Public Law 110-53 includes a provision (Title IX, PS-Prep) for the development of a voluntary disaster preparedness certification process for private sector entities. This voluntary certification and accreditation program is being developed and managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). One of the key elements of the program is the enhancement of the private sectors’ preparedness, readiness, and resilience to natural and manmade disasters. DHS has been leading efforts toward implementation of PS-Prep, including the development and administration of an accreditation and certification program, as well as other related standards.

To find out how familiar the preparedness, response, and recovery communities are with the PS-Prep certification process, DomPrep recently conducted a qualitative survey. The survey was conducted in September 2010, after which the responses of the DomPrep Journal readers were compared to those of the DP40 members. The majority of DP40 members and DomPrep Journal readers who responded to the survey hold upper or middle management positions within their organizations. Although many readers clicked to view the survey page, very few actually responded to the survey. This could be an indication that some readers were only peripherally interested or aware of the PS-Prep Program. The results also suggest that these communities do not yet have the understanding necessary to successfully implement the PS-Prep Program. [Q11]

Key Findings

Most DomPrep Journal readers who responded are not as well versed about PS-Prep, as they would like to be. Most DP40 members and readers who responded do support one or more elements of the program, though many indicated that certain elements need to be reviewed and perhaps modified.

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