200 years ago, a series of major earthquakes struck the Mississippi River Valley along the New Madrid Seismic Zone in the Central United States. Recent events remind us that damaging earthquakes can happen at any time. With more than 40 million people living and working in the region today, a major earthquake would cause widespread damage and disruption.

Continue reading The Great Central U.S. Shakeout is taking place on February 7, 2012

Tags: earthquake, exercise, Great Central U.S. Shakeout, New Madrid, ShakeOut, test

One of the basic tenets of emergency planning is that a plan that has not been tested is not real. Unfortunately, while the best way to test plans is an operational exercise, the resource demands of functional and full scale exercises mean that we cannot hold them as frequently as we would like.

Continue reading Emergency Exercises: The Neglected Tabletop

Tags: exercise, tabletop, Testing

A new season of Formidable Footprint exercises continues and now is the time for neighborhood, community and faith based organizations to make plans to participate. A tornado exercise is scheduled for October 29, 2011.

Continue reading Formidable Footprint Tornado Exercise: October 29 2011

Tags: Disaster Resistant Communities, exercise, Formidable Footprint, Testing

Many times organizations conduct traditional disaster recovery exercises where testing is done in silos and the scope is limited and restricted only to host level recovery of individual systems. With growing technology changes and globalization trends, the intricacy and interdependencies of applications have become more complex in recent years and major applications are spread across multiple locations and multiple servers.

Continue reading How to Conduct an “End-to-End” Disaster Recovery Exercise in Real Time

Tags: application recovery, Disaster Recovery, exercise, middleware, recovery time objectives, RTO, Shankar Subramaniyan, Testing

A team of national, regional, state and local agencies and organizations have undertaken an effort to develop, facilitate and evaluate a recurring series of disaster exercises entitled “Formidable Footprint.”

Continue reading Formidable Footprint – A National Community / Neighborhood Exercise Series

Tags: Disaster Resistant Communities, exercise, Formidable Footprint, ONX, scenarios, Testing

NEW BOOK!

Emergency Management Exercises:

From Response to Recovery

Everything you need to know to design a great exercise!

by Regina Phelps, RN BSN MPA CEM

Get your copy of this brand new book today – and see below for a special offer!

Exercises are a mainstay in the field of emergency management and business continuity planning. Although many companies conduct exercises, and the organizers may be emergency response subject matter experts, they do not excel in the discipline of designing and conducting the actual exercise – which means they simply don’t get the best results out of their effort.

This thoughtful, new book starts with a “silly little question:” Why are we doing this? What seems like a simple query is actually one of the keys to get the most out of every exercise you design.

This text peels back the design process with the goal of creating the best exercise experience possible. Whether you are developing a simple tabletop exercises or working on a full-scale extravaganza that resembles a Hollywood movie, this book will provide you with gems of wisdom that will make your next exercise sizzle. An internationally recognized expert in exercise design, Regina Phelps shares many of her secrets to ensure your exercise success.

2011, 233 pages. $79.95.

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CONTENTS

1. Why conduct emergency management exercises?
2. The six types of exercises
3. The design team: your secret weapon in exercise design
4. Your roadmap – the exercise plan
5. The real story: the development of the exercise narrative
6. The drivers – exercise injects
7. Where the magic is created – the design team
8. Make your exercise sizzle – audio-visual tools
9. Supporting documents to make it all work – additional background exercise documents
10. Bringing it all together – the exercise team
11. Finally – the big day arrives: managing the exercise day
12. How to conduct an orientation exercise
13. How to conduct a tabletop exercise
14. Creating reality: how to conduct a functional exercise
15. Preparing the after-action report and exercise follow-up
16. Developing an annual or multi-year exercise and training calendar
17. Exercise design resource list
18. Glossary

Regina Phelps RN BSN MPA CEM is an internationally recognized expert in the field of emergency management and continuity planning. Since 1982, she has provided consultation and speaking services to clients on four continents. She is founder of Emergency Management & Safety Solutions, a consulting company specializing in emergency management, continuity planning and safety. Ms. Phelps has extensive exercise design experience. She designs between 100 and 150 exercises per year.

SPECIAL OFFER!

Receive a copy of the classic book, DISASTER RECOVERY TESTING: EXERCISING YOUR CONTINGENCY PLAN for Half Price – only $24.98 – with prepaid purchase of Emergency Management Exercises!

Tags: 978-0-9831143-0-7, 9780983114307, crisis management, emergency management, Emergency Management Exercises, exercise, Regina Phelps, Risk Management, Testing

This exciting, new, PC-ready multimedia set provides Exercise Managers with all the creative content they need to run an effective and credible desktop exercise!

This exercise toolkit consists of versatile and easy-to-use fire and flood film footage, sound effects, audio playlets, handouts and freshly designed web based injects, specifically created to bring your fire and flood scenarios to life.

Each kit begins with the onset of an incident, moves onto the incident unfolding and then the aftermath. At each stage, a combination of clips can be used to complement and enhance your story – from news reports and bulletins, clips from press, relatives and third party suppliers to specially created sound effect montages and fictitious online news pages.

Each set provides your organization with a flexible range of engaging and thought-provoking injects in a phase-by-phase framework. Exercise Managers can select appropriate audio, film and print injects according to their scenario Master Events List or use the injects for inspiration and create a scenario events list around them. The selected injects can then be downloaded and embedded into a presentation or played from a desktop. So, using the material on the discs, Exercise Directors can tailor their exercises to suit the specific training needs of their business.

The toolkit scripts conveniently have generic references such as ‘the city’, the ‘city centre’, and ‘the area’, to enable the material to apply to as wide an audience as possible. References are universal in their appeal, versatile in their use.

Each disc in the Multimedia Exercising Set includes:

• Film clips and ‘from-the-scene’ film news reports;
• Audio clips including radio news bulletins, plus calls from the press, worried relatives and third party suppliers;
• Printable handouts including web news screens.
• Sound effect montages.

Fire Exercise Toolkit Content

Stage One – The Outbreak of Fire

Stage Two – The situation develops

Stage Three – The Fire is Under Control

Additional Material

Stage One

Film

1. Footage of the fire breaking out in the city- No voice-over
2. TV News Report- Outbreak of the fire in the city

Audio

1. Radio News Bulletin – Outbreak of fire in the city
2. Call from Employee – seeking information, should I come to work?
3. Call from senior employee- seeking information and plan of action
4. Call from Journalist from National newspaper – Can you tell me anything?
5. Call from wife – Have you seen my husband?
6. Call from Contractor- seeking delivery information
7. SFX- Emergency Services/busy traffic
8. SFX- Fire blazing/traffic jam
9. SFX- Fire blazing, fire alarms, sprinklers, sirens, traffic and people outside

Print

1. Scenario assumptions
2. Webpage News article- description of incident so far

Stage Two

Film

1. News Report – High winds cause the fire to spread through the city
2. Footage of the fire spreading through the city, no voice-over

Audio

1. Radio Bulletin – Flames have spread through the city centre
2. Call from Journalist – When will business resume?
3. Call from Wife – Complaint to Incident Management Team
4. Call from Employee – Seeking Information
5. Call from Contractor – What about deliveries for the rest of the week?

Print

1. Scenario assumptions
2. Webpage news article – breaking news of the problem

Stage 3

Film

1. Footage of the fire – Now under control (no voice-over)
2. News Report – Fire under control

Audio

1. Financial News Report- Version 1- Estimated damage: £2 Million
2. Financial News Report- Version 2- Estimated damage: £200 Million
3. Radio Bulletin- Fire under Control
4. Call from Employee – complaint to line manager
5. Call from Employee – back log of work
6. Call from Radio Journalist – seeking information on customer service

Print

1. Scenario assumptions at this stage
2. Webpage News article- summing up the events

Additional Material

1. Fire facts
2. SFX
3. Short film clips

Flood Exercise Toolkit Contents

Stage One- The outbreak of the Flood

Stage Two- The situation develops

Stage Three- The Flood is under control

Additional Material

Stage One:

Film

1. TV News Bulletin
2. Montage of severe flooding (No voice-over)

Audio

1. Radio News Report
2. Radio Weather Report
3. Call from office-based employee
4. Call from Manager
5. Call from third-party supplier
6. Call from Worried relative
7. Call from member of the public

Print & Graphics

1. Webpage News article
2. Met Office Press Release

Scripts include

• Radio Weather Report
• TV News Bulletin
• Radio News Report
• Office based Employee phone call
• Call from Manager phone call
• Call from 3^rd Party
• Worried Relative phone call
• Call from Member of the Public

Stage Two

Film

1. TV News Bulletin- Fears of contaminated drinking water
2. Montage of flood footage

Audio

1. Radio News Report – Mounting problems
2. News Report – Health risks (with Interview)
3. Call from employee
4. Manager and Employee- How are you coping with the relocation?

Print

1. Web-page News article
2. Health Protection Agency regarding flood water

Scripts include

• TV News Bulletin
• Radio News Report – Mounting Problems
• Radio News Report – Health Risks with Interview
• Call from Employee
• Manager and Employee – How are you coping with the relocation?

Stage Three

Film

1. TV News Bulletin- Clean up underway
2. Montage of flood footage

Audio

1. Radio News Report – Clean Up underway
2. Call from Newspaper journalist
3. Radio phone in – Do you blame the Authorities?
4. Call from Customer 1
5. News Report- Financial Report

Print & Graphics

1. Webpage News article 1 – Flood Victims face dangerous aftermath
2. Webpage News article 2 – Fixing the flooding infrastructure
3. Web page news Article – Insurance costs rise

Scripts Include

• Call from Customer
• News Report- Financial Impact
• Radio Phone In
• Call from Journalist
• Radio News Report
• TV News Report

Additional Material

1. Flood facts
2. SFX
3. Short film clips

This product is licensed for internal business use only.

Note: in order to run these disks you will need to have Shockwave Player 11 installed on your computer, which is downloadable for free.

SPECIAL OFFER!

Get a FREE copy of the classic book, Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan with your purchase! Only $289.00 for the Fire and Flood Exercise Collections PLUS your bonus book!

Tags: disaster recovery testing, DVD, exercise, scenarios, scripts, test, video

The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) has produced two Business Continuity training DVDs:

Practice Makes Perfect: Exercising Made Easy – a Comprehensive Guide to Exercising Business Continuity Plans

and

Understanding Your Business: How to do a Business Impact Analysis.

Both videos and accompanying CDs have been structured around the BCI Good Practice Guidelines and the BS25999 standard.

Only $60.00 each!

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Understanding Your Business: How to do a Business Impact Analysis – Training DVD

This 20 minute original film, complemented by a data CD, takes the viewer through the essential elements of a BIA: what it is; how to get management “buy in” and how to conduct a BIA.

The training film – based in a hotel – takes the viewer on an information gathering journey through the eyes of Ed, the lead character. We see Ed conducting his BIA in this familiar setting, providing the viewer with a clear and usable analogy.

The CD that accompanies the film contains a comprehensive questionnaire with a set of templates and guidance notes together with expert industry advice.

CD Contents:

• A word booklet containing a step by step guide to undertaking a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) including:
  • Understanding your business as part of the BCM lifecycle
  • What is a BIA?
  • The purpose of a BIA
  • The motivation for BCM and the sponsor
  • Establishing the scope
  • Methods and Techniques for Collecting Data
  • Determining how results will be used
  • Gathering and verifying your results
  • Identifying Respondents
• BIA questionnaire template with notes
• Sign and Review template
• FAQs
• Risk Assessments and the BIA with template

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Practice Makes Perfect: exercising made easy – a comprehensive guide to exercising Business Continuity plans – Training DVD

Using a theatrical analogy, this clear, concise, and visually interesting 20 minute film demonstrates how performance (BC plan) is rehearsed – from simple desk top exercising through to more complex scenarios. The film is engaging and achieves a robust mix of practical training and engaging drama viewed through the eyes of a BCM Practitioner.

The accompanying CD contains a 2,700 word booklet detailing a step-by-step guide to exercising with templates; a guide to creating exercise scenarios; role-play scripts and debrief notes.

CD Contents:

• Annex A Main Event List
• BCI Booklet
• Creating Your Own Scenario
• Debrief Template
• Exercise Invitation Template
• Exercise Manager’s Notes
• Fire Scenario
• Glossary
• Injects Template for Role‐Players
• Scripts Flood
• BSI Folder
• BS 25999 Product Sheet
• BS 25999 A4 Advertisement for BSIDVD
• BS 25999 Global Product Guide
• BS 25999 Part 2 and Certification for BCI Continuity Magazine
• BSI Management Systems profile for BCIDVD
• About BCI
• About Ear Productions BC

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SPECIAL OFFER! “Practice Makes Perfect” DVD, PLUS the groundbreaking book, Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan. Only $99.00 for the DVD PLUS book – save $10.00 if purchased together!

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Tags: bci, BIA, BS25999, Business Continuity Institute, business impact assessment, DVD, dvds, exercise, good practice guidelines, gpg, Testing, Training, video

Exercising your contingency plan? Make sure EVERYBODY knows it’s an exercise! AMSA (American Moving and Storage Association) received a copy of the NLE 2011 National Level Exercise Scenario and published road closures as fact.  If this had not been brought to their attention this could have caused problems for many of AMSA’s drivers.

Continue reading This is NOT a drill… or is it?

Tags: exercise, National Level Exercise, NLE 2011, notification, Testing

In late 1811, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook the New Madrid Seismic Zone, stretching across Southern and Midwestern states. It was followed by two earthquakes in 1812 ranging from magnitude 7.5 to 7.7, six aftershocks ranging from magnitude 5.5 to 6.3 within the first two days and hundreds more aftershocks were felt into 1813. Two centuries later, that scenario was the basis for National Level Exercise (NLE) 2011, one of the largest emergency exercises in U.S. history and the first of its scale to simulate a natural disaster.

Continue reading National Level Exercise 2011: Lessons Learned and a Look Behind the Scenes

Tags: earthquake, exercise, National Level Exercise, NLE, Testing

EURid, the registry for the .eu top-level domain (TLD), successfully tested its disaster recovery plan on 7 July 2011 during a business continuity exercise.

Continue reading .eu passes disaster tests

Tags: EURid, Europe, exercise, test