After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
After Action Report
Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Tabletop Exercise
Hurricane
April 11, 2013
HANDLING
INSTRUCTIONS
Pinellas CountyDMINISTRATIVE
Neighborhood
Emergency
Preparedness Program
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
1 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
ADMINISTRATIVE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS
1. The title of this document is The "Operation Fortified Response - A Hurricane
Tabletop Exercise Series" After Action Report.
2. The information gathered in this AAR/IP is classified as For Official Use Only
(FOUO) and should be handled as sensitive information not to be disclosed. This
document should be safeguarded, handled, transmitted, and stored in accordance
with appropriate security directives.
3. At a minimum, the attached materials will be disseminated only on a need-to-know
basis and when unattended, will be stored in a locked container or area offering
sufficient protection against theft, compromise, inadvertent access, and
unauthorized disclosure.
4. Points of Contact:
County Health Department:
Mark Jean
Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County
(Office) 727-538-7277 # 1153
(E-Mail) marc_jean@doh.state.fl.us
Exercise Director:
Chris Floyd
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC
(Office) 850-241-3565
(E-Mail) chrisfloyd@drc-group.com
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
2 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
CONTENTS
ADMINISTRATIVE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS ....................................................... 2
CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 4
SECTION 1: EXERCISE OVERVIEW ......................................................................... 5
Exercise Details ....................................................................................................... 5
Participant Information ............................................................................................. 5
SECTION 2: EXERCISE DESIGN SUMMARY ............................................................ 6
Exercise Purpose and Design .................................................................................. 6
Exercise Objectives, Capabilities and Activities ....................................................... 6
Scenario Summary................................................................................................... 6
SECTION 3: ANALYSIS OF CAPABILITIES ............................................................... 7
SECTION 4: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 12
APPENDIX A: IMPROVEMENT PLAN ...................................................................... 13
APPENDIX B: PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK (3 THUMBS UP – 3 THUMBS DOWN).. 14
APPENDIX C: ACRONYMS ...................................................................................... 15
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
3 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Operation Fortified Response - A Hurricane Tabletop Exercise Series was designed and
facilitated to assess the knowledge and capabilities of the members of the
Neighborhood Emergency Prepared Program in Pinellas County.
During the exercise participants:


Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Preparedness Activities
Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Response Activities
The purpose of this report is to analyze exercise results, identify strengths to be
maintained and built upon, identify potential areas for further improvement, and support
development of corrective actions.
Incorporated in Section 3: Analysis of Capabilities of this After Action Report is a
comprehensive listing of each Target Capability with its associated Major Strengths,
Primary Areas for Improvement and Improvement Recommendations
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
4 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
SECTION 1: EXERCISE OVERVIEW
Exercise Details
Exercise Name:
Operation Fortified Response - A Hurricane Tabletop
Exercise Series
Type of Exercise:
Tabletop
Exercise Start Date:
April 11, 2013
Duration:
Two Hours
Location:
The Villages Florida
Sponsor:
Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County
Program: Part of an ongoing effort to measure effectiveness of Pinellas County’s
Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program to plan and prepare for, respond to
and recover from a hurricane affecting the community.
Purpose: To assess the knowledge and capabilities of the members of the Pinellas
County Neighborhood Emergency Prepared Program.
Mission: To gain a thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Pinellas
County’s Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program.
Scenario Type: Hurricane
Participant Information
Participant
Location
Pinellas County NEPP
Number of Participants 10
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
5 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
SECTION 2: EXERCISE DESIGN SUMMARY
Exercise Purpose and Design
The purpose of the exercise was to assess the knowledge and capabilities of the
members of the Pinellas County Neighborhood Emergency Prepared Program.
Exercise Objectives, Capabilities and Activities
Capabilities-based planning allows for the exercise planning team to develop exercise
objectives and observe exercise outcomes through a framework of specific action items
that were derived from the Target Capabilities List (TCL). The capabilities listed below
form the foundation for the organization of all objectives and observations in this
exercise. Additionally, each capability is linked to several corresponding activities and
tasks to provide additional detail.
Based upon the identified exercise objectives below, the exercise planning team
decided to demonstrate the following capabilities during this exercise:
Neighborhood Preparedness and Disaster Operations
Activity
Target Capability
#1
Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Preparedness Activities
#2
Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Response Activities
Scenario Summary
It is late July and local citizens have been complacent in their hurricane preparedness
activities because this year’s hurricane season has not even seen its first tropical storm.
Families are making their last minute plans for their summer vacations while local
business owners and government agencies are thinking that the hurricane season could
be very inconsequential. However weather forecasters are predicting a major change in
the atmosphere that could see a sharp increase in the number and severity of
hurricanes within the next few weeks.
By early August community / neighborhood residents, business owners and government
officials begin to follow the projected path of the season’s first tropical storm.
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
6 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
SECTION 3: ANALYSIS OF CAPABILITIES
Neighborhood Preparedness and Disaster Operations
Performance
Target Capability
Adequate
Activity # 1: Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Preparedness
Activities
Associated Critical Tasks
Task # 1.1: Initiative and / or coordinate preparedness activities to ensure the
safety of individuals and families residing in the neighborhood / community.
Weak
Evaluator # 1

Observations



Recommendations

The groups that participated in this exercise did not adequately
indicate that they are initiating and / or coordinating activities to
ensure the safety of individuals and families residing in the
neighborhood / community. These organizations indicated that
they were building internal capacity and external / community
awareness of preparation activities need to mitigate the effects
of a hurricane, which is reasonable given the mix of volunteer
human resources, funding and materials that are available to
these organizations. In other words, their limited capacity is not
a direction function of their lack of motivation or passion to help
the community.
Their additional demonstration of activities during and after a
hurricane, their integration into the first responder system, and
their zeal to act in a boot strap capacity clearly indicates their
motivation and passion. Albeit in the design philosophies of
these organizations, their scope of practice in the first
responder system, or the resources that are available, these
organizations are more focused on response to a disaster and
not necessarily on preparedness activities.
It is a gap that must be filled and it is a wonderful opportunity for
these NEPP volunteer organizations to take the lead.
Initiatives that increase face-to-face engagement in the
community is needed to build trust, access and knowledge
about the needs of the community that are not address through
statewide initiatives, such as the special need shelter system.
Some ideas are listed in that spirit.
# 1: Start pilot programs that yield results that measure how
many neighbors have a disaster readiness plan, go kits, and
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
7 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
their knowledge level about disasters. These organizations can
provide customized plans and provide guidance and execute
activities that protect property and lives. These can be
implemented through door-to-door campaigns, and community
outreach events at public areas that have an equidistant area
between fire districts.
# 2: Implement these same activities in a medical shelter / POD
during school holidays.
# 3: Coordinate with the school to integrate into to the student
curriculum for technical, trade, skill and college bound students;
it is an opportunity to teach disaster response coordination at a
younger age.
Task # 1.2: Initiative and / or coordinate preparedness activities to ensure the
preservation of property within the neighborhood / community.
Adequate
Evaluator # 1


Observations




Recommendations

Medical player stated that this was beyond the scope of their
practice.
The non-medical players in exercise had knowledge of these
actions at an individual level and illustrate their proficiency
through their stated activities (i.e. board up their windows and
secure loose items).
With respect to their neighborhood / community, they have
knowledge in its application to the wider population but they did
not clearly illustrate actions in the community.
It was implied in the discussion about disaster preparedness
awareness activities.
One organization indicated the execution of assembling barriers
(sandbags).
Medical organizations should play a deeper role in the
preservation of property via the evaluation of structure through
the lens of sanitation and other code enforcement points as a
threat to the health of the citizen. Non-medical teams and
organizations can assess and evaluate the physical structure.
The two can work together to improve structures in the
community to make them stronger and both can advocate to
business owners and stakeholders with physical and financial
resources with common terminology (through grants, etc.) that
will revitalize neighborhoods with respect to their resiliency to
hurricanes.
More explicit activities to barricade structures from the thrashing
impacts of hurricanes need to be explored. For instance,
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
8 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
workshops to install structural hurricane protection measures, in
coordination with general stores, like Lowes and Home Depot,
can be spearheaded by these organizations.
Performance
Adequate
Target Capability
Activity # 2: Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Response
Activities
Associated Critical Tasks
Task # 2.1: Implement and utilize a communications system to enlist, coordinate
and direct neighborhood / community volunteers to meet disaster caused needs.
Strong
Evaluator # 1

All organizations demonstrated communication capacities and
redundant systems to activities mobilize and coordinate
volunteers and execute disaster-related operations and
activities. They included modern technologies, such as texting,
call-down web-based applications, and more simpler methods,
such as runners.

When thinking in a contingency frame of mind, employing
runners under technologically calamitous events can be
challenging.
Exercises and policy changes to improve that method
communication can be a real asset in those types of scenarios.
More investigation into the best practices of using runners as a
contingency to these excellent communication systems should
be considered by all organization involved in this exercise as
well as being disseminated in operationalized at the same level
as using radio communication.
Observations

Recommendations

Task # 2.2: Establish the command structure to manage activities and meet
objectives.
Strong
Evaluator # 1

Observations
All organizations demonstrated their knowledge of ICS and
capacity to utilize it in expanding incidences, although their
scope of practice in the ICE structure varied. For example,
medical organizations were strictly under operations in ICS.
Variation occurred between non-medical organizations. Some
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
9 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
were mobilized strictly under the operations section under the
direction of the IC; other demonstrate autonomy in selfmobilization and demonstrated the need to show proficiency in
transferring command and becoming integrated into the
expanding ICS as communications are restored in the moments
after the storm.

Recommendations

More discussion is needed on conflicting obligations
experienced by staff members, particularly when it comes to
those who work in the medical field who are apart of nonmedical organizations. Duties to the employer may come into
conflict with the needs of the organization. These should be
discussed and policies should be disseminated or created to
address them.
Another odd issue stirred discussion: curfew. More autonomous
organizations demonstrated some internal disagreement on
this. It was later teased out that it was a function of the IC but it
indicated a need for more education on ICS and safety with
exercises if possible.
Task # 2.3: Develop and implement a prioritized Incident Action Plan designed to
maximize local human and material resources to meet the needs of neighborhood
/ community residents.
Adequate
Evaluator # 1

Observations



Recommendations
All organizations demonstrated their knowledge of making and
using an IAP. Again, all organizations were strictly under the
limitations of ICS.
Variation occurred between these organizations based on their
operational focus.
On the other hand, participants were recalling from memory and
did not indicate a systematic method of tracking their resources.
Confidence in knowing this information can be improve through
using computer based tracking systems that be as simple as
using Microsoft Excel or coordinating with freeware software or
government-sanctioned software.
Task # 2.4: Understand the role of various community disaster response agencies
and organizations.
Strong
Observations
Evaluator # 1

All organizations demonstrated knowledge of the various
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
10 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan


Recommendations


Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
community disaster response agencies and organizations and
their role. For instance, they listed organizations like 2-1-1,
United Way, faith-based organizations and the American Red
Cross.
Most participants were very knowledgeable about their mission
and activities.
Duplication of service was not clearly addressed as well as
administrative issues or barriers were not discussed. For
instance, how are specific resources ordered or procured from
organizations like the American Red Cross and their capacity to
provide mass feedings.
How will these organizations share information and interact at
the ground level, not just at the command structure.
These stakeholder need to meet and discuss these situations to
prevent silos from being formed, causing the citizens suffer
from unintentional consequences.
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
11 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
SECTION 4: CONCLUSION
Exercises such as this one allow personnel to validate training and practice strategic
and tactical prevention, protection, response and recovery capabilities in a risk-reduced
environment. Exercises are the primary tool for assessing preparedness and identifying
areas for improvement, while demonstrating community resolve to prepare for major
incidents.
Exercises aim to help entities within the community gain objective assessments of their
capabilities so that gaps, deficiencies, and vulnerabilities are addressed prior to a real
incident.
Exercises are the most effective (and safer) means to:






Assess and validate policies, plans, procedures, training, equipment,
assumptions, and interagency agreements;
Clarify roles and responsibilities;
Improve interagency coordination and communications;
Identify gaps in resources;
Measure performance; and
Identify opportunities for improvement.
This exercise succeeded in addressing all of the above as it provided examples of good
to excellent participant knowledge, teamwork, communication and use of plans and
procedures while pointing out areas in need of improvement and clarification.
Listed below is a summary of the level of performance the Target Capabilities and
Tasks evaluated during the exercise. This summary outlines the areas in which
Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program is strong as well as identifying areas
that the departments should invest future planning, training and exercise funds on.
Neighborhood Preparedness and Disaster Operations
Activity
Target Capability
Performance
#1
Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Preparedness
Activities
Adequate
#2
Implement / Coordinate Neighborhood Response Activities
Adequate
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
12 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
APPENDIX A: IMPROVEMENT PLAN
This Improvement Plan has been developed specifically for the Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program based
on the results of Operation Fortified Response - A Hurricane Tabletop Exercise Series conducted on April 11, 2013.
These recommendations draw on both the After Action Report and the After Action Conference.
Capability
Observation
Recommendation
Responsible Completion
Agency
Date
Implement /
Coordinate
Neighborhood
Preparedness
Activities
Implement /
Coordinate
Neighborhood
Response
Activities
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
13 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
APPENDIX B: PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
(3 THUMBS UP – 3 THUMBS DOWN)
Thumbs Up
Very good facilitator, communications plan.
Knowledge of our groups plan.
Core group of leadership volunteers.
Excellent format and setting.
Excellent exercise leader / facilitator.
Great participant input.
Emergency communications capabilities.
Knowledge of plans.
Core group of dedicated, knowledgeable volunteers.
Thumbs Down
Neighborhood awareness.
What programs are available shared with public.
Special strike teams that can handle specific tasks in an incident.
More information needs to be fleshed out about demobilization.
Demobilization plans.
Neighborhood awareness.
Volunteer mindset... be more active in training.
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
14 | Page
After Action Report / Improvement Plan
Operation Fortified Response Hurricane Tabletop Exercise
APPENDIX C: ACRONYMS
Acronym
COMM
CONOPS
Meaning
Communications
Concept of Operations
EOC
Emergency Operations Center
ESF
Emergency Support Function
IAP
Incident Action Plan
IC
Incident Command
ICS
Incident Command System
IMT
Incident Management Team
JIC
Joint Information Center
LOFR
Liaison Officer
MOA
Memorandum of Agreement
MOU
Memorandum of Understanding
NEPP
Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program
NIMS
National Incident Management System
OPS
Operations
PIO
Public Information Officer
SERT
State Emergency Response Team
SitRep
Situation Report
SOG
Standard Operating Guideline
SOP
Standard Operating Procedure
UC
Unified Command
Disaster Resistant Communities Group LLC – www.drc-group.com
15 | Page