Government's emergency simulations: facilitator's guide

This document is a tool for national governments who wish to conduct simple, inexpensive table top and functional exercises to test systems and procedures contained within their national disaster management plans. It is intended for governments to take a proactive tack at preparing for potential emergencies and improve their response mechanisms as a result of testing, which leads to recommended actions on improving preparedness and also prevention mechanisms.

It provides the instructions and documentation needed to support the design and delivery of the Integrated Approach to Emergency Simulation or “GES”, an emergency preparedness and response simulation exercise and follow-up debriefing workshop. Its design enables participants to apply existing disaster preparedness policies, contingency plans and emergency procedures to prepare their responses to a given disaster scenario and many of the real challenges imposed by such crises, including coordination, management, security, administrative, and technical sector challenges.

This document is one of the main support manuals provided by the UN system for Governments to implement the priority 5 of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). Simulations are supportive to all 4 indicators of progress identified for priority 5 of the HFA and it also has implications to Priority 1 as well in particular.