Nowadays, private sector is not prepared properly for dealing with the large scale disasters. There is an agency, FEMA, which is responsible for dealing with such disasters, however, it is neither designed nor resourced and authorized for such events. Leonard and Howitt (2006) point to the fact that the modern US legal sphere does not have enough regulatory aspects which could allow the government to construct the agency with could perform the role of the company which is to deal with disasters.
The absence of the infrastructure is another issue. Having a plan for dealing with disasters, it is not “a functioning, practiced, operable system” (Leonard & Howitt, 2006, p. 3). To make sure that private sector is properly incorporated into planning and responding to large scale disasters, the agencies should identify and assess risks, estimate capability requirements, build and sustain capabilities, and plan to deliver those, and finally reviewing and updating stages.
All these activities completed at the level of the private sector are helpful in organizing their work (DHS, 2011). Trying to incorporate the private sector including commercial entities, non-governmental or volunteer organizations, and individual citizens into planning and responding to large scale disasters, government should increase the informing part and provide practices how to deal in emergency situations.
Each company in the private sector should crate the department or define a person who is responsible for safety. Individuals should protect their lives by means of being informed about the activities they are to do while emergency. Even though government pays much time to dealing terrorism and other disasters, private sector is not ready for large problems.
Reference List
Carafano, J. J. (2003). Preparing responders to respond: the challenges to emergency preparedness in the 21st century: The heritage foundation. Web.
DHS. (2007). National Preparedness Goal, pp. 1-A-2. Web.
DHS. (2008). National Incident Management System (NIMS), pp. 1-8. Web.
DHS. (2011). National Preparedness System, pp. 1-7. Web.
Leonard, H. B., & Howitt, A. M. (2006). Katrina as prelude: Preparing for and responding to future Katrina-class disturbances in the United States—Testimony to U.S. Senate Committee, March 8, 2006. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 3, 1-20.
The White House. (2011). Presidential policy directive (PPD)-8: National preparedness. Web.
Waugh, W. L. (2004). Terrorism, homeland security and the national emergency management network. Public Organization Review, 3(4), 373-385.