Operation Crash and Surge: Lessons learned from a region-wide exercise

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) provides base guidance for planning all levels of public safety exercises, from simple seminars to complex full-scale exercises. However, the recent emphasis placed on the Federal Emergency Response Agency Whole Community approach to emergency management involves broadening the spectrum of participants to include multiple community partners. The magnitude and complexity of these exercises necessitates the incorporation of additional planning strategies beyond HSEEP guidance. The objective of this paper is to offer insight on effectively planning, running and learning from a region-wide multi-agency, multi-discipline, full-scale exercise. This will be achieved by utilising a case study to outline the planning process and lessons learned from managing the interaction of components, with an emphasis on achieving common goals without compromising individual needs. Additionally, this article complements ‘Plane down in the city: Operation Crash and Surge’, written by Duane F. Kann and Thomas W. Draper, and published in Volume 7 Number 3 of this journal.