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How should hospitals decide what to include in their drills and exercises?

The hospital’s Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) assists exercise planners in identifying threats facing the facility. The facility’s HVA provides a list of top scenarios to base future drills and exercises on. Additionally, past after action reports and improvement plans provide previously identified areas for improvement that can be tested.

Community-wide discussions and planning with local and regional emergency preparedness committees take into account the Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan, which includes specific capabilities and objectives that could also be evaluated in future exercises. The identified objectives help address general exercise program goals, provide a framework for scenario development, guide development of individual organizational objectives, and supply evaluation criteria.

Additionally, The Joint Commission lists specific activities and observations to be monitored in exercises in EM.03.01.03 that can be used in future exercises.