NACCHO’s Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise Template was developed and tested by local health officials to assist local health departments in designing and conducting discussion-based tabletops exercises of pandemic influenza response functions.  This template is intended to be a simple guide to create a tabletop exercise that can be easily adjusted to meet the needs of exercise planners. The template includes objectives, points of review, local events and discussion questions for three pandemic response functions:  Business Continuity, Epidemiology and Surveillance, and Community Containment.  These functions may be tested independently or together depending on the scope of the exercise. 

This exercise template is unique in that it is objective-driven rather than scenario-focused. The objectives provided are intended to test specific elements of a local pandemic influenza plan. The suggested scenarios facilitate the testing process.

This exercise template may be used in coordination with the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) toolkit to develop, conduct and evaluate HSEEP-compliant pandemic influenza exercises. 

This FREE exercise tool includes the following four components:

1 – User’s Guide

2 – Scenario Objective Worksheet

3 – Microsoft PowerPoint Template

4 – Exercise Evaluation Forms

This exercise template provides the fundamental elements of a discussion-based exercise for testing components of a pandemic influenza response plan, but it does not include supporting elements such as facilitation guidelines, controller and evaluator instructions, logistical checklists and planning timelines.  These and other resources can be found in the HSEEP toolkit. Click on the following links for more information about HSEEP:

HSEEP 101

HSEEP Toolkit

 

Questions?

If you have any questions about NACCHO’s Pandemic Influenza Exercise Template, please contact:

Vicki Johnson, MSc

National Association of County and City Health Officials

1100 17th Street, NW, Second Floor

Washington, DC 20036

Office: (202) 783-5550 x. 217

E-mail: vjohnson@naccho.org