Reference no: EM131708338

Response to the following discussions from classmates (X4) with approximately 150 words or more each. Include a reference to each response. Be thoughtful and insightful and it must demonstrate critical thinking and analysis. Thank you

1.This National Response Framework (NRF) acts as a guide to how the nation handles all hazard preparedness, planning and response for the protection and assurance of critical infrastructure from the smallest incidents to the largest possible disasters.

It describes structures, common discipline and specific authorities that have been implemented and developed at the local, state, and national levels over time. Jenkins (2015) wrote "The NRF outlines how the federal government responds to all disasters and emergencies and presents the National Preparedness Goal, which establishes the capabilities and outcomes the Nation must accomplish across five mission areas [prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery] in order to be secure and resilient."

Befits of the NRF includes but are not limited to the encouragement of a partnership between governmental agencies and the private sector, the importance of handling disasters at the most local governmental level, placing emphasis on unity by ensuring everyone involved has a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in any given situation and encouraging a proactive role in planning, training and the availability of resources and equipment (Radvanovsky & McDougall, 2013, pgs.35-36).

All-hazards include both acts of nature and human caused (man-made) events. Citizens, communities and infrastructures alike, must be prepared when disaster strikes and as such planning, educating, responding, recovering and rehabilitating are imperative in order to lessen the likelihood of human harm in the event of a disaster.

The all-hazards approach seeks to change attitudes and behaviors so that when adversity strikes or disaster is pending, citizens, communities and infrastructures are prepared. The NRF is intended to take an all-hazards approach to critical infrastructure protection and assurance as it can be effectively modified to handle various types and severity of disasters.

Martin, Jenkins, Mehring & Ma (2011) wrote "The all-hazards planning and preparation approach is based on the realization that regardless of the cause of a disaster (natural, accidental, or intentional), the similarities are generally greater than the differences in how authorities go about lessening the likelihood of human harm, preparing for the eventuality, responding to incidents, and recovering from the aftermath."

2.The NRF is a guide on how the Nation responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. It is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to align key roles and responsibilities across the Nation.

The most important benefit of the NRF is it describes the principles, roles and responsibilities, and coordinating structures for delivering the core capabilities required to respond to any incident and further describes how response efforts integrate with those of the other mission areas. These actions are taken by both government and non-government entities. The NRF is always in effect, and elements can be implemented at any time.

The structures, roles, and responsibilities described in the NRF can be partially or fully implemented in the context of a threat or hazard, in anticipation of a significant event, or in response to an incident. Selective implementation of NRF structures and procedures allows for a scaled response, delivery of the specific resources and capabilities, and a level of coordination appropriate to each incident. Essentially all of the critical infrastructure sectors know what their responsibilities are during an emergency.
Having the NFR always in effect ensures that the nation, state and local communities always in a ready posture for any disaster, terror attack or incident.

3. Since 2008 when the financial crisis the government started looking into these partnerships to close the budgetary gaps which would allow for the economy grow by giving part ownership and responsibilities to privatized companies thus creating jobs as well as allow the government spending to be reduced. Another aspect that partnerships have grown is that it allowed private sectors to introduce and explore innovative and newer technology to our states and countries.

The unique issues that concern public-private partnerships within CIP and CIA is that they are focused on safety, security, and economic well-being of people and other assets and the private is focused on generating wealth and profits. The example would be the one given in our text about the Ontario electric company. Whereas the government couldn't keep up with the demand however if they passed it over to privatized organization the economic hindrance would fall to the consumer making the price of electricity much higher and maybe unaffordable to most.

4. A public-private partnership (P3) is when a public entity and a private entity enter into an agreement for some form of service. With recent disasters that have affected the U.S., the importance of P3 has grown. During both Hurricane Harvey and Irma, P3's were formed in order to take steps to restore the community. "The Thomas T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act requires FEMA to contract with businesses located in the affected area when feasible and practicable" (Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, 2017). The government relies on P3's in order to help with the recovery efforts, and due to terrorist attacks and disasters over the last decade, this has increased the importance of the P3.

One of the unique problems associated with the use of P3 in CIP and CIA is the different goals for each entity. The private sectors goal in a P3 is to generate profit and wealth which is not the goal of the public sector. Whenever a disaster strikes, contractors are lined up hoping to be able to be part of the recovery effort to generate profit, which is their end goal. In this same scenario, the public sector is not in it for the money but more for the concern and safety of the public. Another unique problem associated with the use of P3 in CIP and CIA is money.

As I mentioned before, wealth is the goal of the private sector, unfortunately, sometimes the government is unable to pay for services and this can cause the services to be interrupted or to be privatized. An example of this challenge is the "electrical sector and the conversion of Ontario Hydro into its five companies" (Radvanovsky & McDougall, 2013). In this scenario, the government rid itself of the electrical infrastructure in order to reduce costs and was converted into the private sector. This resulted in a higher cost to the consumer with no interrupted service.