Exercise design for interagency collaboration training: The case of maritime nuclear emergency management tabletop exercises

Abstract

In this paper, we explore a concept of exercise design within emergency management competence development. The paper presents recommendations for exercise design aspects that may be suitable for gaining collaboration skills and knowledge that responders need in unknown events of high complexity. This study explores the practice of tabletop exercises with complex scenarios that engage participants to discover organizational roles and responsibility division in collaborative action. Empirically, we base our analysis on maritime search and rescue nuclear preparedness exercises in the Arctic seas. We focus on elements that are essential for learners to increase their knowledge of operational complexity and collaborative performance, including understanding one's own and others' roles and responsibilities, formation of interagency teams, their boundaries and interaction between authorities and levels, mutual recognition of risks and learning about resource capacities and their limitations. The study draws conclusions on aspects that are critical for designing emergency management tabletop exercises, in particularly discussions in mixed groups for interpretative learning; own practice reflection for integrative learning; formulating general collaborative competence objectives, and complexity and realism of scenarios.

Enhancing cognitive motivation: an evaluation model for emergency preparedness exercises

“…Exercise evaluation is an important component of exercise design, and with regard to the relational didactical model, it should relate to reaching learning outcomes within the setting framework and given exercise scenario and context. To achieve a credible exercise design, the evaluation approach must be planned thoroughly to mirror the participant prerequisites for learning and the learning process (Elvegård & Andreassen, 2023). Evaluation is an important step in organizational learning toward uncovering required improvements in capacity and capability, overall emergency management effectiveness and informed decision-making (Borodzicz & Van Haperen, 2002).…”

A tabletop exercise approach to global disaster preparedness: insights from Nepal’s first international conference on disaster preparedness and management

“…Guidelines provided by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) and prior studies have shown that adapting the scenario to the context, characteristics, and settings similar to those that participants are likely to encounter in practice, is crucial for ensuring a meaningful experience for the participants ( 3–6 ). Exercises are built around hypothetical or “model” cities or communities, using a technique that is frequently used in emergency management and by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency for training purposes ( 7 , 8 ).…”