1. Disaster Scenario Exercise for Private Sector
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 5 minutes]
FACILITATOR: I’d like to welcome you to our Disaster Scenario Exercise for Private Sector, a Tabletop Exercise where we as a private sector organization will prepare to respond to and recover from a chemical accident near our facilities.
This exercise is based on the National Planning Scenario for a Chlorine Tank explosion developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the federal interagency community. This exercise was developed by FEMA’s Private Sector Division in its Office of External Affairs.
Housekeeping [NOTE: These can be customized to your organization’s operations and policies]
The exercise may take us up to four hours to complete.
We will take one 15 minute break approximately half way through the exercise.
Please quiet your mobile phones and only use them in an emergency.
Note that restrooms are located [where], and emergency exits are located [where].
Disaster Scenario Exercise for Organizational Planning Chemical Accident FEMA 2010
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2. Purpose Why are we investing this time?
Where are we in emergency planning?
Who oversees emergency planning in our organization?
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 10 minutes]
[FACILITATOR
explains why the organization is asking participants to invest time in this exercise. This exercise is designed to help us improve Organizational Continuity, Preparedness and Resiliency in the event of an emergency, to respond, recover and restore operations.
provides background on their organization’s process of emergency planning if one exists, and how this exercise fits into that process -- or for some organizations, this exercise may be part of the early stages of your organization’s planning.
provides background on their organization’s status of emergency planning.
explains which team members within the organization oversee the process of emergency planning.]
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FEMA

3. Agenda Introductions Modules Hotwash EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE FEMA
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 10 minutes]
FACILITATOR: I’d like to give you an overview of this exercise. In a moment we will have introductions, since we will be working through this exercise together as a team. After the introductions we will begin the exercise and work together through a number of interactive modules covering the stages of disasters -- prepare, protect, respond, recover and mitigate.
Since this is a scenario-based exercise, we will be introduced to this incident as if it experiencing it as a real incident. We will discuss what it means to prepare for a major incident, and then we will discuss specific preparations we can take against this accident. Likewise we will discuss what is involved in responding to and recovering from a major incident, and at each stage we will discuss specific actions we can take against this incident and the threats and hazards it presents.
Lastly if we have time we will discuss mitigation and actions we can take to mitigate against damage from subsequent disasters.
We will end the exercise with a hotwash discussion where we will sum up our observations and findings, ideally in a form that will inform our organization’s emergency plans.
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FEMA

4. Introductions Facilitator(s) Players EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE
[TIMING OF SLIDE: Depends on number of participants. Estimated minutes.]
[NOTE: Facilitator introduces himself/herself and can provide some details on his/her relevant experience and background. If the Facilitator is working with other facilitators, they should introduce themselves as well.
Facilitator then allows the players/participants to introduce themselves, their function in or relation to the organization , their experience (if any) in emergency planning, and their goal for participating in this exercise.]
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5. Objectives Create a quality learning environment.
Provide a tool for emergency planning.
Empower our team.
Provide a forum for discussing emergency planning.
Encourage coordination with local emergency managers.
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 3 minutes]
FACILITATOR: The objectives of this exercise are for us to:
Create a quality learning environment so this exercise will be beneficial to all of us and to our organization as a whole.
Provide a tool for us to use in our emergency planning.
Empower our team.
Provide a forum for discussing emergency planning.
Encourage coordination with local emergency managers
On this last bullet, emergency planners within private sector organizations like ours can benefit from coordinating planning with local emergency managers and law enforcement, and if appropriate with state and federal emergency managers. The community will be more resilient if public and private sector representatives are working together.
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6. Rules for Players Relax – this is a no-fault, low stress exercise.
Respond based on your current capability.
Allow for artificialities of the scenario – it’s a tool.
Feel free to improvise – think outside the box.
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 2 minutes]
FACILITATOR: The rules for this exercise are to:
Relax – this is a no-fault, low stress exercise, the more we work as a team, the more successful the exercise will be.
Respond based on your current capability.
Allow for artificialities of the scenario – it’s a tool.
Feel free to improvise – think outside the box.
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FEMA 6

7. Scenario: Chemical Accident
Chlorine rail accident and release of chlorine gas
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 3 minutes]
FACILITATOR: In the scenario we will exercise today, there will be an explosion on a rail car transporting chlorine to an industrial facility one evening, after 6pm. The explosion will release a large quantity of chlorine gas downwind of the site, affecting 100,000 people up to 25 miles away. Downwind populations will be required to either evacuate ahead of the plume or shelter in place. Two hospitals in the downwind area will require protective action.
Our organization and our employees will be threatened.
Community impacts we can expect:
Casualties: Dozens of fatalities; hundreds of severe injuries; thousands of hospitalizations
Evacuations/Displaced Persons:
100,000 instructed to temporarily shelter-in-place as plume moves across region
50,000 evacuated to shelters in safe areas
50,000 self-evacuate out of region
Contamination: Primarily at explosion site, and if waterways are impacted
Infrastructure Damage: Rail lines, nearby highway in immediate explosion area, and metal corrosion in areas of heavy exposure
Economic Impact: Millions of dollars
Recovery Timeline: Weeks
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8. Emergency Management Prepare and Protect Respond Recover Mitigate FEMA
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 2 minutes]
FACILITATOR: Emergency management is an organized process by which organizations and communities:
Prepare for and Protect against hazards.
Respond to emergencies that occur.
Recover from emergencies to restore the community to its pre-emergency condition.
Mitigate risks.
The degree to which emergency management is effective depends heavily on the emergency planning process.
FEMA
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9. Prepare & Protect Have a plan and prepare to activate it
Gather the planning team
Assess hazards, prepare facilities and employees
Establish evacuation and shelter-in-place plans
Stock and check supplies and first aid
Train Emergency Response Teams
Coordinate with local and state emergency managers
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 8 minutes]
FACILITATOR: The bullets here list actions an organization should take to prepare and protect its facilities and people. If a disaster occurs, an organization needs to ensure that its employees, customers, members, visitors are ready to get through it safely, and respond to it and recover from it effectively. An organization will need a plan for what it’ll do if essential services break down, a plan for contingencies. An organization should exercise the plan well before a disaster threatens. An organization ideally will work with local emergency managers and first responders to develop and exercise an Emergency Operations Plan.
To protect the population, local and state officials will have planned: alerts; activation and notification; traffic and access control; protection of special populations; resource support and requests for assistance; HazMat preparedness; and public information activities.
State agencies will be working to: Share situational awareness with stakeholders; Perform community outreach for evacuations and shelters as necessary; Protect the health and welfare of citizens.
FEMA & federal partners will be working to: Coordinate with states; Provide technical assistance to state and local responders ; share situational awareness, Coordinate disaster declaration and subsequent funding and assistance if necessary.
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10. VNN Click To Play News EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 5 minutes]
[FACILITATOR: PLAY EMBEDDED VIDEO]
VNN ANCHOR
Good morning, welcome to VNN -- local officials are celebrating this morning as a new industrial park is being christened in our community, there’s a ribbon-cutting scheduled for 10am this morning.  Officials say the new Hampton Industrial Park will bring millions of dollars of new tax revenues and thousands of new jobs to state and local communities.  But a group of activists are holding a protest on the street outside the park, they are criticizing the placement of the park in such a populated corridor of the state.  They say citizens will be at greater risk now, since chemicals will be transported by truck and rail to and from the park.
VNN spoke with a representative for the chemical park who argued there have been more than 2 million rail shipments of chlorine in the past four decades in the U.S., and only four resulted in fatalities.
VNN also contacted the state’s emergency manager, Anna Christy, who responded that businesses are far more likely to be impacted by a flood or storm than from man-made incidents. But she added that businesses and community leaders should be prepared for any emergency.  Christy invited any organization to contact the state’s emergency management agency to work together on community planning.
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11. Prepare & Protect - Discussion
What are the hazards? How do we protect our people?
Who is our team, internally and externally?
How will we communicate? What if systems fail?
What are our needs, for supplies, etc.?
What are needs of employees, customers, members?
What are needs for protecting our organization?
Who do we contact and inform, internally and externally?
What can we do now to recover more quickly later?
[TIMING OF SLIDE: minutes]
[FACILITATOR LEADS facilitated discussion. Captures contributed ideas on butcher paper, laptop or other media.]
[In addition to these questions, Facilitator can prompt the participants with more specific questions customized to your organization.]
[After a minute discussion, allow participants to take a break.]
FACILITATOR
When you return from your break, a railcar explodes on the way to the chemical plant, releasing a plume cloud on a target straight for our facilities.
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12. Break [TIMING OF SLIDE: 15 minutes]
FACILITATOR gives participants a break of approximately 15 minutes. 12

13. Respond Mobilize and position emergency equipment
Evacuate or shelter-in-place
Provide food, water, shelter, medical
Initiate organization continuity plan
Assess and restore damaged services and systems
Coordinate with local responders, government agencies, and other private organizations
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 8 minutes]
FACILITATOR: The bullets shown here are actions taken in the response stage after a disaster. Response begins as soon as a disaster strikes. This phase involves mobilizing and positioning emergency equipment; getting people out of danger; providing needed food, water, shelter, and medical services; initiating organization continuity actions; and bringing damaged services and systems back on line.
Local responders, government agencies, and private organizations take action, ideally working as a team following a plan developed well before the emergency. When the destruction goes beyond local and State capabilities, the state Governor requests Federal assistance and support.
Organizations like ours will be focused on such actions as: Keeping employees safe; Executing emergency plans; Securing facilities; Coordinating and Supporting First Responders; Assisting our community at large if time and resources allow.
In this chemical accident scenario, state and federal agencies will be working to: Deploy first responders and Hazmat teams; Perform Search and Rescue; Prioritize life-saving measures; Maintain shelters; Distribute food, water and medical supplies; and Provide situational awareness to the public-private response team.
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FEMA 13

14. Respond Click To Play News EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE
TIMING OF SLIDE: 6 minutes FACILITATOR PLAYS EMBEDDED VIDEO
VNN ANCHOR
Breaking news tonight, a hazmat train has derailed and exploded on the Hampton rail line near Pine Road, releasing a large quantity of lethal chlorine gas, this accident occurred less than 20 minutes ago. The plume cloud from the accident is extremely dangerous, it is being carried downwind of the site, toward the East, and is reported to be nearing the Pine Road business district and the residential neighborhoods surrounding it. No word yet on the cause of the accident, but many 911 calls have been received from the scene, and dozens of fire and emergency responders are on the scene and in transit.  Now minutes ago our studio here at VNN received a call from an alarmed worker at a building near the accident, reporting he could smell the chlorine and he was feeling burning skin and eyes, and having difficulty breathing. We lost that call though when the signal was dropped, the area’s phone lines and cell service providers are being overwhelmed by the volume of calls.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are at home or at work, officials are asking that you shelter in place, close the windows and stay indoors.  But many residents have not heard these warnings, our traffic cams here in the newsroom are showing a quick rush of traffic away from the area onto local highways. We’re seeing a number of accidents now.  And we’re also seeing fire trucks and ambulances trying to navigate the traffic, another reason to stay at home, stay indoors. Please stay tuned for more breaking news as we receive it.
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15. Respond - Discussion Who’s in charge? What’s our plan?
Evacuate or shelter-in-place?
How do we identify who is still in the office or at work?
How do we communicate? What is systems are down?
Who is the Point of Contact at local responders, government agencies, and other organizations?
[TIMING OF SLIDE: minutes]
[FACILITATOR leads a discussion, using some or all of these questions. Capture contributed ideas on butcher paper, laptop or other media. In addition to these general questions, Facilitator can prompt the participants with more specific questions customized to your organization.]
Who’s in charge?
What’s our plan?
Evacuate or shelter-in-place?
How do we identify who is still in the office or at work?
How do we communicate? What is systems are down?
Who is the Point of Contact at local responders, government agencies, and other organizations?
How do we distribute emergency supplies to those who need them?
How will we restore damaged services and systems?
What tasks must be completed immediately, and by whom?
How will we notify employees, responders, neighbors, government, community, media, and others of any emergency conditions at our facilities?
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16. Recover Our organization could be heavily impacted, directly, or
Indirectly if our supply chain is disrupted or our customers or employees are displaced from their homes
Water may not be available
Employees could have damaged homes, or remain home tending to family and to children out of school
Physical and mental health of employees could be a concern.
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 8 minutes]
FACILITATOR: Recovery is the task of rebuilding after a disaster. This process can take months, even years and require rebuilding of services and infrastructure, facilities and operations, and the lives and livelihoods of many thousands of people. Recovery planning identifies the long-range actions needed to return the organization to its normal operations as quickly and completely as possible, and may involve: Medical issues; Psychological issues; Infrastructure issues; Liability issues; Insurance issues; Documentation issues.
An organization like ours will typically: Wait for word for employees to return; Assess damages and take pictures; Compile and report damages to our insurance company; Assess any environmental impact to our facilities; Coordinate efforts with public sector recovery team
States will be working to: Reestablish infrastructure; Implement temporary disaster housing plan; Lead the recovery; Budget for long-term recovery
FEMA and federal partners will be working to: Produce Preliminary Damage Assessments; distribute federal assistance; Maintain Joint Field Office in support of state; Establish long-term recovery effort where appropriate; Support communities to return to pre-disaster tax-base level within five years.
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FEMA

17. Recover Click To Play News EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 8 minutes]
FACILITATOR PLAYS EMBEDDED VIDEO.
ANCHOR: Good morning, thank you for joining us this morning. it’s been 36 hours now since the Hampton rail accident, and while officials are saying it’s safe for residents to go outdoors and try to get back to their routines, for many residents, life will never be the same. Dozens have died and hundreds are hospitalized, while thousands more were treated for injuries.  We also have thousands of residents still in shelters this morning, and untold numbers have just left the area and they are waiting for word that it’s safe to return.
Federal and state officials are still investigating the cause of the accident and would not speculate, but they are saying that, thankfully, due to the late hour of the explosion, most people were home or were indoors and they were able to effectively shelter-in-place. Still, an estimated 50,000 people tried to self-evacuate before hearing the warnings, or despite the warnings, unknowingly putting themselves, their families and first responders in harm’s way. Today, local schools and many businesses are still closed. The state environmental agency is continuing to test local waterways for contamination, they have determined that the reservoirs that hold the region’s drinking water were not affected. But countless residents are not taking chances, they’re still streaming into stores to buy bottled water wherever they can find it, or they’re waiting in long lines at state points of distribution for emergency water and other supplies. We’ll have more on the aftermath of this accident later tonight, but officials are saying that the recovery from this disaster will take weeks, and the economic impact to our community will be in the millions of dollars.
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18. Recover - Discussion What are long-term environmental effects?
How could this affect our operations?
How do we ensure continuity of operations (COOP)?
Can we operate without municipal services or utilities?
Do we have generators and other back-up utilities?
What are our priorities?
[TIMING OF SLIDE: minutes]
[FACILITATOR leads a discussion, using some or all of these questions. Capture contributed ideas on butcher paper, laptop or other media. In addition to these general questions, Facilitator can prompt the participants with more specific questions customized to your organization.]
What are long term environmental effects?
How could this affect our operations?
How do we ensure continuity of operations (COOP)?
Can we operate without municipal services or utilities?
Do we have generators and other back-up utilities?
Will our employees miss work, e.g. to attend to family if schools are closed?
How will we repair structural and physical damage?
How will we restore disrupted services?
How will we clean the facility and remove all health and safety hazards?
How will we resume operations, toward returning to normal operations? (especially important if a portion of the building is damaged to such a degree that operations must be relocated temporarily.)
How will we document any damaged facilities or equipment on video or photographs?
How will we track staff and volunteer time and labor involved in the cleanup?
Do we have policies to allow flexibility to displaced employees, such as policies for working half-days, alternate sites, mobile sites, and teleworking?
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FEMA

19. Mitigate - Discussion
What hazards have been identified in the community that pose a risk to our organization?
What steps can we take to mitigate risks?
What steps is the community taking to mitigate community- wide risks?
How can our organization work with local officials?
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 8 minutes]
[NOTE: Slide is optional, depending on available time.]
FACILITATOR: Hazard Mitigation means any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards.
Some hazards cannot be mitigated; others are too costly to mitigate.
Mitigation of community risks is probably beyond the control of our organization’s officials. However, our emergency planning teams should work closely with the local Emergency Manager and responders to learn:
What hazards have been identified in the community.
What steps the community is taking to mitigate community-wide risks.
How our organization’s officials can help.
Experts in emergency management and response, risk management, structural engineering, and psychological tragedy response can suggest ways to mitigate hazards at your facilities.
After our planners have the necessary information about existing hazards and mitigation possibilities, they can identify the costs of mitigation and steps to be taken.
Many nonstructural hazards in a facility can be mitigated easily and inexpensively.
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20. Hot Wash What have you learned during this exercise?
Name five organizational strengths.
Name five organizational weaknesses/gaps.
What should be next steps in planning and preparing?
List and prioritize five short-term and five long-term actions for follow-up.
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 20 minutes]
[NOTE: This is an open discussion that occurs immediately after the tabletop exercise and is conducted by the facilitator. The objective of the hot wash is to review events or key decisions that took place during the exercise and to provide an opportunity for participants to describe any immediate lessons learned and to identify barriers/gaps in mounting an effective response. All participants are free to contribute and are encouraged to do so. Consider soliciting feedback on this exercise and/or the Facilitators’ ability through an evaluation survey at the end of the hot wash.]
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FEMA 20

21. Federal Planning Resources
Local Resources
[TIMING OF SLIDE: 3 minutes]
[FACILITATOR encourages participants to visit these online resources for tools and more information. Facilitator can add additional links and resources here.]
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22. Contact For more information on this exercise, contact: FEMA
Office of External Affairs, Private Sector Division
500 C St. SW
Washington, DC
For more information on this exercise, contact:
FEMA
Office of External Affairs, Private Sector Division
500 C St. SW
Washington, DC
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