MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
FACILITIES CONFERENCE
April 24 – 26, 2013
White Paper
Exercise Types for Higher Ed
Author: Mr. Tracy L. Worsley, MA
MnSCU Emergency Preparedness and Security
Purpose: Drills and exercises are a vehicle to practice emergency plans and
procedures, short of and prior to an actual event. They vary in size, scope, duration
and resources in time, money and operational interruption. This paper serves to
clarify the differences and provide the advantages and disadvantages to each.
Types of Exercises:
•
Drills: Coordinated and supervised exercises used to test a single specific
operation or function within an institution
o Advantages:
 Non-threatening environment
 Minimal deployment of resources
 Heightened awareness for campus community
 Perfect for practicing immediate actions (i.e. evacuation, severe
weather, lockdown, etc.)
 Several required by code and law including OSHA, NFPA/Fire
Code, and Clery Act for reporting.
o Disadvantages:
 Some operational and academic interruption possible
 Does not allow for exercise of the Emergency Operations Plan.
 Does not facilitate preparation for campus response other than
immediate action
 Does not promote or clarify decision making necessary during
actual operations
 Does not exercise many critical functions during actual response
(i.e. communication, organization, public information, damage
assessment, etc.)
•
Tabletop Exercises: Facilitated, low stress, group analysis of an emergency
situation designed to examine and improve emergency operations plans,
identify problems and do more in-depth problem solving
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o Advantages:
 Preferable method for most campuses
 Can be combined with “drilling” for more advanced training,
planning and exercise
 Can be tailored and facilitated to target key decision making
points, functions, issues and problem areas
 Lower costs in time, resources and interruption except for those
responsible for management of an emergency
 Little to no academic interruption
 Critical for planning and development of effective emergency
operations plans and training of emergency operations team
members
o Disadvantages:
 Does not allow for testing or exercising some critical functions
(i.e actual communication processes, deployment of resources,
public information processes, etc.)
 Basically discussion centered around problem solving and
identifying critical decision making points
 Doesn’t involve the entire campus community – and shouldn’t!
 Must be specifically facilitated by experienced exercise
coordinator to keep on track and gain the maximum benefit
•
Functional Exercises: Fully simulated interactive sets of exercises that further
test the capability of an institution to respond and focuses on coordination of
multiple functions. It normally takes place at the Emergency Operations
Center and involves actual coordination with outside agencies and resources.
o Advantages:
 Tests critical functions in real time and systems to ensure they
operate and function together
 Excellent for specific functions like communication, damage
assessment, some other specific functions
 Identifies shortfalls in equipment and training
 Stresses emergency response functions and personnel more
o Disadvantages
 Much more planning is required and increased operations and
academic interruption
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April 24 – 26, 2013
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

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•
Liability
Many more personnel necessary for facilitation, control,
evaluation and observation
Requires in depth knowledge of exercise development and
emergency response
Full Scale Exercises: Full-fledged simulated emergency event that involves all
emergency and non-emergency personnel and requires full deployment of
equipment and personnel
o Advantages
 Great networking opportunity as all functions, emergency and
non-emergency agencies and personnel work in real time with
real equipment and processes
 Realistic response in terms of time, activities, simulation of actual
events
 Familiarize emergency responders with campus layout and
infrastructure as well as emergency plans
o Disadvantages
 Requires massive amount of resources, coordination, planning
and money
 Usually outside the scope of campus planning and capabilities
and taken over by local first responders resulting in little benefit
to the campus community as a whole and the administration
specifically
 Requires extensive planning – a year in advance and requires
many controllers, evaluators, observers, as well as role players
and participants
 Stressful and costly in terms of operational and academic
interruption
 Liability
Exercise Planning and Documentation:
•
All exercises and drills require some type of scripting and planning.
Complexity of the exercise increases planning time and expenditure of
resources in terms of dollars, personnel and interruption to operations and the
academic process.
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April 24 – 26, 2013
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•
•
All exercises should be developed around local conditions and situations,
facilitated and controlled, and completely documented, to include a follow-up
plan for discrepancies and deficiencies.
The system office has the capability to design, facilitate, evaluate and/or
observe exercises of any size and scope.
Summary:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Campuses have a variety of types of exercises to choose from
Some drills are mandatory under various regulatory agencies such as OSHA,
NFPA/ Fire Code and Clery Act for reporting.
Tabletop exercises are preferred because of minimal interruption to academic
process and normal operations,
Tabletop exercises can be targeted and tailored to address specific issues
All exercises must be scripted, facilitated and documented.
With the exception of drills, exercises require a skill set to develop, facilitate,
control and evaluate.
Larger scale exercises, while exciting and great community networking
opportunities, do little for the campus administration unless specifically
accompanied by element designed for the campus.
Future Assistance: For assistance with exercise selection, development, facilitation,
control, observation, evaluation, or anything relative, please feel free to contact Tracy
L. Worsley, Emergency Preparedness and Security, 651-2011797, tracy.worsley@so.mnscu.edu.
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