Disaster Exercises: Why and How Crystal Kline, MEP CK Consulting, LLC

Why do we exercise?  To save property  To save our businesses  To save money  To save lives

To save property  Businesses  Critical facilities  Infrastructure  Homes  And everything within them—equipment, information, furniture and memorabilia

To save our businesses  When we save our businesses we save our livelihood and the livelihoods of:  Our employees  Our staff  Even our customers

To save money  When we save the livelihoods of our staff, our customers, and ourselves, we save money for the community. How?  Loss of jobs equals loss of income in tax money for the local, state and federal coffers.  Loss of jobs equals an increase in the amount of money spent on unemployment and other assistance.  Loss of jobs often equals an exodus of a community’s hard-working and creative talent.

To save money  In 2015, there were $27 billion in insured losses, while overall costs — including losses not covered by insurance — totaled $90 billion. Those figures were down from $31 billion and $110 billion respectively in  The costliest single event for the insurance industry was a series of winter storms that hit the northeastern U.S. and Canada in February. They generated insured losses of $2.1 billion and total losses of $2.8 billion.  DISASTERS COST TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY!! *Insurer Munich Re Annual Survey

To Save Lives  Between 1994 and 2013, EM-DAT (The International Disaster Database) recorded 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, which claimed 1.35 million lives or almost 68,000 lives on average each year. In addition, 218 million people were affected by natural disasters on average per annum during this 20-year period.  The frequency of geophysical disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and mass movements) remained broadly constant throughout this period, but a sustained rise in climate-related events (mainly floods and storms) pushed total occurrences significantly higher. Since 2000, EM-DAT recorded an average of 341 climate-related disasters per annum, up 44% from the average and well over twice the level in *“The Human Cost of Disasters 2015: A Global Perspective” from the Centre of Research of Epidemiology of Disasters, UN Strategy for Disaster Reduction

We respond the way we are trained  Studies show that there are three reactions to a disaster.  15% are present and respond quickly, moving people, acting as needed  15% become hysterical  The rest become frozen, paralyzed. WHY? Old information vs. New Information THIS IS WHY WE RESPOND THE WAY WE ARE TRAINED THIS IS WHY WE EXERCISE Rick Riscorla—Morgan Stanley—9-11

HOW do we exercise? (And what?)  Test the plan  Exercise our responses

HOW do we exercise? (And what?)  Test the plan (or a specific part of the plan)  Activity: Response from activity in first session.  Does a plan exist?  Where is it kept?  Is it maintained?  What are the major challenges to creating an emergency response plan or a business continuity plan at your facility?

Build support  Build support and consensus from management. Explain how a disaster can impact the lives of the residents and staff, and the survivability of the facility as a business.  Explain how exercising a facility’s plan is the best way to demonstrate a plan’s strengths and gaps.

Types of Exercises  While there are multiple types of exercises, the best types of exercises for a long-term care facility would be a drill and a table-top exercise.  Drill: tests one function, such as evacuation during a tornado or fire.  Table-top exercise: discussion based, informal.  Clarifies roles and responsibilities  Scenario escalates in intensity throughout as additions to situation are added.  Focus on a likely scenario and discuss each participant’s response. Invite to the table any staff member who would have an active role during that scenario.

A tabletop exercise needs:  A plan to test  A list of players  A facilitator  A place to hold it (conference room or auditorium, depending on the size of the player’s list)  A place, time of day, situation  A hazard  A list of injects to add as the discussion moves along  Make it realistic, likely, and not too complicated (no end of the world zombie attacks while nuclear war is raging and an electromagnetic wave has rendered the world without power).  An after-action report to record your plan’s strengths and weaknesses, along with a list of corrective actions, people assigned to implement those actions, and a hard deadline by which to be finished.

Quick TTX  Your county’s tornado sirens have gone off. The news is reporting a large tornado heading your way.  What safe place has your plan designated for a tornado shelter?  How do you communicate this to your staff?  How do you communicate it to your residents?  How do you transport those residents who need assistance to the designated shelter?

 As the storm moves in, your facility loses power.  Does your plan cover power loss?  Do you have a generator?  Is it maintained?  Does it have fuel?  Do you have a standby contract with an oil company for emergency generator fuel?

 The tornado has touched down nearby, but your facility has suffered damage in a roof ripped away at one end of your facility. Rain is pouring in. There is damage to the floors, carpets, sheetrock, electrical wiring, as well as to furniture and computer/medical equipment.  Do you have a standby contract with a restoration company, a construction company, a computer company, and a medical equipment company?  Does your insurance cover this kind of damage? Are you sure?

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