It’s a simulated television news report, but it feels so real you forget for a moment this is a disaster preparedness exercise—an announcer is telling us a major earthquake has struck south of Seattle. As we see dramatic video images of collapsed highways, rescue crews moving the injured, and shipping containers upended and in disarray, the television anchor describes the damage and the chaos in Puget Sound.
The news report was part of a tabletop exercise, developed and implemented by Booz Allen to test the disaster preparedness capabilities of federal, state and local agencies in Puget Sound, particularly at the ports.
This kind of realistic, customized approach is essential for participant engagement and collaboration. And it is a major factor in the success of more than one thousand Booz Allen disaster preparedness exercises, workshops, capability assessments and training events executed in both the civilian and military communities worldwide since 1997.
With rigorous and proven methodologies, and deep subject-matter expertise, Booz Allen supports clients throughout the entire disaster-preparedness planning and exercise lifecycle—successfully helping them meet their prevention, protection, response and recovery challenges.
In the Puget Sound exercise, Booz Allen engaged the stakeholders on both a practical and an emotional level—and so helped them become fully invested in the outcome. That engagement was enhanced by the many elements of the exercise that encouraged interaction, which served to immerse the participants in the real-life dynamics of an earthquake response.
To be successful, disaster exercises can’t feel generic—and so Booz Allen created a highly realistic scenario of how an actual earthquake might affect Puget Sound, and its businesses, people and infrastructure. Participants were asked to respond to the real-life challenges they would face in specific locations. Extensive use of multi-media products, including interactive maps of Puget Sound, also helped create a real feel that fully engaged participants.
Leveraging Firm-Wide ExpertiseA key to the Puget Sound exercise’s success was Booz Allen’s ability to draw on deep knowledge and experience from throughout the firm. Subject-matter experts in a variety of disciplines came together to create a sophisticated exercise—one that brought clarity to the challenges, and helped the various government agencies in Puget Sound collaborate effectively across organizational boundaries.
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