Implementing Successful Preparedness Exercises

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Implementing Successful Preparedness Exercises
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Objectives

• To increase knowledge of exercising and how to
  create an effective exercise program
• To provide processes for creating high-quality
  exercise activities

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Why Exercise?
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Progressive Exercising

• Involves everyone!
• Planned to achieve identifiable goals
• Series of increasingly complex exercises
• Success breeds success

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Who participates?
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Types of Exercise

• Orientation Seminar
• Drill
• Tabletop Exercise
• Functional Exercise
• Full-Scale Exercise

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Orientation Exercise

• Overview
• Can be lecture, slide show, etc.
• Familiarize participants with their roles,
  equipment, etc.
• Lasts one two hours

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Drills

• Tests a single specific operation or function
• Allows the practice and perfection of one part of
  the response plan
• Usually takes ½ hour - 2 hours to complete

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Tabletop Exercise

• Facilitated analysis of an emergency situation
• Informal and stress-free environment
• Little attempt at simulation
• Generally lasts 1 4 hours

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Functional Exercise

• Fully simulated, interactive exercise
• Tests the capability of the organization to
  respond in a time-pressured environment
• Tests multiple functions
• Can be as short as 3-8 or hours

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Full-Scale Exercise

• Simulates The Big One for the organization
• High stress
• Use of personnel, equipment, and resources
• Can be as short as 2 4 hours, or last for days

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Compare all this to football (or hockey!)
Orientation 1st team meeting
Drill Special teams
Tabletop exercise Skull session
Functional exercise Intra-squad game
Full scale exercise Preseason game
Actual disaster Regular season game
Catastrophic disaster (with Presidential declaration) Team in the PLAYOFFS!
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Sequence of Tasks for Successful Exercises
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Exercise Design Cycle
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Exercise Documents

• Exercise Plan
• Control Plan
• Evaluation Plan
• Player Handbook

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Exercise Design Steps

• Assess needs
• Define scope
• Write a statement of purpose
• Define objectives
• Compose a narrative
• Write major detailed events
• List expected actions
• Prepare messages

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Assess Needs

• Helps define problems, establish reasons to do an
  exercise, and ID the functions to be exercised
• What hazards?
• Who can be impacted?
• Who needs to practice?
• Who can come play?
• What exercise requirements are there?
• What toys do we have to play with?

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Define the Scope

• Type of emergency
• Location
• Functions
• Participants
• Exercise type

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Write a Statement of Purpose

• Covers who, what, where, when, and why

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Define Objectives

• Basis for all that was and all that is to be
• Sets the rules of engagement
• Helps with evaluation
• Sets goals for follow-up
• Make sure they are S.M.A.R.T. objectives

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Compose a Narrative

• Sets the mood
• Sets the stage for later action

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Write out major detailed events

• Find your inner playwright
• Major events
• Detailed events

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List expected actions

• Verification
• Consideration
• Deferral
• Decision

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Prepare messages

• Single purposeto spur a reaction
• Can be transmitted in various ways
• Need to be credible

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Evaluation and Critiques
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Evaluations

• Did we meet our goal?
• Where can we improve?
• What training or staffing opportunities have we
  found?
• What equipment do we need?
• When is the NEXT exercise??

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Its all about the team

• Evaluation team structure
• Role of the Team Leader
• Team Member selection
• Training the team

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Evaluation Methodology

• How is the team structured?
• What are the objectives to be measured?
• Whats in my evaluation packet??

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Postexercise Meetings

• Player debriefings
• Evaluation team meeting

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After Action Report

• Form
• Format
• Introduction
• Statement of the Problem
• Exercise Summary
• Accomplishments and Shortfalls
• Recommendations

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Implementing Change
We test plans,
but we train people.
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Exercise Enhancements

• Be creative!
• Take advantage of what is available to you
• Maps and charts and status boards, OH MY!
• People and props

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How do I get all this stuff?

• Hospitals
• Schools colleges
• Business industry
• CHEMTREC
• Boy Girl Scouts
• SAR volunteers
• Railroads
• The Salvation Army

• Public transportation
• Fire/Police/EMS agencies
• Amateur radio clubs
• Religious organizations
• American Red Cross
• Service organizations (Elks, Lions, Rotary, etc..)

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and then what do I do with it?

• Make sure you designate someone to be in charge
  of logistics for the exercise

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Costs Liability

• Manpower hours
• Potential for damage or replacement costs
• Be sure to return what you borrow
• Includes volunteer victims on loan
• Check over your jurisdictions policy for
  equipment usage.

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Additional Resources

• Gillis, Tracy K., Emergency Exercise Handbook
  Evaluate Integrate Your Companys Plan. Penwell
  Publishing Company1996.
• Green, Walter G., Exercise Alternatives for
  Training Emergency Management Command Center
  Staffs. Universal Publishers2000.
• Anna M. McRay, NREMT-P, CERT Coordinator, County
  of Henrico
• http//www.fema.gov
• EMI Exercise Design (IS-139)
• EMI Exercise Evaluation (G-130)