1. Emergency Exercises What, When & How?
Emergency Management Conference
Emergency Exercises What, When & How?
Post-Conference Workshop
May 2016

2. Welcome Agenda: Anne Danielson & Paul Harris Instructors
Overview – Exercises Types
Risk/ hazard-based Exercise Scheduling
BREAK
Tabletop Exercise Design
Facilitating your Tabletop Exercise
Evaluation/ Reporting – Action Items!
Q & A
Welcome the participants to the course. Introduce yourself by providing:
Your name and organization.
A brief statement of your experience with emergency or incident response using ICS.
Acknoweldge range of experience in the room
Ask participants to ensure they are seated in groups of: 1. Communities/local Authority 2.Business or other organization.
Ask them to briefly introduce themselves (name and communtiy/business) to rest of their group
Have each group appoint a scribe

3. Purpose of Emergency Exercises
VALIDATION - of emergency plans, procedures and protocols and the ability to effectively implement them 1
TRAINING - To improve understanding, skill and develop individual /team competencies 2
IMPROVING - To reveal gaps and ‘opportunities for improvement’ that may exist. Continuous Improvement 3
What do you want the audience to remember when they leave your presentation?

4. Developing An Exercise Schedule
Microsoft Engineering Excellence
Developing An Exercise Schedule
Experienced
Large Real Events
Full Scale Major Exercises
Ongoing Learning
Practice Drills
Smaller Real Events
Tabletop Exercises
Training and Experience
Basics
Review emergency plans, procedures and protocols
Understand policies
Applicable Skill Training
ICS Training
Complexity
Microsoft Confidential

5. Exercises Defined Tabletop Drill Simulation Full Scale
TTX-review plans and procedures in safe and stress free environment. Discussion based.
Drill-exercising a specific part of the plans (Ex: EOC Activation, Fire or Evacuation Drill)
Simulation- Execution of plans/procedures are imitated or virtual
Full-scale-activate all or a portion of the plans and procedures based on pre-determined scenarios including mobilization of staff, response teams, first responders and their resources

6. Tabletop Exercise Tabletop Characteristics: Scenario driven Small team
Used for establishing plans & procedures,
Clarifying roles and confirming knowledge
Trained facilitators
A table top should not just be a read-through or review of plans. A table top includes questions and thought provoking discussion, prompting new questions to be asked and suggestions for improvement created
Through a facilitated discussion, participants discuss the responses to one or more prepared scenarios.
Tabletop exercises are very useful when you have a new process, new facility, new personnel or equipment.
Scenario driven (no physical response);
Small team in a conference room-type setting;
Used for establishing policies, providing input to planning, developing procedures, clarifying roles and confirming knowledge
Least amount of realism, but may include verification of a few contact numbers;
Trained personnel facilitate and evaluate performance

7. Tabletop Exercise Disadvantages: Advantages: Lacks realism
Minimal time and cost
Effective way to review plans and to align thinking;
Very useful when you have new personnel or process
Increases common understanding
Reinforces fundamental principles, procedures and safety
Disadvantages:
Lacks realism
Not a true test of emergency capabilities
Provides only a superficial exercise of plans
Not a practical way to demonstrate interaction between responders and organizations
Advantages:
Minimal amount of time, cost and resources required;
Effective way to review plans, to refreshing understanding, and to align thinking;
Very useful when you have a new process, new facility, new personnel or equipment;
Increases common understanding of ICS roles and responsibilities, site specific issues and response procedures;
Reinforces fundamental principles procedures and safety.
Disadvantages:
Lacks realism;
Does not provide a true test of emergency capabilities;
Provides only a superficial exercise of plans, procedures, and staff capabilities;
Does not provide a practical way to demonstrate the interaction between responders and response facilities or organizations

8. Before Creating an Exercise
Ensure personnel know what their roles are within the emergency plan
Create a schedule of exercise completion goals over next 3-5 years, slowly working your way towards full-scale exercise
Ensure your plan is up to date since the premise of the exercise is to test the plan
Exercises can be a way of training and orientating employees, but they need to know what their roles are, they need context before participating in an exercise

9. Step 1 Assess your current vulnerabilities & capabilities

10. Vulnerabilities
You need to honestly look at your current vulnerabilities including a review of:
Do you have any documented risk assessments?
Are there any other potential impacts / factors that concern you or you want to expose?
Are there events that have happened elsewhere that could realistically happen in your organization or community?
Are there areas where you do not know the current status or others have raised questions/concerns?
Documented risk assessments (high risk / high impact)
Other potential impacts / factors that concern you or you want to expose
Impacts that have happened elsewhere in similar organizations or communities that could realistically happen (plausible events)
Areas where you do not know the current status or others have raised questions/concerns.

11. Capabilities Honestly assess your current capabilities
Have you had any recent real events/near misses?
What capabilities have you observed in previous exercises or real events?
What is the level of training and competency?
Are there any other areas where you do not know the current capabilities?
Honestly assess your current capabilities including a review of:
-Recent Real Events
-Previous Drill or Exercise Responses
-Level of training and competence (by group)
-Areas where you do not know the current status or others have raised questions/concerns
You should now have a pretty good idea of where you are at, what needs to be verified or improved as well as what you would like participants to better understand

12. Step 2 Define your Exercise Objectives, Participants and Scope

13. Clarify your Exercise Objectives
This is the most critical component in the entire process!
What specifically do you hope to achieve?
Are there other organizations or agencies participating – what are their objectives?
Are your objectives attainable?

14. Participants and Scope
Who should attend?
Who should participate and who should observe?
What duration is required to meet your objectives?
What scenario and complexity is required to meet your objectives?
The optimum for a tabletop group is approximately 8-12 participants.
Exercise scenario, participants, scope, duration, complexity etc. are all based on your pre-defined Exercise Objectives
Who should attend?
Who should participate and who should observe?
Ideally anyone with a role should participate, perhaps even external key stakeholders, first responder groups, etc. for a multi-agency exercise
Note: The optimum for a tabletop group is approximately 8-12 participants. However with skill and support you may be able to properly facilitate more than one group through a tabletop exercise.
What duration / length of time is required to meet your objectives?
What duration, scenario factors and complexity (difficulty level) is required to meet your objectives?

15. Step 3 Scenario Development

16. Scenario
Based on exercise objectives, exercise participants and your scope
Relevant information about the location and nature of the incident.
You may use a ‘trusted advisor’ to help you develop a realistic scenario.
This is an overview of the event and is based on exercise objectives, exercise participants and your scope.
Think the scenario through
Use bullet points or two or three paragraphs
Write down the relevant information about the location and nature of the incident.
It is often helpful to identify a confidential ‘trusted advisor’ to help you develop a realistic scenario.

17. Input Design
There should be a minimum of two inputs for any tabletop exercise
notification/activation
additional information once team / plan is activated
Ensure inputs are created to raise issues and require participants to work collaboratively
Are there additional inputs or ‘curveballs’ that could be added?
A table top is as much information gathering as it is information sharing
This information is provided verbally and also in written format.
There should be a minimum of two inputs for any tabletop exercise
notification/activation
additional information once team / plan is activated
Ensure inputs are created that require participants to work collaboratively to resolve them as part of a team
Are there additional inputs or ‘curveballs’ that could be added?
You don’t have to have all the answers- a table top is as much information gathering as it is information sharing

18. Prompting Questions Prepare 2 to 5 questions for each Exercise Input
These questions are based on the input and your exercise objectives
Meant to raise issues and promote group discussion
The questions also assist the facilitator in keeping participants on track.
Prepare 2 to 5 ‘Prompting Questions’ for each Exercise Input
These questions are based on the input and your exercise objectives – and are meant to promote group discussion
The prompting questions also assist the facilitator in keeping participants on track.
Note: Facilitator does not need to have the answers

19. Design & Facilitation Resources
Maps
Copies of ERPs
Copies of table top exercise documents
Administrative and logistical support required for facilitation

20. Step 4 Facilitating the Tabletop Exercise

21. Duration
Tabletop Exercise sessions most often run for hours, inclusive of introductions, facilitated discussion and the action planning session.
The exact duration of your tabletop session(s) should be based on your defined objectives
Typically, Tabletop Exercise sessions most often run for hours, inclusive of introductions, facilitated discussion and the action planning session.
The exact duration of your tabletop session(s) should be based on your defined objectives

22. Ground Rules General instructions for participants
The first part of Ground Rules clarify the reason (WHY) we are conducting the exercise
The second part of Ground Rules clarify what we expect of the participants (HOW) we will conduct the exercise.
General instructions for participants
The first part of Ground Rules clarify the reason (WHY) we are conducting the exercise
The second part of Ground Rules clarify what we expect of the participants (HOW) we will conduct the exercise.
The Ground Rules should emphasize the importance of actively participating in the discussion.

23. Facilitation Options General Group discussion Response Role discussion
Participants have a general discussion about how issues should be handled as a team
More passive
Easier to facilitate
Response Role discussion
Participants are assigned specific roles as part of the response team
More active
More challenging to facilitate
There are many ways to conduct a Tabletop Exercise, however these are two ways that are quite effective and relatively easy for a new facilitator to do:
Macro - Group discussion
Participants have an open facilitated discussion about how issues should be handled
More passive
Easier to facilitate
Response Role discussion
Participants are assigned ICS functions as the team would be activated, and participants play their response functions
More active
More challenging to facilitate

24. Facilitation
First clarify the issues, and then prompt & stimulate the group’s discussion
Add information only to clarify the scenario not to influence the actions or decisions of the participants
Properly facilitate quiet or domineering participants
Ask the tough questions
Participants alone must decide how to deal with the issues
Be tactful with injection of prompting questions
The Facilitator leads the participants into a discussion about the scenario – first to clarify the issue, and then to prompt & stimulate the group’s own discussion.
Facilitators should ensure that they are adding information only to clarify the scenario rather than directing the response / recovery.
Do not let your expectations of how the tabletop response should unfold influence the response discussion of the participants.
Try to involve / ask questions of all participants to ensure complete participation. Ask the tough questions
Each participant should feel free to share ideas, ask questions and make suggestions regardless of which group they are representing
Note:
Facilitators are NOT part of the response team; the participants alone must decide how to deal with the issues.
However, if you ask the group a question you should have some idea of the answer, you may need to do some research ahead of time.

25. Debriefs & Evaluations
Evaluation forms should be provided. This allows participants to anonymously provide their feedback if they wish
Debriefs are important and allow you to take note of anything you missed as exercise facilitator
Evaluation forms may or may not be used at a table top exercise. It will depend on the amount of discussion that occurs and the measurable objectives of your table tops exercise. If enough discussion occurs you may be able to capture all of the feedback just within the table top
Debriefs are important so that everyone gets to provide their input on what went well and what didn’t. It’s also a chance to get to hear and consider other perspectives.
You may want to prepare some general debrief questions ahead of time, to facilitate feedback and keep discussion focused.
Debriefs and evaluation forms should also be provided to any actors. Actors provide you with a perspective you may not have gotten otherwise and allows you to improvise the system for your partners, customers and residents (ex: evacuees, injured)

26. Debriefing
A discussion of what participants view as positives (response, of the exercise), and what the opportunities are for improvement.
Just like any meeting you will want to bring closure to the session, to clarify what did we learn, compare the results to the objectives and list key outstanding issues.
Be sure to thank everyone involved.
The facilitator facilitates the debriefing around the table, a discussion of what participants observed as positives (response, of the exercise), and what the opportunities are for improvement.
Just like any meeting you will want to bring closure to the session, to clarify what did we learn, compare the results to the objectives and list key outstanding issues.
Be sure to thank everyone involved.

27. Step 6 After Action Report

28. After Action Report
Compile action items – assign responsibilities and a timeline for completion of each item
Ensure the “After Action Report” is distributed to all exercise participants
Liability- closure of action items
Compile action items – assign responsibilities and a timeline for completion of each item.
Review exercise documentation and observer / evaluator notes
Review participants’ feedback and suggestions
Summarize exercise and outcome
Organize and assign responsibility. Add due dates and suggestions for improvement.
Ensure the “After Action Report” is distributed to all exercise participants
Liability- closure of action items
Note: An AAR usually includes: objectives, scenario, participants, overview of response and assigned actin items and due dates.

29. Please see workbook for more tips and suggestions

30. Table Top- Putting It to Practice
Condensed table top- to provide you tool to refer back to
Challenges for facilitators
Request for 2 Volunteer Facilitators