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Developing: Exercising Plans With Response Partners

Exercising plans with your response partners also may be critical to learning their systems and cultures. Ideally, volunteers will gain hands-on experience through practice scenarios prior to actual events. More intensive, full-scale exercises can sometimes be preceded by preparatory table-top exercises, which can be more easily organized and at a fraction of the cost. Table tops or paper-based exercises can be a quick way to introduce your MRC to other community partners.

Generally, it is important for volunteers to participate in exercises in the roles they would ostensibly fill for a response effort. However, volunteers can help with regular practice exercises by playing individuals in need of help, which would:

Allow volunteers to utilize their medical or health expertise to evaluate the care they receive from first responders and other public health workers
Help them learn how to avoid mistakes when an emergency occurs
Help sustain volunteers’ commitment to their MRC unit if there are long periods between utilization

Exercises always should be followed by a unit performance analysis and training to improve response skills.

MRC volunteer participation in practice exercises is a community-building effort. Particularly, it can be a way for local emergency responders or public health officials to become familiar with your volunteers and the MRC overall. This type of interaction helps build familiarity and trust prior to utilization. Exercises also are an effective way to attract media attention, which can provide an important opportunity for further outreach and recruitment.

Community Practices

The following table contains examples of community practices.

Community Practices
TOPOFF Exercises	Mass Dispensing	Mock Anthrax Clinic
MRC units have participated in TOPOFF disaster exercises nationwide. Volunteers with proper training and clearance can practice screening and triage roles outside a clinic. These exercises have shown that more training is needed with disaster response, public health procedures, and using the communication and command systems employed by local partners.	Some MRC units have held mass dispensing exercises where many MRC volunteers facilitated the exercise by playing the role of victims. Still, other MRC volunteers served roles similar to those they would perform in an actual emergency, such as offering administrative and clinical support.	One MRC unit hosted an exercise with MRC volunteers staffing a mock anthrax clinic to practice delivering prophylaxis to 250 community clients. Beforehand, volunteers were trained in logistics, security, outreach, triage, clinic flow, staffing areas for the sick and those in need of counseling, registration, screening, service provision, education, discharge, and data entry.

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Last Updated on 8/21/2006