A major incident plan is a document. The response to a major incident is a human performance. The gap between those two things is closed by training and exercises. An untested emergency plan—however well-written—provides a false sense of security. This article covers why testing matters, the types of exercises available, and how to design training that prepares staff for the realities of event emergency response.

Why Testing Is Required

NFPA 1600, Standard on Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management, requires that emergency plans be exercised at least annually and that results be captured in an after-action process to identify gaps and improvements (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA], 2022). OSHA’s Emergency Action Plan standard (29 CFR 1910.38) requires that employers review the emergency action plan with each covered employee when the plan is developed, when the employee’s responsibilities change, and when the plan is updated (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2016).

There are practical reasons beyond compliance. Plans developed by committees often contain assumptions that do not survive contact with reality: communication procedures requiring equipment not available on the day, authority structures that break down when the named person is off-site, or evacuation routes blocked by load-in equipment. Exercises surface these gaps before they matter.

Types of Exercises

FEMA’s Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) defines a tiered exercise framework from discussion-based to operations-based (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], 2020).

Discussion-Based Exercises

A tabletop exercise brings key personnel together in a facilitated discussion of a simulated scenario. Participants walk through their roles and decisions without physically deploying resources. HSEEP describes tabletop exercises as best suited to “evaluating plans, policies, agreements, and procedures” rather than testing operational capabilities (FEMA, 2020, p. 2-3). For event emergency planning, a tabletop that walks the planning team through a crowd surge or weather evacuation scenario will typically reveal more planning gaps than reading the plan document alone.

A workshop is a less structured discussion format used to build or refine plans, procedures, or training content. Workshops are useful for developing shared understanding of roles and responsibilities across multi-agency teams before a tabletop exercise (FEMA, 2020).

Operations-Based Exercises

A functional exercise involves some degree of physical activity—testing communication systems, deploying staff to simulated positions, or activating the incident command post. Functional exercises are more resource-intensive than tabletops but test operational capabilities that cannot be evaluated through discussion alone (FEMA, 2020).

A full-scale exercise mobilizes all responding agencies in a realistic simulation. These are typically required by local permitting authorities for events above certain attendance thresholds and require extensive advance coordination with police, fire, EMS, and local emergency management (FEMA, 2020).

FEMA (2020) notes that exercises do not need to be full-scale to be valuable. Testing one element of the plan at a time—communication procedures, for example, or the medical response protocol—is appropriate and effective for most event organizations.

The After Action Report

HSEEP requires an After Action Report (AAR) following every exercise. The AAR identifies what was observed, what worked, what did not, and what improvements are required. The improvement plan from the AAR should be used to update the major incident plan before the next event (FEMA, 2020). NFPA 1600 (2022) requires that AAR findings be tracked to resolution and that revised plans be re-exercised to confirm that improvements are effective.

Training the Full Event Workforce

Exercises test the planning team. Training must reach every member of the event workforce. A major barrier is the transient nature of event staffing: guest services workers, security personnel, and volunteers may be hired days before the event and have no familiarity with the venue, the plan, or their specific emergency role. OSHA (2016) requires that all covered employees know the emergency action plan and their specific role under it before the event begins.

Effective methods for training transient staff (FEMA, 2010):

• Pre-event group briefings covering emergency procedures, exit locations, and role-specific actions
• Written role cards or laminated quick-reference guides that staff carry during the event
• Video training accessible before the event through a staff portal or messaging app
• Role-specific briefings that focus each person on their specific actions without requiring them to know the full plan

All staff with an emergency role—guest services, security, medical, concessions, venue operations—must be trained. This includes contractors and concessionaires, not just direct event employees (FEMA, 2010).

Approval at the Highest Level

NFPA 1600 (2022) requires that emergency plans be approved by senior organizational leadership. Training should reach those decision-makers too, not just front-line staff. Senior leaders who have never participated in an exercise—and who may be called upon to authorize a major incident declaration or event stoppage—are an overlooked training gap in many event organizations.

Building a Training Record

Document all training and exercises. Training records serve as evidence of due diligence, support insurance requirements, satisfy regulatory compliance obligations under OSHA (2016) and NFPA 1600 (2022), and identify who has and has not been trained before the event opens.

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). Special events contingency planning job aids manual. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2020). Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

National Fire Protection Association. (2022). NFPA 1600: Standard on continuity, emergency, and crisis management. NFPA.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2016). 29 CFR 1910.38: Emergency action plans. U.S. Department of Labor.