Institute for Rural Emergency Management

The Institute for Rural Emergency Management (IREM) at the University of Central Missouri was established in June 2005 to meet a demonstrated need for technical assistance in rural communities.  UCM is the only university in the U.S. to create a community outreach center focused on the emergency management needs of rural America, which are distinct from the needs of urban and suburban communities.

IREM gathers best practices from successful rural projects and develops guidelines and targeted information to distribute to elected officials and community leaders.  In rural areas human resources are often limited, so IREM provides supervised student interns and researchers to complete vital projects, implement new programs, and deliver training workshops and exercises.