-Written by David Whittier
Your Emergency Response Plan is finally complete. After months of research, discussion, writing and re-writing, the document and written and ready for any contingency. So all you do now is put it someplace safe and wait for the emergency to happen, right?
Not so fast.
A plan is critical to an effective response, but it is not worth much to you if your people aren’t familiar with it and know how to use it. An emergency is not the best time to crack the manual and figure out what you are supposed to do.
We guide our people to competence in the response plan through two major activities: training and exercises. For this article I want to focus on exercises, what types there are, and how they can help you get your team prepared.
Emergency Management BC defines an exercise as “a simulated emergency in which participants carry out actions, functions, and responsibilities that would be expected of them in a real emergency. Exercises can be used to validate plans and procedures, and to practice prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities.”
There are 5 different types of exercises in the BC Emergency Management doctrine. Think of them as a continuum, with the level of complexity and realism increasing as you move across the spectrum. They are:
Orientation: Also known as a seminar, this introduces participants to, or provides a refresher on, the plan. You can run a seminar through a lecture, presentations, films, or a panel discussion. Orientations are useful when you are in the initial stages of developing your plan.
Drill: Tests a single function of the plan. Drills are often conducted on site and focus on a single aspect of the plan that is a building block of the larger response. Drills can be used to help determine if your plan can be executed in the way it is designed, and help your team gain familiarity.
Tabletop: A format where participants test the plan by discussing in depth, not in real time, the actions and decisions they would take based on a specific scenario, often with some additional “injects” or time-based scenario additions to guide the discussion towards specific exercise objectives. A Tabletop is most often conducted with participants together in a room, with the option of breaking out into functionally oriented groups so that participants can have a more detailed discussion on parts of the response. The intent of a Tabletop is to gain an understanding of concepts and identify gaps and shortfalls in your plan.
Functional Exercise: This has elements of a Tabletop in that there is a scenario and exercise injects, but a participants practice their response in real time and communicate not only with each other but with a simulation group that communicates on behalf of non-participating agencies. The key element that distinguishes a Functional from a Full-Scale is that there are no “boots on the ground”. A Functional Exercise helps your team practice decision making in a time-sensitive environment.
Full‐Scale Exercise: Is as closely related to reality as possible. A full‐scale exercise adds “the boots on the ground” that were missing from the Functional Exercise, and participants communicate through actual and simulated messages. In addition to a simulation group, the Full-Scale often involves partner organizations, the media, and sometimes even the public. It is the most demanding exercise, both to plan and to participate in, and gives the most realistic experience outside of an actual emergency.
It is important to note that these exercises form a continuum and allow to your team to orient in practice in an increasingly complex environment, rather than forcing them to go “full on” right away. Designed and implemented properly, an exercise program will help your people become better prepared and give them the confidence they will need to succeed in an emergency.
References:
1. Emergency Management Ontario, Guidelines for the Development of an Exercise Program.
2. Emergency Management in BC: Reference Manual
