By Daryl Lee Spiewak, CEM, TEM, MEP, Lead Trainer for the CEM Commission, and Chair, IAEM-Global Communications Work Group

Last month we discussed the topic of Exercises and Tests, with an emphasis on the Four Key Elements in the design of an exercise. This month we will continue our focus on exercise design and development with an emphasis on exercise documentation.

Exercise Design Documents

The FEMA Independent Study (IS) Course IS-120a, An Introduction to Exercises, tells us, “Exercise documents are the most tangible elements of design and development.” Some documents are common across all types of exercises. Examples include: exercise invitations, media releases, sign-in sheets, exercise schedule, name and table tents, badges, and participant feedback forms. Other documents will be specific to the specific exercise type, such as: seminar, tabletop, drill, functional, or full-scale. These documents include a situation manual, an exercise plan, a controller evaluator handbook, a master scenario events list, and exercise evaluation guides. An emergency manager needs to be familiar with all of the documents used to design and develop an effective exercise.

Discussion-Based Exercises

• A document provided to exercise participants in discussion-based exercises is the Situation Manual (SITMAN). The SITMAN provides background information on the exercise scope, schedule, and objectives. It also provides the scenario narrative to guide player discussions during the exercise. The scenario section is usually divided up into distinct, chronologically sequenced modules, with each module representing a specific time segment of the overall scenario. The modules are always based on exercise objectives and scenario requirements. Each module is followed by discussion questions, usually divided by organization or discipline. Responses to the modules’ discussion questions are the focus of the exercise, and reviewing them provides the basis for evaluating exercise results.
• Another key document in discussion-based exercises is the Facilitator Guide (FG). It supplements the SITMAN and contains more detailed information about the exercise scenario not provided to the exercise players. The FG provides background information to help the facilitator answer questions from participants or players. The FG is also used to guide the controllers and evaluators in their roles and responsibilities by providing instructions and key issues for discussion during the event as well as essential materials required to execute their specific functions.

Operations-Based Exercises

• Operations-based exercises are more complex and require more detailed documentation to run effectively. The Exercise Plan (EXPLAN) provides the exercise purpose, scope, objectives, and logistical information for the exercise. It assigns activities and responsibilities for exercise planning, conduct, and evaluation. Since the ExPlan is intended to be seen by the exercise players and observers (also controllers and evaluators) it does not contain detailed scenario information that may reduce the realism of the exercise.
• Another key document in operations-based exercises is the Controller Evaluator (C/E) Handbook. This document supplements the EXPLAN and contains more detailed information about the exercise scenario not provided to the exercise players. The C/E is used to guide the controllers and evaluators in their roles and responsibilities.

Both Types of Exercises

• The document that contains a chronological listing of the major and detailed events and injects, or messages, used to drive the play in complex tabletop and operations-based exercises is the Master Scenario Events List (MSEL). Major events are the likely big events (developed from the purpose statement) that result from the emergency situation described in the scenario. They are based on actual case studies, past events or operational plans, and call for realistic action by the players.

According to FEMA Course IS-139, Exercise Design, “Detailed events are specific problem situations to which personnel must respond. Each detailed event should be designed to prompt one or more expected actions for one or more organizations that are participating in the exercise.” These are the actions or decisions participants are expected to perform to demonstrate competence and are tied closely with the exercise objectives. The four types of actions participants could be expected to demonstrate during an exercise are Verification (gather or verify information), Consideration (consider information, discuss among players, negotiate, consult plan), Deferral (defer action to later, put action on priority list), and Decision (deploy or deny resources).

• As stated previously, Exercise Evaluation Guides (EEGs) are common to both discussion-based and operations-based exercises. They are used with all exercise types except for seminars and drills. EEGs provide exercise evaluators with a checklist of critical tasks to be completed by the players during the exercise. The EEG documents contain the information to be discussed or acted upon by the players, space to record evaluator observations, and questions to consider after the exercise. The information, data, and initial analyses contained therein are used to prepare the After Action Report (AAR) and Improvement Plan (IP). We will discuss the AAR and IP in a future article.
• Exercise Messages or Injects are common to most exercise types too. They may be simple or complex and are based on the major detailed events listed in the MSEL. The messages or injects are the means used to drive one of the expected actions. Each message or inject should contain four variables – the message source (who), the method of transmission (how), the message content (what), and the recipient of the message (to whom).
  
  During the course of the exercise, players may not react as expected. When this occurs, it will be necessary to improvise with the exercise controllers or simulators developing spontaneous messages, based on the scenario and objectives to fulfill the exercise purpose.

We discussed the more common exercise documents an emergency manager will to design and manage an exercise use based on the exercise type. There are other documents that may be used that were not discussed here. All of these documents are briefly covered in the FEMA Independent Study courses, but are covered in much more detail in the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Manual.

Examination References

As for the previous standards, NFPA 1600 does not describe how to prepare all of these documents, so for the exam, we need to refer back to various FEMA Independent Study Courses and the HSEEP Manual. Review independent study courses related to exercises, such as IS-120a, An Introduction to Exercises, and IS-139, Exercise Design, for the core questions. USA candidates should also review the HSEEP documents.

Essay

The application process for both the CEM® and the AEM® does not require the candidate to address Exercises and Tests specifically as one of the required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) components for the emergency management essay. However, it does require discussion of Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation activities. In addition, candidates may choose Exercises and Tests as a key component of their Problem Statement and write about that (being sure to cover all the KSAs).

Practice Questions

Here are two core-type questions for our analysis in this article.

1. Which of the following exercise documents contain distinct, chronologically sequenced modules, with each module representing a specific time segment of the overall scenario?

a. Exercise Evaluation Guides (EEGs)
b. Exercise Plan (EXPLAN)
c. Master Scenario Events List (MSEL)
d. Situation Manual (SITMAN)

This question is asking you to understand the different exercise design documents and what information and data they contain. An EEG consists of a checklist of critical tasks to be completed by the players during the exercise, so this response is incorrect. The EXPLAN provides the exercise purpose, scope, objectives, and logistical information for the exercise, so this response is incorrect. The MSEL contains a chronological listing of the major and detailed events and injects, or messages, so this response is also incorrect. That only leaves one response left and the question does describe the SITMAN. Therefore, the correct response is d. See IS 120.a. and the HSEEP Manual.

2. Which of the following exercise documents contain a checklist of critical tasks to be completed by the players during the exercise?

a. Exercise Evaluation Guides (EEGs)
b. Exercise Plan (EXPLAN)
c. Master Scenario Events List (MSEL)
d. Situation Manual (SITMAN)

This question is asking you to recall the content of the various exercise documents. While critical tasks may be found in each one, only one document contains a checklist. That is only found in the Exercise Evaluation Guides used by the exercise evaluators. Therefore, the correct response is a. See IS 120.a., IS-139, and the HSEEP Manual.

When reading the questions and responses, be sure you understand exactly what the question is asking of you and read each response before selecting the correct one.

Next Month

Next month we continue our discussion on Exercises and Tests, with a focus on exercise development and an emphasis on exercise conduct. We also will analyze some practice exam questions. As usual, please send any questions you have about the examination or the certification process to me at info@iaem.com, and I will address them in future articles.

IAEM Bulletin, July 2017

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