CIRT table top exercise

Definitions Table Top Exercise: an activity to discuss a simulated incident or emergency situation. Some goals are to clarify roles and responsibilities and to identify ways to improve the response plan. CIRT: Critical Incidence Response Team Provide rapid, systematic, and coordinated early intervention to critical incidents Critical incidences range from natural disaster or human-made disasters to violence to disease outbreaks http://www.cirt.iastate.edu/

P&S Staff involvement Faculty and P&S staff were invited to this exercise specifically to test the plan at a different level than just CIRT members. To get input from folks who would be “on the ground” providing data and information to CIRT for decision making and to generate questions/ideas from a different perspective.

Senior Leadership and CIRT Tabletop Exercise September 21, 2016

Agenda Welcome Introductions Scenario introduction Exercise Debriefing

Recognition of ‘lanes’ During a Crisis STRATEGIC OPERATIONAL TACTICAL Policy Support Tasks Broad Functions Activities & Practices Command & Directives Personnel Groups & Individuals University Leadership College & Dept. Units

Exercise Conduct Discussed-based tabletop exercise No fault learning exercise – no right or wrong answers Play your normal role React to information as if this was a real event Direct questions for missing or outside entities to controllers Systems and process, not individuals, being exercised Identify decision points that need to be made

Objectives Understanding the need for on-going policy and plan testing at all levels to prepare for campus emergencies. Awareness of CIRT, our campus Incident Command System, and emergency response actions by departments and units across campus. Awareness of senior leadership decision making roles and responsibilities during and after an event. Awareness of campus communications before and after an event. Awareness of cross-functional campus impact.

Information So Far Debate between Wanda B. Prez and Preston Soone at Drake University yesterday Ms. Prez has shown interest in visiting campus Rumors of protests during visit Large number of people wearing Prez and Soone t-shirts on campus Other universities have had disruptions to campus services

INJECT 1--1 pm CIRT convened due to demonstration of 1500 people in the green space south of the Library since 10 am. About 1000 of the demonstrators appear to be protesting Ms. Prez’s rumored visit to campus and 500 demonstrators are Ms. Prez supporters. Yelling between the groups is ongoing. People are starting to spill over Morrill Road into the central campus green space, impacting traffic flow on Morrill Road. Student Affairs staff are currently working with the groups and people may be starting to disperse. Police are monitoring the area and have called in additional officers to assist due to crowd size.

Inject 1 Discussion questions Which ISU policies address this type of incident? Does ISU’s Continuity of Operations Plan or Emergency Operations Plan address this situation? Does this incident require an ISU Alert? How does CIRT interact with Senior Administrators and/or absent members during the incident?

Inject 2--2 pm Officers reporting the crowd has mainly dispersed from central campus. Hundreds of people are blocking the intersections of Union Drive/Welch Ave. and Osborn Drive/Bissell Road. Demonstrators are blocking the intersections with numerous vehicles with flat tires and batteries removed. Police estimate there are nearly 2500 people at each location. Ames Police, Story County Sheriff’s Office, and Iowa State Patrol are providing assistance. Police dispatch reports they are receiving calls from the media asking for information about the protest. It is one of the trending topics on social media. Student Affairs has advised that an Experience Iowa State (EIS) Admissions event is occurring on campus. Approximately 150 prospective students plus their parents are scheduled to leave an afternoon activity in UDCC at 2:30 and will be walking around campus to get to afternoon advising appointments at their colleges.

Inject 2 discussion questions How would information be shared with the media? How will social media be monitored during this event? How would your unit communicate during the event with staff/students? Are there groups that are not present on CIRT or within senior leadership that you would want to include during this incident? What security measures are there to ensure safety for faculty, staff, students, and visitors in affected or nearby buildings? Does this incident require activation of the ISU Emergency Operations Center? If so, where will the EOC be and who staffs it? Does this incident constitute a campus state of emergency?

Inject 3--3 pm There have been reports that some campus offices have made the decision to close early. Students are celebrating on social media that some of their classes are not occurring because of the lack of professors and low attendance. Numerous local media and several national media trucks have arrived on campus and reporters are requesting a statement from the university. With the amount of people on campus and for safety of personnel, CyRide has temporarily suspended all stops on central campus.

Inject 3 discussion questions How would information be shared with the media? Where are some possible media staging areas? Is there a specific policy about employees/students participating in demonstrations? Does ISU have policies about releasing personal information requested by the media for employees/students participating in demonstration?

Inject 4 The demonstrators have started to cause a disruption to university services and are preventing people from entering buildings. An anonymous person has indicated via Yik Yak that one of the demonstrators has a bomb strapped to their body.

Inject 4 Discussion questions What are the implications for closing or not closing the university? How do faculty and staff safely leave campus? How does ISU verify and vet information coming through the media or social media?

DEBRIEFing Identify: 3 strengths, 3 areas for improvement Action steps that should be taken to address areas for improvement Policies, plans and procedures that should be reviewed, revised or developed What did you expect to occur?

Next Steps Take it on the road – similar exercises for cabinets, colleges, departments Follow-up exercises: Winter/Spring – CIRT active shooter functional exercise Summer – Campus full-scale exercise