Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE

Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations Responding To Climate Change
A Practical Guide For Decision Makers
These are important factors to bear in mind when implementing the disaster
preparedness plan. They stress the importance of training responders and raising
public awareness on the Emergency Plan developed in the previous chapter.
Accordingly, Chapter 6 provides guidance on drills, exercises and training and on
what to expect during plan implementation.
6.2
Testing the Disaster Preparedness Plan
Disasters are relatively rare events. It is likely, therefore, that a disaster preparedness
plan will not have been tested or implemented. Exercising or drilling the plan is
the primary way for emergency managers and responders to test and evaluate
components of the plan to determine its effectiveness in an actual disaster
event. Various levels of exercising the plan are explained in Box 6.1. Exercises
are the responsibility of the local or national disaster management agency. They
usually involve staff of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), which, in real life
disaster situations is established to coordinate and manage the crisis, dispatching
There are four key reasons for testing and evaluating the plan:
2) To detect potential problems in the overall emergency management system.
4) To detect problems with the functioning, operation of equipment and
communication systems.
Box 6.1: Types of Emergency Plan Simulation Exercises
There are three levels of exercises for preparedness training:
Tabletop Exercises. These require minimal preparation. The main purpose
is to detect potential problems with emergency coordination and to
determine the suitability of assigned responsibilities. Tabletop exercises
determine requirements for further training. They are most effective for the
preparedness and response function but less so for the recovery function.
conference table – hence term “tabletop”) and are presented with a disaster
scenario with its related problems designed by the emergency manager. The
scenario is discussed in reference to the disaster plan framework and its
procedures.
Functional Exercise. This exercise is intended for the Coordinating Group,
and emergency responders including the staff of the Emergency Operations
Centre (EOC) that coordinates the national disaster response, emergency
responders and collaborating agencies. They participate in this speeded-
and effectiveness. This is more complex than the tabletop exercise and
74 | Implementing The Preparedness Plan