Response includes immediate actions to save lives, protect property, and meet basic human needs. Public-private partnerships support emergency response by identifying a need (power restoration, supplies for affected residents, etc.) and filling that need with the partnership’s capabilities (equipment, food, medicine, etc.). These needs are filled when there is two-way communication between private sector organizations with resources and the public sector.

Public-private partnerships can improve response by providing supplies, volunteers, shelter, and public outreach. For example, during a severe storm in Alabama a large national supermarket chain partnered with state emergency management organizations to give out food, resources, and hygiene kits to affected residents.

Another example comes from California Direct Relief USA. This partnership between California emergency management agencies and pharmaceutical companies helps public agencies obtain donations of medicines and supplies from private businesses during emergencies, allowing them to better respond to health crises.