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The Exercise Planning Process

t is critical for all exercise participants to be able to recognize the terms used to describe
various exercise roles and responsibilities as well as other important exercise terminology.
I See Appendix C, page 32, for exercise terminology definitions.

A. Organization of the Exercise Planning Team

To begin, an LPHA should establish an Exercise Planning Team.The team’s overall
responsibilities include

1. setting a timeline for the planning process 5. defining the exercise control and preparing
2. defining the exercise’s purpose all documentation and exercise materials
3. selecting the scenario, goals, and objectives 6. facilitating exercise organization, including
for the exercise (this step applies to all communication needs, rules of conduct,
exercises, both local and multiagency); a security and safety issues, and logistics, e.g.,
The Exercise Planning Process
scenario may be chosen from the Suite of parking, assembly areas, transportation, rest-
National Planning Scenarios (Appendix D) rooms, food/water for participants, maps
as long as it is plausible for the jurisdiction and directions, etc.
4. scheduling events, location, date, time, and 7. providing training on the responsibilities/
duration of the exercise activities of the team, exercise participants,
and evaluator(s)

The team’s size will depend on the size of the LPHA and should be modified to fit the scope
of a particular exercise.The roles and responsibilities for the planning team must be clearly
defined and should include delegation of responsibilities among team members as described
below.

Command Role. Assigns tasks and responsibilities, establishes the timeline, and guides and
monitors exercise development.Typically, this role consists of a single team leader—often the
health director or the bioterrorism (BT) coordinator. In cases where large departments or
large-scale exercises are involved, other staff members may assist the team leader.

Operations Group. Ensures scenario accuracy and applicability, and develops the evalua-
tion criteria. Participants in this group typically include departmental subject matter experts
and technical experts (e.g., epidemiologists for surveillance activities, environmental health
specialists for environmental health sampling, and public health nurses for mass prophylaxis
and immunization clinic set up).

Planning Group. Collects and reviews all policies and procedures applicable to the exercise.
Also develops simulation and injects (i.e., intermediate changes or challenges to the exercise
participants) needed to sustain exercise flow. In small departments or for small-scale exercises,
the planning group may be combined with the operations group.
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