11G Welch Hall

Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197

Emergencies: 734.487.1222 or 911

Risk Mgmt.: 734.487.2270

Emergency Mgmt.: 734.487.0799

[email protected]

Training and Drills

An important step in preparing to respond to emergency situations is to conduct drills and exercises.

Drills and exercises range in size from small tabletop discussions to full scale responses with multiple organizations involved.  EMU Emergency Management uses an annual exercise implementation plan to organize the scheduling of drills and exercises to cover the widest range of topics and scales possible.  

Through exercises, the University is able to assess capabilities so that strengths and areas for improvement are identified, corrected, and shared as appropriate prior to a real incident.  

Training Opportunities

Please feel free to explore the available training programs below. If you don't see what you're looking for, please call or email us. We will be happy to customize a training program or plan an exercise with you.

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  • National Incident Management System (NIMS) Expand dropdown

    The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment.

    NIMS works hand in hand with the National Response Framework (NRF). NIMS provides the template for the management of incidents, while the NRF provides the structure and mechanisms for national-level policy for incident management.

    Eastern Michigan University has adopted NIMS as our standard system for handling incidents on campus.  The EMU Emergency Management Office believes it is important for every stakeholder on campus to understand their role in the Incident Command System.  

    We offer customizable classroom presentations on NIMS.  We also are happy to assist you in taking the online courses.  To access the recommended courses for online ICS training, please visit the website.

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    The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general public. All are offered free-of-charge to those who qualify for enrollment. 

    FEMA's Independent Study Program offers courses that support the nine mission areas identified by the National Preparedness Goal.

    1. Incident Management
    2. Operational Planning
    3. Disaster Logistics
    4. Emergency Communications
    5. Service to Disaster Victims
    6. Continuity Programs
    7. Public Disaster Communications
    8. Integrated Preparedness
    9. Hazard Mitigation

    The EMU Emergency Management Office encourages faculty, staff and especially students to explore these topics and available trainings.  Please contact us if you are an aspiring Public Safety professional and would like guidance on classes to take from FEMA and other resources.  

    After completing a class, we invite you to email us your certificate of completion at [email protected].  

    Access the FEMA Independent Study Program.

Drills & Exercises

As part of our ongoing efforts to prepare campus for any emergency situation, the Emergency Management Office regularly conducts discussions, drills and exercises to test our plans and response.

These drills and exercises range in size from small tabletop discussions to full scale responses with multiple organizations involved. Tabletop exercises are available on a case by case basis through the Emergency Management Office for other University departments. These can be used to discuss your level of preparedness for an emergency and what roles your staff may have to play.

All large scale drills and exercises are coordinated with the EMU Department of Public Safety and communicated to the campus community. Upcoming drills and exercises will also be posted on the Risk and Emergency Management homepage.

Below are a listing and explanation of the types of drills and exercises available through the Emergency Management Office.

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    Discussion-based exercises are normally used as a starting point in the building-block approach of escalating exercise complexity. Discussion-based exercises include seminars, workshops, tabletop exercises, and games.  Facilitators and/or presenters usually lead the discussion, keeping participants on track toward meeting exercise objectives.
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    Tabletops involve key personnel discussing hypothetical scenarios in an informal setting. This type of exercise can be used to assess plans, policies, and procedures or to assess the systems needed to guide the prevention of, response to, and recovery from a defined incident. Participants are encouraged to discuss issues in depth and develop decisions through slow-paced problem solving, rather than the rapid, spontaneous decision making that occurs under actual or simulated emergency conditions.

    The effectiveness of a tabletop exercise is derived from the energetic involvement of participants and their assessment of recommended revisions to current policies, procedures, and plans.

    Players apply their knowledge and skills to a list of problems presented by the leader/moderator; problems are discussed as a group; and the leader generally agrees on and summarizes the resolutions.

    They are effective for evaluating group problem solving, personnel contingencies, group message interpretation, information sharing, interagency coordination, and achievement of specific objectives.

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    An Functional Exercises (FE) is designed to validate and evaluate individual capabilities, multiple functions, activities within a function, or interdependent groups of functions. Events are projected through an exercise scenario with event updates that drive activity at the management level.

    An FE simulates the reality of operations in a functional area by presenting complex and realistic problems that require rapid and effective responses by trained personnel in a highly stressful, time-constrained environment.

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    Full-scale Exercises (FSE) are the most complex type of exercise. FSEs are multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional, multiorganizational exercises that validate many facets of preparedness. They focus on implementing and analyzing the plans, policies, procedures, and cooperative agreements developed in discussion-based exercises and honed in previous, smaller, operations-based exercises.

    In FSEs, the reality of operations in multiple functional areas presents complex and realistic problems that require critical thinking, rapid problem solving, and effective responses by trained personnel.  FSEs are conducted in real time, creating a stressful, time-constrained environment that closely mirrors real events.

    Response-focused FSEs include many first responders operating under the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to effectively and efficiently respond to an incident. Personnel and resources are mobilized and deployed to the scene where they conduct their activities as if a real incident had occurred (with minor exceptions). 

Additional Training Resources

Questions & Feedback

Your participation and feedback is always welcome. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments or if you are interested on organizing a tabletop discussion for your department.

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