Full Scale Exercises

The Full Scale Exercise is the most complex step in the exercise cycle. FSEs are multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional exercises that test many facets of emergency response and recovery. They include many first responders operating under the Incident Command System (ICS) or Unified Command System (UCS) to effectively and efficiently respond to, and recover from, an incident. An FSE focuses on implementing and analyzing the plans, policies, and procedures developed in discussion-based exercises and honed in previous, smaller, operations-based exercises. The events are projected through a scripted exercise scenario with built-in flexibility to allow updates to drive activity. It is con-ducted in a real-time, stressful environment that closely mirrors a real event. First responders and resources are mobilized and deployed to the scene where they conduct their actions as if a real incident had occurred (with minor exceptions). The FSE simulates the reality of operations in multiple functional areas by presenting complex and realistic problems requiring critical thinking, rapid problem solving, and effective responses by trained personnel in a highly stressful environment. Other entities that are not involved in the exercise, but who would be involved in an actual event, should be instructed not to respond.

An FSE provides an opportunity to execute plans, procedures, and cooperative (mutual aid) agreements in response to a simulated live event in a highly stressful environment. Typical FSE attributes include:

Our firm has conducted hundreds of Full Scale, Functional and Tabletop Exercises on every continent in the world for the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service, and Weapons of Mass Destruction Division. These multi-jurisdictional, multi-discipline exercises are designed to ensure that the host nation can work with U.S. personnel during mass casualty incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. This includes the necessary pre-planning events (scheduling and liaison), conducting and evaluating each exercise (exercise controller and evaluators), and developing standardized after action reports for documenting improvement opportunities at each U.S. Embassy and Consulate. We have conducted these exercises at over 260 U.S. Embassies and Consulates during the last few years, many of which were conducted in high-threat environments.