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Emergency Management Directors

Certification, Licensing, and Special Requirements

Certification or Licensing

The International Association of Emergency Managers offers the associate emergency manager (AEM) and certified emergency manager (CEM) credentials. Candidates for the AEM credential must have completed 100 hours of emergency management training and 100 hours of general management training, submit one letter of reference, and pass a multiple choice exam. Candidates for the CEM credential must meet all AEM requirements; have completed three years of comprehensive emergency management experience; have participated in two functional exercises, a major public event, a full-scale exercise, or actual disaster, and cover all phases of emergency management; and meet other requirements. Visit https://www.iaem.org/certification to learn more. The Disaster Recovery Institute International also offers several certification credentials. Visit https://drii.org/certificationoverview for more information. Emergency management directors do not need to be licensed.