Formidable Footprint - After Action Report / Summary - Flood Print E-mail
Formidable Footprint Tabletop Exercise

After Action Report / Summary

The After Action Report / Summary for the February 26  2011 Formidable Footprint Tabletop Exercise involving an flood scenario can be found below.


 

 

Flood Scenario

Overview
Number of Exercise Participants
 228
Number of States with Exercise Participants
33
Location of Participants
 Map

The flood scenario was set in the fictitious community of “Riverton”. Riverton is a small rural community, surrounded by farms and open fields, and consisting of 353 homes and 1,301 residents. The majority of the homes are 30 years old, occupied by residents of all ages, many of whom have lived in Riverton most of their lives. Nine percent of the population is comprised of children under the age of 13. The majority of the residents are blue collar middle class individuals.

Throughout the exercise participants were challenged to consider how they would respond to a variety of injects with the resources and assets that they have available in their own community and with their own community team.

Injects included:

  • Identify four additional hazards, other than flood, to which the neighborhood is vulnerable, then rank the vulnerability to each of the hazards.
  • List the various disaster preparedness activities your organization undertakes to assist with neighborhood preparedness, or if your organization in not involved in assisting residents, identify the name and point of contact information for agencies or organizations that would be able to assist.
  • If you organization would have mobilized during or in the aftermaths of the heavy rain identify the primary name and title that would be responsible for mobilizing the group, as well as the secondary individual. If your organization would not have mobilizes, at what point would you mobilize?
  • Briefly describe the leadership / management / operational structure that will be utilized by your organization as it works as a team.
  • Prepare an Incident Action Plan outlining activities and a timeline to accomplish them.
  • Describe how communications within your team, and between your team and other agencies will be established and maintained.
  • If your team will undertake Search and Rescue, describe how this will be done. List resources that your team will need.
  • Using the damage assessment maps, estimate the extent of damage and prepare a Preliminary Damage Assessment.
  • Your organization has been notified that propane tanks are found floating. Describe the actions your team would undertake, OR, identify the organization or agency to which residents should be referred for assistance.
  • With a map of potentially available resources that may be available, identify and inventory these resources.
  • Based on the Preliminary Damage Assessment prepared a list of resources (services, materials, supplies) that will be needed to support individuals and families over the next days.
  • An evacuation shelter has been opened in your neighborhood. Describe how your organization would support the shelter, or identify faith-based or other community organizations (other than American Red Cross) that might be able to assist.
  • Describe the type of assistance your organization might provide to senior citizens and individuals with disabilities or transportation challenges, OR, identify the name and point of contact information for agencies or organizations which might be able to help.
  • Review initial Incident Action Plan and make revisions as necessary based on new Situational Awareness.
  • Inventory supplies and equipment that your organization has control over and that can be used to assist in neighborhood flood response.
  • Identify other agencies and organizations that your organization will need to work closely with.
  • Describe how a dusk to dawn curfew, established because a wide-spread power outage, would affect your organization.
  • Describe how your organization might assist with or set up a Point of Distribution that has been set up to hand out bottled water, ice, tarps, etc..
  • Describe your procedure and actions to demobilize your organization following the flood response.

Local News Coverage

News coverage featuring local teams participating in the Formidable Footprint Flood Exercise.

 Scotch Plains - Fanwood Patch PDF

Hotwash

All participants were asked to complete a hotwash by providing three things that went well with the exercise for their organization and three things they identified that their organization need to improve upon.

Listed below are the Strengths and Areas Needing Improvement submitted by participants in the exercise. 

Strengths

  • Participation in planned and unscheduled exercises alone or with community emergency response partners.
  • Team discussion of different opinions on the various situations presented during the exercise was very helpful.
  • The actual online training software with the maps showing Riverton with the low, medium, and major destroyed homes.
  • Step by step of how incident command would handle and prepare for a flood disaster.
  • Received ideas on other agencies we could help.
  • Need to take a look to see what equipment is best suited for wet weather.
  • Did not plan on demobilization.
  • Team worked as an integrated unit.
  • I wish I could have done the exercise with others. These exercises sure get you thinking about "what would I do". It is great.
  • We had good discussions among our four team members.
  • Identified our short comings.
  • Our team knew our plan pretty well.
  • Had resource lists and inventories ready.
  • Realistic situation.
  • Interactive videos and pictures helped set the mood and pace of the exercise.
  • Team aspect worked very well.
  • Discussion of options and evaluation of variables were carried out well.
  • We worked well as a team, collaborating on solutions to the various scenarios.
  • Injects / questions were clear and relevant to our community.
  • Our discussion was led by an experienced individual with recent who recently responded to flooding in our area.
  • Our teams knowledge base was applied to this scenario making for realistic discussion and plan making.
  • Good discussion, with input from everyone on our team.
  • We learned from each other about county response plans, faith-based response plans and special affected groups like elderly and those with special medical needs.
  • Team coordination.
  • Overall understanding of roles.
  • Comfortable in executing roles and responsibilities.
  • Great group participation.
  • Got us thinking and planning.
  • Communication between all members of our team.
  • It made us think outside of the box and through each inject.
  • Reinforced or refreshed our training.
  • Communication between the members of our team.
  • Better understanding of processes and procedures.
  • Identification of resources.
  • Good interaction within group.
  • Decision making done as a group.
  • Identified weaknesses and limitations.
  • Group interaction.
  • Decision making process with county groups and identifying capabilities or the lack there of.
  • Discussion of NIMS and command structures.
  • Thinking through prioritization of actives was helpful.
  • Good group interaction.
  • Ability to review resources populated onto the maps.
  • Good questions and scenarios.
  • The details of the event.
  • The use of maps.
  • It was thorough and everyone was able to easily understand the mission behind the exercise.
  • Everyone was able to agree on the resources available.
  • Everyone worked well together.
  • Participation input.
  • The scenario and information was challenging for our own community responses.
  • The exercise went well for all our team members.
  • That I was able to do this exercise solo - I WAS the team!
  • Excellent method of self-assessing what I have learned, where I need additional training.
  • The online performance of the web disaster simulation was very good.
  • Self-Paced.
  • Allowed for team discussion and participation.
  • Able to relate to our own neighborhood.
  • When we called into the Help Desk my problem was rapidly and professionally resolved.
  • The scenario with the milk cows was interesting. We would like to see others scenarios involving animal issues.
  • Team communication throughout exercise.
  • Good understanding of the CERT / ICS structure and team organization.
  • General exercise navigation was easy to understand.
  • Questions / injects were applicable to our organization.
  • The use of YouTube videos.
  • Incident background provided was conducive to understanding the exercise.
  • The exercises format was easy to understand.
  • Maps worked well. Were informative.
  • Videos helpful in training.
  • Our discussion validated our existing plan.
  • We identified things to add to the plan, including information to be updated, extracted from the Santa Rose CEMP for quick reference.
  • Recent discussions of what staff would do when activated, to make sure members are not standing around doing nothing while staff sets up, came in handy when discussing mobilization.
  • The maps were indispensable and the interactive aspect was helpful in determining needs / resources.
  • Gave our team the chance to assess our resources and abilities.
  • We felt like we were able to meet the needs regarding animal issues in this disaster.
  • Opened communication between local players for future planning, training and response activities.
  • Maps and overlays are helpful. Technology and use of the internet was great.
  • Everyone worked well with each other.
  • We were able to analyze our operating procedure.
  • Everyone was able to contribute.
  • Realization of how well our groups work together.
  • Communication plan covers all possibilities.
  • We are more enthusiastic to continue training.
  • Helped us to recognize the need to build more in depth relationships with other organizations.
  • Were able to run through our activation SOP and protocol to determine any changes.
  • Determined that our communications plan works.
  • Good discussion and input from members.
  • Learned from each other. Discovered neighborhood facilities that can help.
  • First time. Very informative!
  • Multiple agencies (Police, Rescue Squad and CERT) worked well together and there were no "turf" issues.
  • Discussions generated other ideas and learning aspects – even beyond the scope of the exercise itself.
  • Good that it was a different community from ours  - encouraged us to look at alternative resources within a community and also things we need ourselves in our community. Also good to plan and think about another community's potential problems – good for team growth.
  • Team well prepared.
  • Everyone knew their responsibilities.
  • Everyone was comfortable in their roles.
  • Has us planning some trial runs with the phone tree and how many and how quickly we can muster folks. Please understand our borough / county is the size of the whole State of West Virginia and we have topographically isolated teams in our real world, leading to some interesting time lags and logistical problems.
  • Helps in our team building strategy.
  • We liked the way the flood was depicted on the maps.
  • Greater familiarity with the concepts – less confusion between the simulated community and our real one
  • Smaller group – simpler decision making process.
  • More of our team participated enthusiastically than I anticipated.
  • Interaction between team members with the Incident Commander.
  • Increased awareness of CERT roles, responsibilities and knowledge of areas needing strengthening.
  • Visualizing via the maps what the extent of damage and need was.
  • Determining needs for action.
  • Mutual aid procedure is well defined and worked well.
  • Communication skills worked well.
  • Interoperability.
  • The videos and maps were good.
  • Very thought-provoking.
  • Information given in the exercise was articulate enough for good decisions to be made.
  • We have a solid understanding of what needs to happen.
  • We know many of the resources within the community.
  • We have very qualified expertise within our cadre.
  • Organization.
  • Communication.
  • Participation.
  • Everyone took part.
  • The high level of participation by all team members.
  • Learning new ideas.
  • Knowledgeable individuals in the audience.
  • Excitement from group.
  • Everyone took part in the various discussions.
  • Webinar and exercise was attended with Des Moines County Emergency Management and Des Moines County CERT. Communication between participants was very appropriate and productive.
  • Excellent web presentation with useful maps and comments.
  • The Des Moines County EOC was well set up for the exercise with a large Smart Screen and Projector system. This worked well with your format.
  • We reviewed our action plan.
  • Took inventory of our personnel and equipment.
  • Good team discussion.
  • The on-line exercise system was opened and we proceeded very well once we were logged in.
  • Information provided was interesting and shared by our entire group.
  • Reinforcement of chain of command and available resources.
  • Great teamwork on situational awareness and initial planning objectives and tasks.
  • Contributions by all, no wallflowers or reluctance to participate.
  • Discovered critical needs that we may encounter in actual incidents we had not planned for. Gave us lots of ideas for positive revisions and preparations.
  • Working as a team and collaborating.
  • Questions presented during the exercise were clear and relevant.
  • Our team was very enthusiastic and cooperative. Everyone offered their input and after short discussions we agreed on the action that was to be taken.
  • The maps were helpful in understanding the scenario.
  • The scenarios were realistic.
  • Representatives from multiple CERTs from our county participated together.
  • Teams shared knowledge regarding their individual protocols.
  • Our team members worked well together.
  • Good discussion and input from everyone present.
  • Learned about county response plans that were unknown to us prior to the exercise.
  • Everyone learned a lot.
  • Learned what you can and cannot do in certain circumstances.
  • Communication between team members was helpful.
  • The exercise made us think about things we would be encounter during a real event.
  • The exercise reinforced our training.
  • The team’s members interacted well.
  • ONX System and mapping software along with videos worked very well.
  • Instructions before and during the exercise were complete.
  • Our team’s members arrived at decisions rather quickly.
  • There was little disagreement among team members.
  • Pre exercise information was very helpful.
  • Because Navarre CERT keeps lots of information posted on Office Live and has links with the Santa Rosa County EOC made coming up with plans rather easy.
  • Communications.
  • Interoperability.
  • Mutual Aid.
  • Realistic situation.
  • The team became aware of some variables of which we had not considered prior to the exercise.
  • Good turnout of team members.
  • Interaction between team members with the teams Incident Commander.
  • Increased awareness of the CERT's roles and responsibilities.
  • Team member interaction during the exercise was better than our usual level of participation.
  • We learned more about what is available in our own community.
  • Clarified what we could and couldn't do.
  • Most of the participants were new CERT members with no experience, so it gave them a clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
  • We had a good turnout of new members, with four of us being more experienced and able to make suggestions when needed.
  • It enhanced the team spirit among members who had recently completed training.
  • Understanding all the scenarios and able to act accordingly
  • Step by step instructions and being able to delegate individual tasks.
  • It was great feeling that all participants had an equal voice in suggesting a course of action. Most, if not all, of our team are retired military. I have no military experience, but I felt like my suggestions were respected and considered.
  • We all worked well together.
  • It was noted several times that we need to update information regarding our team information for the county.
  • There were several conversations about "would our team be able to assist with this". We had good discussions about our purpose, role, responsibilities, and the idea that we could be assigned anything by the county emergency management office.
  • Very good participation by our CERT group.
  • Minor flooding is frequent in our area, with major flooding possible, so we were working on a likely event.
  • The exercise was well planned out.
  • Our group worked together.
  • Cant wait for the next one.
  • I like the idea of reviewing our policies and procedures during the exercise.
  • Being able to participate as a group was great.
  • Motivating us to inventory all of our resources.
  • Remembering from training that our role is limited in disaster relief.
  • Turnout and engagement by the group members.
  • Improved awareness regarding "need to be ready for an emergency".
  • We had an excellent turnout of CERT members.
  • People were focused on the exercise and helped each other with the various scenarios and injects.
  • The Incident Commander provided excellent control and focused the team back towards the purpose of the exercise when necessary.
  • The facilitator went through the exercise in a productive manner.
  • Opportunity to work as a team.
  • Identified areas that we need to improve.
  • Good turnout of members for the exercise.
  • The exercise provided us with what needs to be considered when a flood occurs. There are several areas we need to improve in dealing with this type of disaster that will also apply to other disasters and rescue situation we may face in the future. Overall I think it gave us a good foundation for developing training.
  • Because of the time limits we were forced to make decisions quicker and with a lot less discussion. On each inject, once we were able to get past the initial give and take, we were able to provide the needed information. That seem to me the same situation we will face when we are in an actual emergency. In general members voiced their thoughts and ideas and we were able to quickly develop our response.
  • I think it was a good team building exercise. We each had an assigned position and in my case I would think about how my position would be used on each response. I think it makes us think about the interaction we would have with each other.
  • From the incident commander down, each team member stepped up to their tasks.
  • Many good discussions on points that participants caught and brought up. The devil is in the details
  • Our group readily engaged the exercise. All contributed.
  • Our group understood the scope of our mission and training which lead to the appropriate degree of involvement in response to the different scenarios.
  • Increased awareness of the utility of the many available items and equipment in the community that can be used in emergency situations.
  • Communication between all players.
  • Made us think outside the box and through each inject.
  • Refreshed or reinforced previous training.
  • Our team interacted well, and we had a proficient facilitator.
  • Every team member made significant contributions to the final product.
  • We began a process of creating a template for flood procedures.
  • The flood area map was logical.
  • By far, the wide range of input and discussion by all participants allowed the group to come up with innovative problem solving.
  • Volunteers became aware of the myriad of resources that our local and regional CERT organizations have for response and recovery.
  • Acute awareness that in major disasters our CERT actions will need to be coordinated with other emergency response organizations. Time and again our participants asked about actions of other response agencies and how the CERT would coordinate with their actions.
  • We were able to identify assets available to us in case of emergencies.
  • We were able to identify the weakness in our group.
  • The maps and having the overlays showing the locations of critical facilities.
  • Bringing our CERT members together to discuss potential issues.
  • Participation enhanced team communications and promoted brainstorming.
  • Exercise flow went well. Having exercise and segment clocks was very helpful.
  • Integration of local plan into exercise play validated many aspects of the local plan.
  • Communication within the team.
  • We were well organized and worked well as a team.
  • Good interaction with county Emergency Management Department staff.
  • The team jelled early and had a very good brain storming session.
  • Good scenario for Riverton allowed us to compare and contrast conditions that he might encounter within our own community.
  • The exercise was easy to understand and strait forward.
  • The questions were pertinent to the exercise.
  • The entire group was actively involved.
  • The exercise was realistic and provided an opportunity to develop a course of action regarding our response.
  • The videos were a good complement to the disaster response scenario.
  • The presented case scenario was both realistic and presented opportunities for planning a disaster response in a collaborative effort as a team.
  • All persons that participated in the exercise from our team communicated very well.
  • Good exercise!

 

Areas Needing Improvement


  • Need more frequent training on our Emergency Operations Center.
  • We need more meetings to get and keep people involved.
  • We need additional training.
  • We need actual working communications equipment, walkie talkies with greater range.
  • Additional recourses – Man power, supplies, transportation, communications.
  • Develop contact list for other agencies with names, addresses and primary / secondary phone numbers.
  • Only a few of our portable radios are water resistant.
  • We need to develop a communications plan regarding storage and maintenance of our radios after they have been used.
  • Review and update our team’s phone tree.
  • Our team needs to develop referral list of other agencies who can provide assistance.
  • General knowledge of the limitations of Fire Corps.
  • Our team needs to develop a plan.
  • We need to develop incident specific Standard Operating Guidelines.
  • Our team needs additional manpower.
  • We need to and inventory list of the supplies and equipment in our CERT trailer.
  • A compilation of community resources needs to be developed.
  • CERT Standard Operating Procedures needs updating.
  • Resource lists need updating.
  • Our team needs additional resources and supplies.
  • The teams Standard Operation Procedures need to be evaluated and revised.
  • Prepare and inventory of our teams available equipment and supplies.
  • Purchase of additional supplies and equipment.
  • We need better attendance by our team’s membership at events such as this exercise.
  • We need to identify groups or agencies that could help with animal evacuations.
  • Additional volunteer training is needed.
  • Our Standard Operating Procedures need to be fleshed out.
  • Our Incident Action Plan templates need to be fleshed out.
  • Members of our team need to review the our procedures to increase our understanding of what our organization does / does not do and to enhance our understanding of the Incident Command structure.
  • Our CERT needs to develop Standard Operating Procedures for major incidents.
  • Our CERT needs to acquire communications equipment and develop procedures for utilizing such equipment.
  • Our CERT needs to conduct and assessment of each members capabilities / skills.
  • We need a better understanding of liability issues and what we can and can’t do.
  • Our team needs to update our plan and procedures to include information found in the county's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that are relevant to our operations when activated.
  • We need to be sure we have current contact information for some of the agencies we would be working with.
  • We need increased participation of our CERT members in events such as today’s exercise.
  • We are considering inviting our community partners to future exercises.
  • We need to facilitate additional training on Incident Action Planning development for CERT members.
  • A review of the Incident Command System would be helpful for many of our team members.
  • Our team needs to undertake the development of a logistics plan and establish several planning tools.
  • We need to prepare a written plan and set of procedures.
  • Our CERT needs to develop a plan and acquire equipment to be able to facilitate communications in the field.
  • We need to recruit more members for our CERT.
  • Our CERT needs to conduct more training for our volunteers.
  • Our team members need specific training in specific areas of response.
  • Our team needs to reach out to community partners to see what resources they have that would be available during such an emergency.
  • Our CERT needs a trailer to store its equipment / supplies and to mobilize the equipment / supplies into the field.
  • Our community needs access to an animal rescue resource such as a Disaster Animal Response Team.
  • Our CERT needs to develop communication tools such as:
  • What should we tell residents to do before they evacuate their homes?
  • How will they know when their home is safe to return to?
  • We need to develop Standard Operation Procedures.
  • Our team needs to develop detailed plans and procedures.
  • Our team members need additional training.
  • We need to develop a communication plan and train on it prior to a call out.
  • Our CERT needs to reassess our current level of supplies.
  • It is important for our team to deployment a set of procedures to respond to emergencies.
  • We need to strengthen coordination with other agencies in our community.
  • We need to enhance communication between our team and the Emergency Operations Center.
  • Our mobilization/ call-up plan needs to be reviewed, simplified and revised so that it is clear and straight forward.
  • Our radio equipment’s status is unknown.
  • Our team’s logistics and operations procedures are not well defined and need to be reviewed and revised.
  • Our CERT needs a better understanding of how local emergency management would likely integrate our team into an emergency response.
  • We need to develop plans for individuals with special needs and animals.
  • Our CERT needs to invite other agencies and organizations to participate in future exercises so we can enhance response coordination during disasters.
  • We need to develop written plans and procedures.
  • Our team’s members need additional training.
  • We need to develop an inventory of our equipment and supplies.
  • It is important for our team to gain a better understanding of who other disaster response organizations are and what they do.
  • We need more participation by our members in future exercises.
  • There is a need for our team to develop a set of Standard Operating Procedures.
  • There is a need to up-date the inventory of our team’s resources.
  • There is a need to develop a plan for our CERT to effectively respond to a disaster.
  • We need additional resources and supplies.
  • We need to establish a plan of action for our neighborhood watch.
  • We need to identify funding to develop better programs and communications within different areas of our city.
  • The county needs to develop programs that include all Neighborhood Watch Groups in disaster response.
  • Our CERT needs to identify funding to purchase equipment / supplies to support improving our level of readiness.
  • We need a better understanding how the Emergency Operations Center will be manned by our team members.
  • Our CERT needs to improve it call-up method.
  • We need a total understanding of what are roles our CERT is responsible for in an actual disaster.
  • We need additional training.
  • Our team needs to develop a communication plan and be trained on the use of it.
  • We need to reassess the supplies that are available to our CERT.
  • Callout procedures are still unclear to most members of our group and need to be reviewed and enhanced.
  • Well, we definitely need more training, but we already knew that. The exercise did emphasize it, however.
  • We need a new communications plan because changes have been made within the organization.
  • We need a better understanding of what our team’s role is during an emergency or disaster. We are currently in discussion with the fire department to clarify this issue.
  • Our team needs to know and understand our role in the community and communicate that to all its members.
  • Continue to recognize that all team members might have something credible to contribute and ensure that team members feel welcome to participate.
  • Urging more of our members to realize the importance of these training exercises and encourage participation.
  • We need to review our basic training and participate in more hands on exercises, such as this one.
  • Our CERT needs a better understanding of our communication methodologies, processes and purposes.
  • It is important for additional training on the roles of a CERT team member.
  • We need better training and a review of CERT basics.
  • Our team needs to re-evaluate the communications plan. Does the call out system work and unsure about how communications will be accomplished during an incident.
  • We need to reassess current supplies. Are they appropriate for general incidents; what about specific incidents
  • We need to firm up our own disaster response plan.
  • We need go beyond the exercise and develop training session so we can respond quickly and reduce possible surprises in an actual situation.
  • There needs to be greater group participation. I think some of us were more forceful with our ideas and other chose to listen. We all need to be part of the solution.
  • A reporting / management structure for team deployments needs to be developed.
  • Need to refine activation / mustering protocols.
  • Need to define communications procedures
  • Our CERT’s Standards Operating Procedures needs updating.
  • Our CERT need’s to update its list of resources.
  • Our team needs to acquire additional resources and supplies.
  • Our CERT organization found that we really lack a specific "command" structure. While we have numerous volunteers, the organization needs to formalize a structure for greater efficiency.
  • Formal activation and response plans need to be developed and utilized. Participants spent a good deal of time playing "what if," that is, what if phones are out of service.
  • While the organization has a good deal of resources, both equipment and personnel, there needs to be a written list or database of these resources and a plan to request and deploy them.
  • We need to clearly define an organizational structure above the individual Neighborhood Watches.
  • We need to identify the resources that are available to us in our individual neighborhood and those that we might be able to use to come to the assistance of other neighborhoods in our community
  • Our CERT needs more volunteers.