A seminar is a low-level discussion
used to familiarize participants with new policies or procedures, e.g., a change in parking assignments at the transporta- tion center. A workshop is designed to build plans or procedures; e.g., staff could formulate an emergency management team and job responsibilities. Next, a ta- bletop exercise is just that, key individuals discussing plans and procedures using a simulated scenario. Te final exercise in the orientation group is a game. Tis ex- ercise uses teams to evaluate policies and procedures. A safety in-service would be an excellent place to use this particular type of training. Teams can be chosen by the old number-in-the-can technique. Five to eight members on each team can then evaluate a series of questions related to job requirements. Another game would be to use a medical scenario. Employees then evaluate the situation, such as a school bus crash, and prioritize or triage the students for seriousness of injuries. Operations-based exercises are used
to validate plans, policies, agreements and procedures, clarify roles and respon- sibilities, and identify resource gaps in an operational environment. Tese include drills, functional and full-scale exercises. A drill is used to test a single, specific operation: a call to all drivers relating a simulated emergency. Did all respond or is there a gap? A functional exercise is used to test operations among organiza- tional entities such as the transportation department and school administration. Te final operations-based exercise is a full-scale practice. Tis particular ex- ercise involves entities from multiple jurisdictions, multiple disciplines and multiple agencies. It can include school districts, county-wide ambulance servic- es, flight-for-life and the coroner’s office, just to name a few. Tis particular exer- cise can be used for the beginning of the year safety in-service meeting. Although this type of exercise takes the most time to prepare, it is also the most satisfying. An enormous amount of knowledge is gained with this particular approach. Community partners are invaluable here. Although exercising seems rather com-
plicated, it can be incredible when it comes to testing your plan. If your exercise goes
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completely “south,” great! Policies and procedures can be corrected before a real disaster strikes. Remember to use your in-service meet-
ings to empower your employees in the area of emergencies. History relates that confusion regarding who’s in charge of what and when, together with unclear lines of authority, have been the greatest
contributors to poor response. ■ References: FEMA, EMI Independent Study Program
http://training.fema.gov/is
Cheri Clymer is a retired school transpor- tation safety trainer from Loveland, Colo. She is the co-author of NAPT’s Emergency Preparedness Guide and can be contacted at
clymerc@skybeam.com.
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