The Strategic Preparedness Group is a consulting firm comprised of professional fire officers and chiefs with decades of experience in fire & life safety. Understanding the need for strategic planning, the firm was developed to bring this experience to the private sector. SPG’s team of certified FEMA Master Exercise Practitioners have worked in the FDNY’s Center for Terrorism & Disaster Preparedness providing & participated in Full Scale, Tabletop, functional exercises as long with developing After Action Reports & Improvement Plans for organizations such as:
Con Edison, National Grid, NY Health & Hospitals, MLB, NYU Langone, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Long Island Railroad, MTA Capital Construction, NYCDOT Brooklyn Bridge, NYC Department of Buildings, NBC Network, NYC Office of Emergency Management and the United Nations among others.
We are here to help you plan. All our exercises fit the criteria for federal grant funding under our certifications. From preparing to evaluating, we are here to assist you.
Tabletop Exercises:
Function Exercise:
Functional Exercises A functional exercise (FE) is a single or multi-agency activity designed to evaluate capabilities, multiple functions and/or sub-functions, or interdependent groups of functions. FEs are typically focused on exercising plans, policies, procedures, and staff members involved in management, direction, command, and control functions. An FE is conducted in a realistic, real-time environment; however, movement of personnel and equipment is usually simulated. Functional exercises go beyond typical tabletop exercises by having the Command Post team make decisions, simulate the deployment of resources, and respond to new developments. In comparison to a full-scale exercise, explained below, a functional exercise involves fewer participants.
Examples of Actions Taken Clarendon County, SC, reported participating in various tabletop, functional, and full-scale exercises periodically to test and evaluate its plans. The County’s EOP was recently reviewed by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division and found to be in compliance with current emergency management doctrine and principles.
Full Scale Exercises:
After Action Reports & Improvement Plans
Emergency plans should be evaluated after an exercise to either validate their efficiency and effectiveness or to identify necessary revisions. Following an exercise, data collected from facilitators, evaluators, exercise support staff, and players are synthesized into an After Action Report (AAR) to identify strengths and areas for improvement within the context of the exercise objectives. The AAR focuses on performance standards and enables both the technical and emergency management personnel to verify and validate the information and procedures contained in the plans. The intent is to discover what happened, why it happened, what strengths in the plan should be sustained, and what areas need improvement. The After Action process affords the team members an opportunity to gain maximum benefit from an event or exercise. It provides:
- Candid insights into specific strengths and weaknesses from various perspectives
- Feedback and insight critical to improved performance
- Details on exercise specifics that might be lacking in an evaluation report alone
- Evidence to support improved policies, procedures, protocols, training, or other key document changes
The information presented in the AAR can also be used as a historical reference for all participants and a possible blueprint for future training/exercise initiatives. Serving as a key element of the AAR, the improvement plan (IP) is designed to take those identified areas for improvement and expand on them to potentially include, among other things, focus areas (e.g., policy/protocol/ training, interagency coordination), recommendations for improvement, office(s) responsible for implementing the recommendations, and the expected suspense date/ timeframe for implementing the recommendations.