November 2023

In This Edition

• Message from the National Exercise Division Director
• 2024 Exercise Support Request Webinar Dates
• NEW Exercise Starter Kits Coming Soon
• North American Leaders’ Summit Trilateral Emergency Management Conference
• FEMA National Exercise Division Conducts Exercise in Support of the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center
• FEMA National Exercise Division Supports United States’ Secret Service in United Nations General Assembly 78 Preparation
• FEMA National Exercise Division Conducts Exercise for Recovery Planning
• FEMA National Exercise Division Headquarters Hosted International Visitors
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Shooter Tabletop Exercise
• Parkview Health Emergency Preparedness
• Rhode Island Point of Distribution Exercise Modified Due to Real-World Hurricane
• National Exercise Division Releases New Spanish Language Materials
• National Exercise Division Cyber Ready Community Game in Stock
• Climate Corner
• Region 9 Climate Adaption Seminar
• Topic Suggestions? Success Story? Resource to Share?
• Key Resources and Useful Links

Message from the National Exercise Division Director

Mr. Shawn Lenore, FEMA NED Director.

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of NED News. I want to open this newsletter by recognizing the recent catastrophic disasters and long-term recovery efforts underway across our nation, including the Lahaina Wildfires, Tropical Storm Hilary and Tropical Storm Idalia. Our agency’s workforce walks alongside members of these communities directly impacted to support response and recovery. The Division will continue to build our nation’s preparedness through tools, resources and exercises to prepare for disasters that can happen anywhere, at any time. Please visit our website to learn more about how the National Exercise Division can help you prepare now: www.fema.gov/nep.

The FEMA National Exercise Division’s wrap-up of this calendar year highlights exercises with our partners across the national exercise community with a focus on healthcare, climate and equity. We’re removing barriers to FEMA programs and taking a people-first approach by supporting exercises sponsored by our state, local, tribal and territorial partners, and getting out to engage directly with partners at conferences nationwide. We’re sharing, collaborating and coordinating to increase awareness and understanding about the National Exercise Program, the 2024 exercise support request process and the many tools and resources available to our partners.

The Division is continuing to evolve and mature its evidence and program evaluation processes by using a results-based performance measurement system to monitor and track the outputs and outcomes of the National Exercise Program. We’re moving away from simply asking how many exercises the National Exercise Program has conducted toward identifying the changes in capacity and capability that result from those exercises. We recently updated our exercise participant and sponsor feedback forms to help the National Exercise Division determine how the National Exercise Program strengthens communities’ equitable preparedness capabilities.

In October and November, the Division participated in the National Emergency Managers Association Conference in Memphis, TN, traveled to California to present at the International Association of Emergency Managers Association Conference, and closed out the month at the National Disaster Resilience Conference in Florida. We participated in panel sessions and shared program updates to help the whole community increase its preparedness through exercises. Thank you to the many partners who stopped by to chat with us!

As always, thank you for your continued support of the National Exercise Division. Share your thoughts and ideas for future newsletters with me at NEP@fema.dhs.gov.

Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

Jennifer Lynch, Jason Pagan, and Shani Langford, FEMA National Exercise Division Staff, talk with attendees of the International Association of Emergency Managers Conference in Long Beach, CA.

Upcoming - Don't Miss It!

2024 Exercise Support Request Webinar Dates

State, local, tribal, territorial and other whole community partners can receive technical assistance and support for exercises, at no cost, from expert exercise specialists in the National Exercise Division.

Exercise Support Requests are due March 1, 2024. Notifications of decisions will occur no later than June 30, 2024.

Learn from our exercise specialists about how the exercise support request process works and what information you need to submit a complete request for support by attending an informational webinar.

Join us at one of our scheduled community webinars. All webinars will cover the same content, so participants only need to attend one session. Register at Connect Event Catalog (connectsolutions.com).

The community webinar dates are: Tuesday, January 9, 2024, 2 p.m. ET Thursday, January 11, 2024, 11 a.m. ET Tuesday, January 16, 2024, 2 p.m. ET Thursday, January 18, 2024, 10 a.m. ET Monday January 22, 2024, 2 p.m. ET Wednesday January 24, 2024, 11 a.m. ET For more information, visit www.fema.gov/nep.

NEW Exercise Starter Kits Coming Soon

Interested in conducting your own exercise? FEMA will be releasing ten new Exercise Starter Kits in mid-December 2023. As a result of the release of the 2023-2026 National Exercise Program Principals' Exercise Priorities, the Division developed new Exercise Starter Kits to align with the updated priorities. An Exercise Starter Kit is a set of sample materials and templates that an organization/jurisdiction can customize to conduct their own discussion-based exercises. Exercise Starter Kits help organizations/jurisdictions validate their plans and policies and examine their readiness for a range of threats and hazards. The new Exercise Starter Kits can be found on the Preparedness Toolkit at http://www.preptoolkit.fema.gov/web/em-toolkits

Recent Accomplishments

North American Leaders’ Summit Trilateral Emergency Management Conference

The North American Leaders’ Summit is the trilateral summit between the Prime Minister of Canada, the president of Mexico and the president of the United States. By working together, the countries of North America are better able to address shared challenges, strengthen our partnerships and advance our shared priorities.

The October summit continued the spirit of the January 2023 North American Leaders’ Summit to share best practices and strategies for advancing equity and racial justice in our public policies. Specifically, this Summit focused on collaborating on emergency management, especially evacuating vulnerable populations and promoting gender equity in emergency management.

During the Summit, Shawn Lenore debuted FEMAs newly translated “IDEA Guide” – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Exercises: Considerations and Best Practices. By translating the IDEA Guide, FEMA strives to help Spanish speaking audiences involve the whole community, particularly Spanish-speaking underserved communities, in exercise development, conduct and feedback processes. The guide offers exercise planners insights and tools around key considerations for exercises that better reflect the full spectrum of a community’s stakeholders.

Shawn Lenore speaking at the North American Leaders’ Summit.

FEMA National Exercise Division Conducts Exercise in Support of the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center

On August 2, the National Exercise Division conducted a tabletop exercise with the 12 Operational Center Directors representing the Department of Homeland Security Components to examine and refine the information sharing process for optimized operational effectiveness. The Department of Homeland Security was looking to bring together and strengthen the entire community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from all hazards. This exercise was designed to examine the operations center's coordinating mechanisms and identify potential gaps, areas of inefficiency and opportunities for improvement.

Exercise participants thought the exercise provided a valuable opportunity to familiarize personnel with roles and responsibilities, and review current plans, policies and standard operating procedures to support timely and accurate information sharing during a crisis. The FEMA National Exercise Division team was presented with Certificates of Appreciation and a Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center Coin for their planning, design and delivery of the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center Tabletop Exercise.

To learn more about the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, visit Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program | FEMA.gov.

FEMA National Exercise Division Team (Ted Fries, Erica Kliment, Christiana Biggs, Ted Robinson, Dan McGough) supports the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center Tabletop Exercise.

FEMA National Exercise Division Supports United States’ Secret Service in United Nations General Assembly 78 Preparation

FEMA National Exercise Division’s Homeland Security Team traveled to Brooklyn, New York September 11 through September 13 to support the United States Secret Service in preparation for this year’s United Nations General Assembly held September 18 through September 26, 2023. The FEMA National Exercise Division is responsible for providing exercise support to National Special Security Events as outlined in “FEMA Instruction 111-0-1: Special Events, dated April 2016.” For this event, the National Exercise Division led the design, delivery and after-action discussion of the Multiagency Communications Center Drill to evaluate information sharing and communication coordination between federal, state and local partners within the geographical operational area. This year’s United Nations General Assembly was attended by the largest number of attendees since its first session on January 10, 1946.

FEMA National Exercise Division Team Supports United States’ Secret Service in United Nations General Assembly 78 Prep: L to R: Ted Robinson, Doug Flood, Mariam Karim, Jenna Hooks, Matt O’Shea, Hunter Wilson, Shawn Lenore.

FEMA National Exercise Division Conducts Exercise for Recovery Planning

On September 7, 2023, representatives from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Jewish Community Security Inc., Hatzalah of Michigan, Federal Bureau of Investigation, American Red Cross and many other local and state partners gathered for an in-person, one-day workshop. The workshop explored long-term recovery planning considerations and family assistance requirements after a complex coordinated terror attack. Participants discussed access to resources, operational roles and coordination requirements to successfully establish a family assistance center, integrate Jewish Community representation within the emergency management process and communicate effectively both internally and externally.

The exercise empowered critical stakeholders from across multiple jurisdictions to discuss various challenges presented in the exercise scenario, and served to improve relationships among community, state and federal partners.

Given recent events impacting the community at large, outputs from the exercise have an immediate effect within the community. The Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Federation communicated its gratitude to the FEMA National Exercise Division for its expertise in planning and delivering an impactful exercise.

American Red Cross Mas Casualty Expert and Volunteer Kate Cragwall of Grand Rapids, MI, briefs workshop attendees on the tactics and strategies associated with stand-up and execution of a Family Assistance Center.

FEMA National Exercise Division Headquarters Hosted International Visitors

On October 11, the FEMA National Exercise Division hosted international visitors from Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Government Operations Centre at FEMA Headquarters. Aligning with the 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan, FEMA National Exercise Division works closely with our Canadian partners and the Government Operations Centre on efforts to share information related to emergency management training and exercise programs, identify opportunities to collaborate on joint training or exercise initiatives and share lessons learned from real-world events. The day began with a tour of the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center at the Saint Elizabeth Campus. During the tour, the National Operations Center Director, Dan McGough, provided an overview of daily National Operations Center operations, including the management the National Common Operating Picture, which was of particular interest to the Government Operations Centre attendees, as Canada is currently upgrading systems and facilities capabilities.

After the tour, the group returned to FEMA Headquarters and met with the National Exercise Division Director, Branch, and Section chiefs to receive a National Exercise Division overview briefing. The group spent the afternoon touring the FEMA National Response Coordination Center, meeting with chiefs from the various National Response Coordination Center Sections and examining its new collaborative features. Topping off the tour was a surprise visit from the FEMA Administrator. Response Operations Director, Jeremy Greenberg, provided a hybrid presentation, via Microsoft Teams, for attendees at FEMA Headquarters and Government Operations Centre staff in Canada on National Response Coordination Center operations and maintaining situational awareness during large response operations. The presentations prompted discussion and questions about best practices and lessons learned, and successfully identified contacts for future collaboration.

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Shooter Tabletop Exercise

Fifty-one participants from the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo nation and local, state and federal partner organizations participated in a six-hour tabletop exercise. The exercise was designed to identify critical elements of a response to, and recovery from, an active shooter incident at the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center. The tabletop included establishing, operating and transferring incident command, short- and long-term recovery operations and specific sovereign and cultural considerations, along with their impact on response and recovery.

Nighty-four percent of the participants who completed a feedback form indicated they felt their organization is more prepared after participating in the exercise. This tabletop exercise generated dialogue on various issues, facilitated conceptual understanding, identified strengths and areas for improvement, and achieved changes in perceptions about plans, policies or procedures.

Parkview Health Emergency Preparedness

In late August, Parkview Health conducted multiple full-scale disaster exercises across the health system in Indiana, with the support of the National Exercise Division. The full-scale exercises were designed to validate Parkview’s emergency response plans, policies and procedures by simulating an emergency scenario in which each hospital received a large number of patients in a short period of time.

The disaster exercises were conducted over a three-day period, with multiple locations participating each day. There were 975 participants. Facilities involved in the drills included:

• Parkview DeKalb Hospital;
• Parkview Noble Hospital;
• Parkview Whitley Hospital;
• Parkview Huntington Hospital;
• Parkview Warsaw;
• Parkview Hospital Randallia and
• Parkview Regional Medical Center.

Following the events, the National Exercise Division team helped Parkview complete an after-action report and improvement plan. The documentation will go into the FEMA library to aid in the development of national best practices for emergency management.

Select the video below to see how FEMA National Exercise Division simulates emergency scenarios to sharpen our response.

Simulating emergency scenaios to sharpen our response - video link

Rhode Island Point of Distribution Exercise Modified Due to Real-World Hurricane

Following a traditional planning cycle, the full-scale Rhode Island Point of Distribution Exercise was reduced from two days of exercise conduct to one in mid-September 2023. In the days leading up to conduct, Hurricane Lee threatened to make landfall in Rhode Island, just as the exercise team arrived in the state. The original plan for the two days of full-scale exercise conduct focused on food and water resource requests and distribution from local government to the state and FEMA set within the scenario of a category three hurricane response in Rhode Island. Day one was planned and conducted in the Rhode Island State Emergency Operations Center and Rhode Island Public Safety Warehouse. The Cities of Providence, Gloucester, Scituate, Pawtucket and Central Falls made requests to the State Emergency Operations Center for commodities to support local distribution sites. Day two planned for commodities to be distributed from the warehouse to the local Point of Distribution sites, where volunteers were to set up to operate the Point of Distribution. In the interest of safety, day two was postponed. Rhode Island plans to conduct day two of the exercise with their local communities to confirm the distribution process is ready to be used, if another hurricane decides to impact Rhode Island.

National Exercise Division Releases New Spanish Language Materials

FEMA is reaching out directly to Spanish speaking communities with the newly translated “IDEA Guide” – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Exercises: Considerations and Best Practices. NED strives to help Spanish speaking audiences help involve the whole community, particularly underserved communities, in exercise development, conduct and feedback processes. The guide offers exercise planners insights and tools around key considerations for exercises that better reflect the full spectrum of a community’s stakeholders.

This document and video are used by exercise practitioners and emergency managers at all levels of government, the private sector and nonprofit organizations. FEMA hopes to engage planners and participants who have previously not been able to participate with the translated IDEA Guides.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Exercises: Considerations and Best Practices Documents

• IDEA Guide English Spanish
• IDEA Video English Spanish

If you have any questions, please email NEP@fema.dhs.gov.

National Exercise Division Cyber Ready Community Game in Stock

Cyberspace touches all our lives, underpinning almost every aspect of a functioning community. We all have a stake in cyber preparedness, as well as a role to play. The game engages players from different disciplines and with varying degrees of cybersecurity expertise in useful preparedness discussions. In particular, the Cyber Ready Community Game emphasizes the importance of coordinated planning by cybersecurity and emergency management communities to respond to the impacts of cyber incidents on critical community functions together.

This board game is based on principles from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. Players represent community organizations that invest Cyber Credits (¢¢) to prepare for cyber incidents and their impacts. Players can lose or gain points as they experience multiple cyber incidents, share information and negotiate for limited cyber response resources that preserve important community functions. No technical background is required to play. All you need are 2.5 to 3 hours, 6 to 24 players and the game materials.

For more information, please contact NEP@fema.dhs.gov. To request a no-cost copy of the Cyber Ready Community Game, please email FEMAPubs@gpo.gov with shipping information.

Example of Cyber Ready Community Game and playing cards.

Climate Corner

The National Exercise Division wrapped up its support of the Regional Climate Adaptation Exercise Series with outstanding results in each of its 10 regions! The effort strived to create connections between climate adaptation experts and state, local, tribal and territorial emergency planners to expand climate adaptation knowledge and share data and resources. These Climate Adaptation Seminars have brought the whole community together and inspired them to continue working together through more targeted discussions on specific climate risks.

For more information on the regional Climate Adaptation Exercises visit www.preptoolkit.fema.gov/web/caes

Regional Climate Adaptation Exercise Series statistics.

Region 9 Climate Adaption Seminar

On September 26 and 27, FEMA’s Region 9 National Preparedness Division hosted the Region 9 Climate Adaptation Seminar. A total of 47 organizations, with 74 attendees from at least three states, and three tribal nations participated over the two days of training and exercises. This exercise was the culmination of the ten-seminar series that spanned the last 18 months.

Back row from left: Dave Gudinas, Kevin Wasiewsk, Shawn Lenore, Dante Tandazzo, Andrea Young, Alison Keans, Keith O’Daniel, Tobias Watson; Front row from left: Willow Dysard, Maddie Stannard

Region 9 Climate Adaption Seminar Series Recap

Topic Suggestions? Success Story? Resource to Share?

The NED wants to hear from you! Send your topic ideas, stories, and resources to nep@fema.dhs.gov. We might just feature your story or resource in our next newsletter!

Key Resources and Useful Links