FEMA publishes business continuity exercises for private sector organizations


Written by Phil on November 5, 2010 in Business Continuity, disaster preparedness, Emergency Response, Testing.

FEMA is now providing, free for download and use, a series of Tabletop Exercise presentations as a tool to advance your organization’s continuity, preparedness and resiliency.

Each exercise takes your team through a realistic disaster scenario and facilitates a discussion of how your organization would plan, protect, respond and recover. Each includes full instructor’s notes so you can gather a facilitator and a team of participants, and self-facilitate the exercise internally.

The first two exercises, for a major Hurricane and rail Chemical Accident, also feature simulated TV news videos suggesting exercise-focused local reporting of the disasters. This feature adds a sense of realism and helps to motivate interactive discussion. The exercises typically take 2-4 hours from start to finish and can be customized where noted in the facilitator’s notes to meet your needs.

Developed by FEMA’s Private Sector Division advised by FEMA’s National Exercise Division, the two exercises, for a major Hurricane and Chemical Accident, draw on the federal government’s National Planning Scenarios, designed as planning tools for natural disasters or terrorist attacks that face the United States.

These exercises are structured on the Tabletop Exercise Design curriculum developed by FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, as well as other FEMA/DHS training reference materials.

See Emergency Planning Exercises for Your Organization from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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Rothstein Associates is working on publishing a compilation of exercise scripts and scenarios for business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management and emergency management.

If you are interested in contributing your favorite scripts or scenarios, contact Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI.

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An unexercised contingency plan could be worse than no plan at all!

Be sure to read Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor – the only book on this subject – for valuable tips, techniques and insights. Now only $49.00!

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