This is a common list of things we do throughout the tabletop exercise engagement. During this process we will: Assist in the refinement of exercise objectives in coordination with your organizations exercise coordinator Tailor the scenario to address stated exercise objectives Develop an overview of the scenario story line (a start, middle and…
A tabletop exercise can test, assess and ultimately improve your crisis plan and your crisis response team’s performance. That is, if it’s done right. To be successful and contribute to your organization’s higher state of crisis readiness, your tabletop exercise has to convincingly simulate a crisis scenario. It has to give participants a taste…
Active shooter incidents are on the rise in US, and your organization is most definitely at risk. Quoting FBI statistics, the National Fire Protection Association reports that “an average of 6.4 active shooter events occurred annually in the U.S. from 2000 to 2006. From 2007 to 2013, that average more than doubled, to 16.4. From…
Simulated crisis tabletop exercises are like a flu shot: The vaccine won’t prevent the illness one-hundred percent of the time, but if you do get the flu, the vaccine will greatly reduce the illness’ severity and bring you back to health more quickly. The potential illness in your organization is, of course, a crisis….
Businesses can be impacted by different types of risk. Some risks can be prepared for, and others are more difficult to predict. Some organizations prepare for risks based on their location and the potential impact due to those specific regional and local risks. In Australia, there are some common threats we see elsewhere in the…
These Seven Tips Will Help You Create Impactful and Memorable Crisis Simulation Tabletop Exercises 1. Ensure your tabletop exercise gets off to a good start by doing this…. Ensure you invite the right audience. This may seem obvious, but I have seen tabletop exercises fail when the they include functions that are not engaged throughout…
58 people died and over 500 were injured during a music festival in Las Vegas on October 1st, 2017. A lone actor shot at festival goers from the Mandalay Bay Hotel room, a scenario even the most seasoned security experts couldn’t have predicted. In this episode we talk to a security advisor James DeMeo who…
Being able to create calm during a major emergency is not easy, Michael Brown will attest to that. It’s what you do to ensure you learn those lessons and there are always lessons-to-be-learned from major crises. Recent hurricanes, cyber-attacks, wildfires, and the mass shooting in Las Vegas are challenging situations that needed to be managed….
“With every mistake, we must surely be learning.” ~ George Harrison (While My Guitar Gently Weeps) The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season is becoming one of the most active seasons on record, thanks to a stretch of long-lived, destructive hurricanes over the past five weeks. It was the first time in history that we had two…
Crises can strike without warning. Some incidents are slower and we can often start our response early. No matter what the situation is, we need to do more to prepare our businesses, communities, and families to survive and thrive after a crisis has passed. In this excellent episode, Mark Hoffman discusses how organizations can better…