Exercises: The Tool for Evaluating Plans, Training and Preparedness
Emergency plans must be practiced and then evaluated so they will be effective.
Emergency exercises will help an organization assess its preparedness level. They can evaluate accuracy of plans, clarity of objectives, effectiveness of training and level of capabilities achieved by personnel.
Exercises Test Preparedness Levels
A third component of the National Preparedness Cycle allows an organization to accurately evaluate the return it receives from its planning and training investments: exercises. An exercise is the activity of choice to assess an organization’s preparedness level. It is a structured learning environment in which an organization can evaluate the following aspects of its preparedness:
- The accuracy of its plans
- The clarity of its objectives
- The effectiveness of its training
- The level of capabilities achieved by its personnel
Exercises are not standalone events. They are a key component of a comprehensive approach to planning, training, evaluation and learning. Exercises play an important role in connecting an organization’s planning and training functions with the related improvement process upon which the organization bases its future planning, training and response efforts.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) divides exercises into two categories: discussion-based and operations-based.
Discussion exercises are more strategic and focus on planning and policy issues and validating plans, while operations exercises are tactical in nature, with participants actually demonstrating the procedures and activities outlined in their plans. The table top exercise is the most common of the discussion exercises. Operations exercises include drills, functional and full scale types.
Approach Gets Progressively Complex
HSEEP utilizes a progressive building-block approach to an exercise program, beginning with the discussion exercises and increasing in scope and complexity until culminating with a full scale exercise.
In order to provide value to participants, an exercise should possess two distinct and measurable qualities. It must be capabilities-based and objectives-driven. These qualities form the basis for the structure of the entire exercise and are directly linked to the development of the following exercise management tools:
- Core capabilities
- Exercise objectives
- Critical tasks
- Exercise evaluation guides (EEGs)
- After action report (AAR)
- Improvement plan
A capabilities focus allows participants to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the organization’s EOP. Assessing participant capabilities provides the organization with the information needed to improve its training programs. An objectives-driven focus ensures that the critical tasks to be performed by participants are consistent with the goals of the organization(s) participating in the exercise.
Objectives should be designed to allow participants to demonstrate the level of capability they have attained from their training. Comparing the exercise objectives to the actions exhibited (or omitted) by the participants is a clear way of evaluating the quality and success of that training. When designed correctly, an exercise allows participants to demonstrate targeted capabilities and achieve required objectives.
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