On December 15 and 16, 2020, the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management (OEM), in partnership with FEMA Region 8, conducted a virtual, two-day tabletop exercise. Activities, led by FEMA facilitators, focused on hypothetical scenarios and their impacts on human resources, technology, and facilities. More than 80 participants, including BOLDplanning representative, Will Minkoff, CBCP, joined in online. (South Dakota Office of Emergency Management relies on the BOLDplanning’s online platform for Continuity of Operations, or COOP, planning, as well as its expert consulting services.)
According to FEMA and its Ready.gov campaign, exercises “enhance knowledge of plans, allow members to improve their own performance, and identify opportunities to improve capabilities to respond to real events.”
Further, exercises are a great method to:
- Evaluate the overall preparedness program
- Identify planning and procedural deficiencies
- Test or validate recently changed procedures or plans
- Clarify roles and responsibilities
- Obtain participant feedback and recommendations for program improvement
- Measure improvement compared to performance objectives
- Improve coordination between internal and external teams, organizations and entities
- Validate training and education
- Increase awareness and understanding of hazards and the potential