Emergency Response Plan Training

Training for emergencies is a vital part of effective first response.

Providing proper training for emergency response is just as important as developing a plan in the first place. Without broad familiarity and understanding of a response plan, implementing that plan is likely to fail or create unexpected consequences.

High Profile Emergency Responders

Before training for execution of an emergency response plan takes place, organizations must establish how extensive each person needs to be trained in their individual duties. This streamlines how many resources are invested in training, and makes sure that high profile responders such as police and fire departments receive more breadth training.

Table Top Planning

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) advises that before engaging in live-action scenario exercises for a plan, table top scenario planning is a good idea. Table top exercises should involve representatives or command staff of the major emergency response entities, such as police, fire, emergency medial response and emergency management divisions. The more organizations included the better, but remember that table top exercises are more abstract than full-scale scenarios. Run through the plan as though it were a board game. In many cases, doing so will identify the more obvious flaws in a response plan.

Live Scenario Excercises

Running a large-scale scenario exercise of a public emergency is the ultimate step in response plan training. Live scenarios often use volunteers to portray injured victims or people separated from their families, which responders must assess without prior knowledge of the victims' contrived injury or status. Emergencies are chaotic events that represent the breakdown of normal life and elements of confusion create a more convincing exercise. This is not to say that realism should be avoided, but rather to enforce the idea that even the best plans cannot predict everything that may occur under real situations.

Understanding Responsibilities

Individual responders will already have training in things like CPR or confined space entries. These portions of training will be dealt with within the participating organizations. Instead of individual training, the point of practicing a response scenario is for all participants to understand their function within a bigger command structure. Some people's place within an emergency plan is simply to evacuate safely and make no effort to quell a fire or handle any other part of the situation. This may seem like an inefficient use of personnel, but the confusion of too many people in a small area is a hindrance to emergency responders. Whatever your place within a response plan is, practice your personal duties and execute them as you would in a real emergency.

Command Structure and Communication

Effectively practicing an emergency response plan is aided by organization and direct communication. Confusion is likely to arise during an emergency even if a plan has been practiced thoroughly, so training should also include training in how to contact superiors and understanding the breadth of individual authority. Mistakes can be avoided by having a network available to direct communications when cell phones are down or by having previously established locations to relay information in person.