Table Top Exercise Development

Overview and OrientationWashington State School Directors

Association

November 23, 2013

Zillah School District Active Shooter

• Todays recreation is a highly shortened version of a table top and full scale exercise

• The typical planning process can take up to one year• Zillah plan was done in about 6 months• It started with a Table Top which we’re

demonstrating this morning• It culminated in a full scale exercise

Purpose & Critical Preplanning Elements• Relationships & Partnerships for Schools• Fire, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, EMS,

Mental Health

• The importance of Preplanning; determining roles and jurisdictional issues during a crisis• Who’s in charge; fire or law enforcement; and under what

circumstances?

• Schools:• Fire and law enforcement will rely upon you to;• Manage students and staff• Parents and others will be drawn to an event; you will

have to manage “reunification”

Critical Elements• Incident Command System (ICS)

– It is important for school leadership to be trained and understand the Incident Command System; have back-up personnel; train the entire crisis team

– A critical leader in the school will be expected to be part of “Unified Command.” School Board members need to be aware of ICS

• Active Shooter and other Events– What are your hazards and potential crisis situations? – Practice and drill towards identified hazards and possibilities

• Table Tops, like other exercises, are processes to get us talking to one another & evaluate our systems and plans– Schools cannot and should not train/drill in a vacuum

Exercise 101The Planning Process

• Make it as real as possible– This is the time and place to make mistakes, evaluate and learn– Do not just “go through the motions” and “check the box”

• Goals, Objectives - What do you what to accomplish?• Identify a Planning Team - Who will put this

together?• Scope of Play - What are you capable of doing?• Cost of the Program

Exercise Planning

• Time line• Scenario- test the school crisis response plan• Scope of Play – Who’s playing and what will

they bring to the party• Community Sensitivities• Exercise Logistics• After Action Review• Improvement Plan

A School Districts PerspectiveRelationship with Emergency Services•Have a plan and a procedure

– What to do when a crisis hits– Identify local hazards and develop plans accordingly

•Regularly practice the plan– With fire and law enforcement involvement– Addressing different conditions and scenarios

•Communicate before, during and after– Fire, law enforcement– Staff & Students– Parents & Community– Have a media plan

•Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate; this should lead to an improvement plan, for every drill and actual event

A School Districts Perspective• Planning for an Active

Shooter & Other Events

• At the school

• Other schools

• Reunification – For parents and students

in predetermined locations

• Transportation• Student support• Specific duties for staff

during crisis• School the next day,

week, month?• Anticipate potential

occurrences by monitoring anniversary dates of past events

A Law Enforcement Perspective

• These events take priority over every other call we have.

• With rapid confirmation we will be pulling out all the stops to get as many Law Enforcement Officers from as many agencies there as quickly as possible.

A Law Enforcement Perspective(Lt. Brian Winter)

• Officers are well trained and equipped for this event.– Unless your school has an SRO, law enforcement

will not be there when the event starts

• What we need, but can not control, is for the school to be equally as prepared. An Active Shooter event is a fight that we must win in advance, through in-depth planning and preparation involving the school, LE and Fire

A Fire Service Perspective(Ken Robillard)

• This is a Law Enforcement Incident (with assistance from the Schools, Fire Department, and many others)

• Most current Department protocols – staging at a safe distance until the scene is secure by PD

• Definition of “Secure Scene”

A Fire Service Perspective

• Two different types of entry with the Fire Department– Casualty Collection Point (CCP), or Warm Zone,

PD collects wounded and brings them to one point– Collection or Rescue Teams – (multiple) Teams of

two EMS personnel are escorted into the warm zone and they pick up the casualties and bring them to a transfer spot and return for more

– “The Golden Hour”

A Fire Service Perspective

• Pre Incident Meetings• Communication, Communication,

Communication• Local Policies and Procedures for School

Shootings & other events– Fire Department – “Risk a lot to save a lot”– Fire Department – Golden Hour

Other Agencies, Departments, etc. Involved (Jim Hall)

• Other Schools, School Districts• Multiple Police and Fire Agencies• Hospitals• Public Works• Red Cross• Mental Health

Management of Information and Media

• Twitter• Facebook• Broadcast Media• National Media• What will or does your “SYSTEM” look like

Incident Command System (ICS)

Zillah School District Table Top Exercise Overview

• Make it as real as possible given the scope of the exercise

• Players in Exercise Staging Area• Exercise Props – Visual Aids (Map Table)

ExerciseSetting the Stage

• We are at the Zillah Middle School • School is in session, it is November 23, 2013, a normal

day• School staff are there and doing their normal work• Weather is what it is today

Exercise Play

• Handout-Zillah Middle School Active Shooter After Action Report and Improvement Plan

• FEMA Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Information Paper

Exercise Play

• Handout Injects to those playing roles• Discussion • Exercise Play as time permits

END OF EXERCISE

DISCUSSION - QUESTIONS