What are Tabletop Exercises?
Emergency planning tabletop exercises are a cooperative group activity, designed to utilize the thoughts and ideas of many to test, discuss, problem-solve and improve upon a school safety plan.
As the name suggests, during tabletop exercises participants sit around a table, and an exercise leader provides instruction or outlines a specific scenario. The assembled group must determine how to use their current school safety plan to respond to this hypothetical emergency scenario. The team may also discuss potential “what-ifs” that could come into play as the scenario unfolds.
Throughout the exercise, participants are encouraged to problem-solve and discuss the emergency response process in a collaborative manner. Each participant has a voice that is respected, heard and valued.
Tabletop exercises are designed to be:
- Specific
- Thought-provoking
- Low stress
- Non-confrontational
- Convenient, yet effective
- An opportunity for growth
Participants spend their time focusing on each aspect of emergency response. This may include the initial response on campus, the coordination and response of outside agencies, and the first steps of the recovery process following an incident.
As the tabletop exercise comes to a close, participants/administrators gain an increased awareness about what components of the district’s current policies and practices need to be updated, along with recommendations on how to do so.
The Ohio School Safety Center has provided several scenario-based tabletop exercise templates for your school to utilize. View them here.
How can Tabletop Exercises Become More Effective?
OSCR360 is a helpful tool schools can utilize during their tabletop exercises. The OSCR360 Software is designed to create, organize, present and review safety plans. The system acts as a powerful visual reference.
As participants begin a tabletop exercise, OSCR360 can be shared on a large screen or viewed on individual devices. Participants can access a virtual walkthrough of the campus, viewing locations and context for the given scenario.
OSCR360 covers more than just the big picture; critical details about each location can be viewed as “Points of Interest” within the virtual walkthrough. Users can zoom-in, read notes about each location, see where medical equipment or security cameras are located and are able to gain a complete understanding of the physical space.
One of the most important assets of OSCR360 during tabletop exercises is the ability to access an entire campus without ever leaving the room. Physically visiting a location would be time consuming and impractical during a tabletop exercise, but OSCR360 makes a “visit,” easy.
OSCR360 in a Tabletop Exercise Scenario:
Tabletop Exercise Scenario: There is a small fire in the middle school technology classroom, requiring the building to be evacuated. What if there is inclement weather outside? What if an exit door is blocked or stuck? How does the safety team handle evacuating a special needs population nearby? Is there another plan if the fire cannot be contained quickly? What if there are students or staff who are unaccounted for?
With OSCR360:
- View the technology classroom and identify the most efficient escape routes.
- Survey the surrounding environment to look for fire extinguishers and fire alarms nearby.
- Look for fire doors that need to be closed and identify personnel assigned to this job.
- Determine personnel who are assigned to sweep each location before exiting.
- Identify locations of students with functional needs and discuss how to get them to safety.
- Locate areas to which students and staff will report upon evacuation.
- Explore the outdoor areas to identify potential locations for students to shelter in various weather conditions (pavilions, nearby buildings, trees, etc.).
- Determine indoor locations that students could potentially return to after the fire has been extinguished.
- View the current reunification site to see if it is equipped to handle the situation, should building re-entry be unsafe.
- Identify and discuss current evacuation routes for the entire building. View the entrances and exits from outside of the building. Consider back-up evacuation routes.
How can OSCR assist your school with documenting and presenting an emergency response plan?
Emergency planning within a school district can be a daunting process, with many people and organizations involved, and many details to plan for.
Is it all worth it? Absolutely. The more you can plan and train, the less chaos and confusion there will be when an emergency situation occurs.
OSCR360 assists schools with conducting effective and efficient tabletop exercises. The system can also help schools through the entire process of documenting, creating and training on their emergency response plans.
The OSCR360 System is equipped with a 360-degree camera that quickly and effectively captures locations on campus, automatically storing and organizing the photos sequentially within a sharable OSCR360 project. Users are also able to document any key Points of Interest within the building. This includes security cameras, medication storage, AEDs, fire extinguishers and more. Using the software, viewers can rearrange the photos and add notes. Documents, maps, blueprints, additional photos and custom Points of Interest can all be incorporated into the project.
Approved parties, including administrators and first responders, can share your OSCR360 project for virtual access to your campus. This makes OSCR360 a highly effective tool for documenting, presenting, planning and training for all types of emergency scenarios.
“My safety committee and I have been to our reunification site, but nobody else (teachers, staff, first responders), and it’s really hard for people to wrap their heads around what it’s actually going to be like in practice – you can’t bring 150 people to your reunification site for drilling. Anything that gives them a leg up to visualize it is helpful, and OSCR360 does that.”
Private School Safety Director, NY
