The four pillars of public safety are emergency response, emergency preparedness, prevention, and mitigation. Emergency response is the process of responding to an emergency by either preventing, mitigating, or responding to an emergency. Emergency preparedness is the process of taking precautionary steps before an emergency to reduce the impact and increase the likelihood of survival. Prevention is the process of taking steps to reduce the likelihood of a negative event from occurring. Mitigation is the process of reducing the impact of a negative event on people and property.