Exercise Blue Kite plus Structured Debrief

Decision Loggists are used by decision makers to record critical decisions. A record of decisions made is an essential piece of evidence in future inquiries, learning and supporting the development of responses to emergencies and incidents. The Emergency Response Training Team has developed a day long course to instruct loggists in the skills and knowledge needed to fill this demanding and fast paced role. The course gives loggists an overview of the context and reason behind the loggist role as well as the legal framework. It also gives loggists a best practice model and opportunities to put that best practice into action.

The aim of this course is to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to plan and conduct Emergo training &amp, simulation exercises. The Emergo Train System (ETS) is a simulation system used for education and training in emergency and disaster management. It is used worldwide and can be used to train, test and evaluate incident command systems, disaster preparedness and the effect on the medical management system and resilience within an organization. ETS is used by Senior instructors in over 30 countries. ETS is a training concept in association with Educator faculties and more than 1400 ETS Senior instructors have been certified.

An exercise for the initial response to a mass casualty incident from marauding terrorist attacks. It is a ‘hybrid’ simulation exercise of the receipt of a large number of casualties from the scene or scenes of a major incident. It contains key elements of several types of exercises, Simulation (live), Command Post, Communications, Orientation and Table-top exercises. It is not simply a 'test' of how the hospital functions in response to mass casualties but also provides a training opportunity for all participants. The exercise is designed to test plans, to train staff and to explore policies and procedures. The aim and objectives of the exercise provide the opportunity to train and familiarise the participants with the key response roles and processes without the disruption to activities that a live exercise would cause to normal working. The Emergo Train System (ETS) simulated casualties provide the foundation of the exercise, representing real-life injuries and conditions. This form of ‘hybrid’ exercises facilitates real-life conditions and pressures without the need for expensive role playing actors or to committing large scale operational assets.

Debriefing is the process of critically analysing the performance of a team/department/organisation during an exercise and is the basis of learning from incidents and exercises. Structured debriefs provide feedback to individuals and organisations and create opportunities for reflection, review and ultimately for improved response to future incidents. The EPRR Training Team of the UK Health Security Agency have developed a one day course that aims to provide the participants with the knowledge and skills needed to plan and facilitate a structured debrief, and to produce a structured debrief report for exercises in their own organisations.