of education and experience in practice, and for experienced practitioners to reach out to research through degreed peers to facilitate knowledge transfer and close the knowledge gap for disasters.