Addressing the Root: US Emergency Management Interventions and Public-Private Partnerships to Promote Community Disaster Resilience

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a destabilizing blow to the resources, healthcare systems and global economy, the world has witnessed the devastation poor emergency management and underlying community vulnerabilities can have when met with disaster. Crises, emergencies and disasters, like the COVID-19 pandemic, inevitably arise in society, necessitating an investigation of disaster recovery interventions and protocols to extrapolate valuable emergency management lessons that can enable the creation of a more disaster resilient society. Throughout the pandemic, the world has witnessed a mass mobilization of sectors, businesses and public organizations that have worked collaboratively to address supply shortages, and the development and distribution of vaccines and associated therapies This thesis investigates the political and legislative history of emergency management, the development of public-private partnerships and current, national disaster preparedness frameworks using government documents, historical data and disaster relief scholarship to argue for the expansion of federal public-private partnership oversight, and more robust incorporation within national emergency management strategy. Underlying community vulnerabilities often rear their most conspicuous, detrimental form during crises, particularly for underrepresented, and persistently disadvantaged communities. In order to address and equitably reverse the damage of persistent, community disparity, I argue for the expansion of public-private partnership guidance in accordance with federal emergency management support to build community disaster resilience and shift emergency management towards a more equitable, proactive approach to disasters.