FEMA isn't just a governmental agency that helps disaster victims, educates the public about mitigation and provides training for first-responders. FEMA is also a great place to work!

FEMA employs about 2,400 permanent employees in its Washington D.C. headquarters, 10 regional offices and other sites, including our Emergency Management Institute in Maryland. In addition, FEMA also have about 4,000 temporary workers who are "called up" when disaster strikes. They then leave their homes and go to work in Disaster Field Offices that are set up to deal with the specific disaster.

So what do all those FEMA workers do? Many people have the mistaken idea that FEMA workers are dangling from helicopters helping stranded people off rooftops or fighting wildfire. In truth, those activities are done by local and sometimes state emergency management workers, who are sometimes trained or funded by FEMA.

In reality, FEMA workers come from many different backgrounds, hold many different kinds of degrees and perform a variety of jobs. To learn more visit The FEMA Team.