I know people that believe they are the next Wild Bill Hickok because they think they can shoot. However, they never compete, they never shoot for score, and they never use a timer to test just how good they are. Anyone can think they are the baddest man alive, but it’s all talk until you test yourself.
You must test your plans.
By Jennifer Smits from the FEMA Photo Library via Wikimedia Commons.
Working on my state’s nuclear response plan, we wrote some awesome sounding plans, but working in a basement office tends to lead to unrealistic ideas. To balance that, we tested those plans no less than three times a year. That kept us honest.
Testing a plan is as important as making one; it’s the only way to ensure it works.
When planning a preparedness test, ensure you have goals for your test. You also need to ensure those goals are realistic.
Design a scenario based on the threats you plan for, create some ground rules, and then build in some preplanned informational injects to keep the test flowing.
An inject is a piece of information placed into the exercise to either make it more difficult, keep the exercise flowing, or to deal with a player. I used to have a coworker that made all the exercise decisions during exercises and always was the boss. He was highly competent, did a great job, and I truly respected him. However, because he was so good he was always selected to run the tests. It is not realistic to always assume the same guy will be available for emergency response. I kept adding injects where he had a heart attack so that someone else could get practice.
A good inject for a home-based exercise might be that the cell tower died and your teen’s cell phone stopped working so they will participate in your exercise.
After the exercise is over, you need to learn from it. The best thing to do is to have a “hotwash” or After Action Report (AAR).
After Action Report
An AAR is an informational gathering of the participants in a exercise where they get together to discuss the exercise, what actually occurred, what went wrong, what went right, and what could make the plan better.
An After Action Report meeting is not designed to lay blame or attack anyone—if that happens people don’t play anymore. It is designed to be an open discussion of how to make the plan better.
One home invasion plan at my house called for the child to hide in the closet as I covered the hallway with my shotgun and we waited for law enforcement. Good plan, right? In doing an exercise, we realized that the closet was directly behind where I was to be taking cover. That would mean in a two-way gunfight, rounds would impact exactly where I put the kid. Since it was an exercise, there was no negative other than, “Man, I’m stupid!” and “Where can the kid safely hide if this really happened?”
Once you gather the things that make your plan better, add them to the plan. By doing this on a continuous cycle your plan gets better and better.
The 72-Hour Bug In Test
This is one of my favorite family disaster exercises. In the 72-hour test you typically start on Friday evening after work. Turn off the water at the street level valve, also turn off the air conditioner, and the lights. I do not recommend turning the circuit breaker off as it can cause damage to the water heater and food in the freezer. Chain up the refrigerator and use the honor system on the lights and power outlets.
The idea is to last the weekend using nothing outside of what you have in your family 72-hour kit. This exercise is best done in the fall or spring before it gets too cold or too hot.
It is not that difficult to conceptualize, or to start, but you will find that, depending upon the commitment and the skill of the family members, this can be very difficult to finish.
After Action Report meeting.
By Kaye Richey via Wikimedia Commons.
In my experience, it starts out as a nightmare, but with continued practice it gets easier, and can get to be fun.
On Sunday evening, turn everything back on, and have a nice celebratory family meal. Then perform an after action. Let everyone contribute. For me, I never thought about kid issues, but after a while I realized that coloring books and crayons were worth the space in the kit. I keep some pulp fiction books in the kit, as well as a couple decks of card games such as UNO.
Once the initial survival aspects are met, it can get pretty boring sitting around in the dark.
Other Ways to Test Preparedness
Tabletop Drills
In a tabletop, the players sit around a table and work though a scenario based upon what they know and what they have. Using an electromagnetic pulse as the exercise, have each member of the family describe what they would do immediately after discovering all electronics ceased working. Work through the event and let everyone participate. This is a great way to begin the preparedness discussion and tabletops are normally the first exercise type done when government prepares for a large-scale event or exercise.
Tabletop Drill.
By MarylandGovPics via Wikimedia Commons.
Functional Drills
While functional drills are a little different for large organizations and governments, for families and small groups they are tests of functional areas of a plan.
An example would be timing how long it would take to prepare a house to shelter in place. Have some standards set and work to meet those standards. A great test is to see how long it takes to load the car and prepare to evacuate. Without practice it can take hours, with practice five minutes is a great goal.
Camping is a good family preparedness activity.
By Virginia State Parks staff via Wikimedia Commons.
Preparedness is about protecting your loved ones and ensuring they have a quality life. Family outings are a great way to balance preparedness training with fun. Growing up, we called it camping. However, these outings don’t have to be just outdoors, they could be to discover the neighborhood, find alternative ways home, test evacuation plans, or just have a picnic at the closest park using only the food in your car kit. Doing things as a group is the best way to prepare for a disaster as it reinforces the family and keeps it strong.
Games
I like using games as a testing and training method. Playing “Where are we?” or “How do I get home?” with younger kids helps develop situational awareness. Having a map on the fridge and having the child identify their play area promotes responsibility and accountability while also building land navigation skills.
A favorite of mine is Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim’s Game,” where objects are arranged and covered by a cloth, the cloth is removed, and the player has a set amount of time to observe the objects. They are covered and the player then describes the objects. Doing the same thing, but then drawing the items from memory also trains powers of observation. This “game” is played by some Special Forces and sniper schools to increase observation power.
“Kim’s Game.”
Photo by the author.