Planning and Exercise - Principles of Emergency Management - page 232

TIP BOX 10.2
If all exercise types and all documents that go with them seem complicated,
do not worry. Once you start the process, you can use our checklist to ensure
that you select the correct documents for the type of exercise you pick.
Examples in the Appendix can be used as a base for your exercise.
After Action Report and Implementation Plan
The After Action Report (AAR) serves to capture the findings and input from the
exercise. Based on the findings, the implementation plan (IP), which is sometimes
included in the AAR, provides a prioritization of issues with assignments and time-
lines for reaching the goal in order to correct and improve operations and plans
based on the exercise outcomes.
Participant Roles
Participants in discussion-based exercises play different roles depending on their
level of participation in the exercise.
◾ Players are personnel who have an active role in responding to the simulated
emergency and perform their regular roles and responsibilities during the exercise.
Players initiate actions that will respond to and mitigate the simulated emergency.
◾ Facilitator or Exercise Director is a member of the controllers who manages
the overall delivery and flow of the exercise. This role is found in all exercises
since this is the person who guides and delivers the materials.
◾ Evaluators are chosen to evaluate and provide feedback on a designated
functional area of the exercise. They are chosen based on their expertise in the
functional area(s) they have been assigned to review during the exercise, as
well as their familiarity with local emergency response procedures. Evaluators
assess and document the participants' performance against established emer-
gency plans and exercise evaluation criteria. They are typically chosen from
among planning committee members or the agencies/organizations partici-
pating in the exercise.
For most discussion-based exercises, it is very common for the players
to self-evaluate and conduct their own evaluation and determine oppor-
tunities for improvement rather than having outside evaluators do this
effort.
◾ Observers visit or view selected segments of the exercise. Observers do not
play in the exercise, and do not perform any control or evaluation functions.
◾ Exercise support staff includes individuals who are assigned administrative
and logistical support tasks during the exercise (i.e., registration, catering).