GES Simulation Guide v3.pdf - Avian Influenza and the Pandemic ...

GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY SIMULATION ANNEX B.01: RUNNING THE OPENING MEETING | Pg 75
GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY SIMULATION
ANNEX B.01: RUNNING THE OPENING MEETING | Pg 76
ANNEX B.01
RUNNING THE OPENING MEETING
Purpose
A well-equipped office for use as the SAC is critical to the running of the exercise. The purpose of the
Opening Meeting, generally held at the start of the exercise day, is threefold:
• The Minister or his/her delegate will declare the emergency and begin the process of coordinating
the various respondents.
• The session facilitator will present background on the GES and guidance to the various participants,
and provide support to the Minister or his/her delegate as needed.
• Consider adding some drama to the meeting with an expert briefing outlining the scenario
Opening Meeting Agenda 5
The meeting will take about an hour before the start of the exercise. A proposed agenda follows:
3. Confirm that the government has declared an emergency.
4. Note that an Initial Rapid Assessment team composed technical specialists has just returned from
the affected area and submitted its findings; the Initial Rapid Assessment Report will be distributed
shortly to all participants.
5. Then ask the session facilitator to provide the detailed instructions to the participants (as indicated
on the “Participant Instructions” document which should be distributed at this time.) The Minister
or his/her delegate will continue to chair the meeting, to help answer questions as needed and to
lead any efforts to coordinate the response that may occur directly after the instructions.
GES FACILLITATOR REMINDER
The “Participant Instructions” (Annex
A.04.06.) handout should now be distributed
to all participants.
Participant Instructions
The session facilitator should now use the Opening Meeting
Guide.ppt 6 presentation (or flip charts as the case may be)
to introduce the GES objectives, rules, expected outputs,
timeline, and guidance on receiving and sending messages.
Instructions on use of this PowerPoint presentation follow:
Time Session Responsibility
0800 – 0815
Emergency Declaration and Review
of “Current Situation”
0815 – 0845 Participant Instructions Facilitator
Minister or ministers representative
with Facilitator support
Present this slide to orient participants as they enter
room.
0845 – 0855 Technical information on the crisis Technical specialist
0855 – 0900 Wrap-up
Emergency Declaration
The Minister or his/her representative should:
1. Open the meeting as if there were an actual
emergency. After thanking all for coming “in
these trying times”, s/he should review the
present emergency conditions as laid out in the
Current Situation.doc.
2. Give a brief summary of the emergency based on
the Current Situation document. The “Current
Situation” intentionally provides minimal
information given that the emergency has just
occurred. More information will be forthcoming
as the exercise evolves.
Minister or ministers representative
with Facilitator support
GES FACILLITATOR REMINDER
The GES debriefing workshop is best conducted
in a hotel or other appropriately
equipped training centre where a sizeable
conference room facility is available and
the planning of lunch and coffee breaks is
more easily done. If possible, select a hotel
somewhat removed from the participants’
offices to limit participant tendency to return
to the office during workshop hours.
Once the Minister or the minister’s representative
passes the floor to you, show this slide and review the
main goal of the GES.
Review the objectives of the GES. Note that the effort
to achieve these aims is a test of the participants’ capacity
to prepare for and respond to the many demands of
an emergency.
5 Normally the debriefing includes those in a position to make decisions with regard to emergency preparedness and response plans and procedures. This list
generally includes ministry or authority heads, their deputies and key senior programme or emergency officers. The exact list will depend upon a number of
factors: the Minister’s (or minister’s representative’s) plans, the debriefing venue and its capacity, your team’s ability to facilitate larger groups, etc. Generally,
you should plan on anywhere between 25 and 40 participants.
6 This PPT presentation can be found in the “GES Presentations Folder”
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