Six Days of Powerful Talks

The tabletop exercise is a focused, comprehensive and beneficial guide that has been increasingly adopted and successfully incorporated by the various agencies of the international community. The purpose of this exercise is to facilitate constructive discussions and analysis of various emergency situations that are commonly faced - in an informal stress free environment. A scenario is described to the exercise participants, who would then decide what actions they would take. Often, the scenario is designed to change over time, with the facilitator providing updated information or changing conditions as the exercise progresses.

In this programme, equipment and resources are not deployed. The participants from various different agencies are given the opportunity to work together around a table to solve the situations according to their specialized role based on existing operational plans. This increases the awareness of participants towards each role during disaster management and to improve the communication gap between the agencies as they learn to appreciate the value of each member of the rescue service.

The purpose of a tabletop exercise is to validate plans, policies, and procedures. It uses a hypothetical scenario with subsequent updates to stimulate how the incident might unfold. Together, the scenario and its update will drive the players discussion. Typically, it involves decision makers from multiple agencies or multiple functions within an agency.

In conclusion, the tabletop exercises must be a part of any agency's training and business management practices. Plans, policies, and procedures are worthless unless senior management, filed commanders, and responders understand their roles and responsibilities.