Exercise Development Procedures
The goal of IEMA's Exercise Program is to improve the overall organizational readiness in emergency planning and response. The program promotes the opportunity to shape planning, assess and validate capabilities, and address areas for improvement. FEMA’s Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) helps provide the guiding principles for exercise and evaluation programs, as well as a common approach to exercise program management, design and development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.
All exercises must be planned and conducted in accordance with HSEEP and in compliance with the National Incident Management System, Illinois Emergency Operations Plan, Illinois Disaster Management System, and all applicable Homeland Security Presidential Directives and Policies. Exercises must also include a written After-Action Report (AAR) and Corrective Action/Improvement Plan consistent with the guidelines outlined in HSEEP, which is submitted to the county where the municipality resides.
IEMA 29 Illinois Administrative Code 301 (Subpart D) provides the requirements your organization must conduct for the number of exercises and approval processes to potentially receive real-world exercise credit. The following documents will provide a guideline for exercise planning teams to help achieve these requirements.
Below is a breakdown of discussion vs operations based exercises and the requirements needed to fit within certain time frame. Some of the forms mentioned are linked further down the page for convenience.
Discussion based exercises need to have a development time of 3 to 6 months. The recommended number of objectives for a table top are 3 to 5 objectives.
| Types of Exercises | Implementation Of | Required and Recommended Forms |
|---|---|---|
Seminars:
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Workshops:
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Tabletop (TTX)
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Games
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Operations based exercises need to have a development time of 6 to 8 months when they are functional. These exercises should have 5-7 objectives. Should the exercise be a full scale exercise allow 8+ months for development time and include 8+ objectives.
| Types of Exercises | Implementation Of | Required and Recommended Forms |
|---|---|---|
Drills:
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Functional Exercises:
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Full Scale Exercises:
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Jurisdiction:
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Required Forms:
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Below is a list of documents that are either needed or will assist with the completion of needed documents.
For example, the FEMA Core Capability Development Sheet may provide insight when drafting your objectives, review the Capability Targets sub header within the core capabilities being tested.
- Request for Exercise Design Approval Form (PDF)
- Exercise & Incident Approval Requirements (PDF)
- Exercise Incident Approval Checklist (PDF)
- After-Action Report/Improvement Plan (Word doc)
- Environmental and Historic Preservation Screening Form (PDF)
The public FEMA Prep Toolkit for Resources and HSEEP may provide additional assistance.
If you have questions or need to submit forms to DuPage County, please reach out to:
Matt Bryan
Matthew.bryan@dupagecounty.gov
630-407-2938
