Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Training and exercising of preparedness plans is becoming more commonplace,
even for pandemic plans. Setting the tone for such exercises is the series of federal
exercises, Top Officials (TOPOFF), and the subsequent National Exercise Program
(NEP).* These exercises address emergencies such as the release of biological agents,
radiological dispersal devices, and chemical agents. TOPOFF was a “congressionally
mandated, national terrorism exercise that was designed to identify vulnerabilities in
the nation's domestic incident management capability by exercising the plans, poli-
cies, procedures, systems, and facilities of federal, state, and local response organi-
zations against a series of integrated terrorist threats and acts in separate regions
of the country.” Top officials were engaged in the decision-making processes they
would face in a real-world disaster, from public health concerns to communications
challenges. “The purpose of the open exercise design was to enhance the learning
and preparedness value of the exercise through a “building-block” approach, and to
enable participants to develop and strengthen relationships in the national response
community. Participants at all levels stated that this approach has been of enormous
value to their domestic preparedness strategies.”
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In particular, lessons learned from the exercises have helped pandemic planners
design exercises at federal, regional, state, or local levels for pandemic scenarios:
PANEX 07, a Federal Emergency Management Agency-hosted, joint federal-state
exercise; and FBIIC/FSSCC Pandemic Flu Exercise of 2007, a Department of the
Treasury-hosted exercise involving the banking and financial services sectors. The
latter example has clear goals: “enhance the understanding of systemic risks ... [on]
sector[s]; provide an opportunity for firms to test their pandemic plans; and exam-
ine how the effect of a pandemic flu on other critical infrastructures will impact ...
sector[s].”
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These should be the goals for any exercise intended to validate a pandemic
preparedness plan.
Specific tools and approaches that are components of pandemic plans must also be
trained and exercised. Often, compliance with these techniques, once used, is key to
their effectiveness. As an example, although social distancing appears to be an effec-
tive mitigation technique, it is not easy nor foolproof. A recent study
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showed that
the process can be described, a plan for implementation developed, and a study group
tested—but that the results depend on overall compliance of the subjects, so clearly
diligent training and exercising is critical to this mitigation approach.
Other guidance for developing exercises intended to validate pandemic plans
also is available (e.g., WHO's “Exercise Development Guide for Validating Influenza
Pandemic Preparedness Plans”
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). The leadership and advice that these documents
*
“With the establishment of the NEP and the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform
Act (PKEMRA), requirements were set forth to conduct all-hazards exercises annually.
Accordingly, the congressionally mandated TOPOFF series, which focused on terrorist attacks,
has evolved into the NLE series, which takes an all-hazards approach, focusing on prepara-
tion for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.” (U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) National Level Exercise 2011
(NLE 11), http://www.ready.gov/nle2011/_downloads/NLE2011_FAQ.pdf.)
