Collaboration Exercises: What Do They Contribute?

Making waves: How do we prepare for the next drinking water disaster?

There is a societal expectation that drinking water owners and operators will successfully manage drinking water quality incidents, so they do not become a disaster. However, human errors have contributed to causing and worsening drinking water quality incidents worldwide. Personnel tasked with managing drinking water quality incidents need to be prepared. This preparation often occurs in exercises that simulate how a team would respond to a drinking water quality incident. It is our opinion that exercises simulating drinking water quality incidents must shift from a design that is primarily to simulate an intervention, to one that promotes conditions for learning and enhances the human-centric capabilities of those involved. Traditional exercises invariably seek to test the response to a water quality incident and the actions of those involved, often for regulatory purposes. This approach is necessary but can also provide a negative experience for the exercise participants as their actions are frequently scrutinised after the exercise. We offer a strategy to complement traditional approaches to drinking water quality exercises. Central to this is the inclusion of structured training sessions that provide guidance and support throughout an exercise. This can foster a strong learning environment than exercises or training sessions alone. The benefit to water owners and operators is enhanced preparedness and potential mitigation of future drinking water quality disasters.

Preparedness and Multiagency Collaboration—Lessons Learned from a Case Study in the Norwegian Armed Forces

The objective of this study is to investigate the structure for learning and the learning outcomes from a paper exercise based on multiagency collaboration, and point to potential benefits for crisis leadership and management in civil organizations. The current study was conducted by participant observation in one exercise and a questionnaire was handed out in the following exercise to measure outcomes. Social interaction and concurrent learning are used as the theoretical foundation in the current study. The exercise can be used as an input for multiagency collaboration when linked to the strategic and operative context. The Norwegian Armed Forces operate from a leadership perspective of intention-based leadership. The organization has also developed a pedagogical platform that guides learning activities. In a complex world, we aim at finding training areas that can prepare the cadets for scenarios that also heavily involve the unforeseen. Improvisation is seen as important for military leaders and the exercise provides a sound arena for this purpose. We have seen that even for a table exercise, important lessons can be learned. The current study makes suggestions as well as improvements that could be performed based on the lessons learned for both the Norwegian Armed Forces as well as for other organizations that find the experiences interesting. The article identified five management principles for interaction under unforeseen conditions: (1) develop a pedagogical view for the organization, (2) facilitate and train using processes for complementary process development, (3) develop precise and common language, (4) train the organization in concurrent learning, (5) develop tolerance and mutual respect.

“Share Your Tools”—A Utility Study of a Norwegian Wildland-Fire Collaboration Exercise

Based on the assumption that crisis collaboration exercises lead to better team-integration and more efficient problem solving, the aim of this study is to test whether there is a relationship between exercise participation and perceived levels of learning and utility. Online survey data was collected from participants in a 2018 two-day, full-scale, wildland-fire collaboration exercise in southeastern Norway. The instrument of choice was the collaboration, learning, and utility (CLU) scale. Findings indicate a strong covariation between participation in Norwegian wildland-fire collaboration exercises and the perceived level of learning, with a medium to small covariation between perceived learning and utility. The results indicate the importance of giving clear instructions, focus on collaboration, and sufficient forms of discussion during and after the exercise in order to gain learning. However, learning had a limited impact on utility. The study indicates joint evaluations, improvising, and testing of new and alternative strategies across sectors are important when exercises are constructed. The data was retrieved from a questionnaire, observations and interviews can add more and comprehensive insight into the studied phenomenon.

Expansive Learning Process of Exercise Organizers: The Case of Major Fire Incident Exercises in Underground Mines

A major fire incident in a Swedish underground mine made the personnel from the mining company and the rescue service realize their limited preparedness. It was the beginning of a collaboration project that included the development of a new exercise model for a more effective joint rescue operation practice. The aim of this study was to explore the collaborative learning process of exercise organizers from the rescue service, mining companies, the emergency medical service, a training company, and academia. The analysis was performed through the application of the theory cycle of expansive learning to the material consisting of documents from 16 collaboration meetings and 11 full-scale exercises. The learning process started by the participants questioning the present practice of the rescue operation and analyzing it by creating a flow chart. An essential part of the process was to model new tools in order to increase the potential for collaboration. The tools were examined and tested during collaboration meetings and implemented during full-scale exercises. The exercise organizers reflected that the process led to organizational development and a better understanding of the other organizations’ perspectives. Consequently, a tentative model for developing the learning process of exercise organizers was developed.

Inter-Organisational Exercises in Dry and Wet Context—Why Do Maritime Response Organisations Gain More Knowledge from Exercises at Sea Than Those on Shore?

This is a study of inter-organisational exercises arranged by on-shore organisations (ONSOs) and off-shore organisations (OFFSOs). The aim was to compare findings from trained emergency staffs’ perceptions of the impact of exercises. The data were retrieved from surveys conducted by the research team in conjunction with exercises. The surveys included staff from the coast guard, sea rescue, police department, fire department and ambulance services. A total of 94 professional emergency personnel participated in the ONSO exercises and 252 in the OFFSO exercises. The study was based on the suggestion that collaborative elements during an inter-organisational exercise promote learning, and learning is important to make the exercises useful. Collaboration proved to be a predictor for some of the items in learning, and learning was a predictor for some of the items in utility. There was, however, a stronger covariation between collaboration, learning and utility in the OFFSOs exercises than in the ONSOs. One reason might be the different cultures of emergency staff involved in on-shore and off-shore organisations. The OFFSOs’ qualifications may be dominated by seamanship, together with professional practice, and all parties are expected to act as first responders. ONSOs, on the other hand, practice exercises from a strict professional and legal perspective.

Using live disaster exercises to study large multiteam systems in extreme environments: Methodological and measurement fit

Multiteam systems (MTSs) are comprised of two or more teams working toward shared superordinate goals but with unique subgoals. In large MTSs operating in extreme environments, coordination difficulties have repeatedly been found, which compromise response effectiveness. Research is needed that examines MTSs in situ within extreme environments to develop temporal theories of inter-team processes and understanding of how coordination may be improved within these challenging contexts. Live disaster exercises replicate the complexities of extreme environments, providing a valuable avenue for observing inter-team processes in situ. This article seeks to contribute to MTS research by highlighting (i) a mixed-method framework for collecting data during live disaster exercises that uses both inductive and deductive approaches to promote methodological and measurement fit; (ii) ways in which data can be collected and combined to meet the appropriate standards of their methodological class; and (iii) a case example of a National exercise.

Best practice relief supply for emergency services in a developed economy

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges inherent in planning and responding to disaster events in a multi-agency context where numerous governmental and non-governmental actors and agencies are involved in the planning and response phases. In particular, the authors examine a situation where a lead agency has recently been delegated the responsibility for emergency relief logistics and how it might determine and implement best practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting an iterative inductive approach, the authors gather data and insights from academic literature, emergency management policies, frameworks and documents and exploratory in-depth interviews with 12 key informants who have considerable experience with the challenges of logistic preparation and response to disasters in a developed country context. The data and context are limited to developed counties, especially the state of Queensland, Australia.

Findings

The authors discuss the challenge of achieving coordinated supply chain management where mandated/lead response agencies are required to meet stakeholder and local community expectations and outcomes. From these findings, the authors offer 11 practical recommendations to assist the delivery of best practice in emergency logistics.

Originality/value

Humanitarian logistics is usually examined from a low/middle-income country perspective, yet an efficient and effective disaster response is no less important for developed economies. In this respect, the authors offer a fresh examination of the challenges of delivering best practice for emergency logistics in order to achieve expected community outcomes.

Home healthcare nurses’ experiences of being on stand by as a first responder in a ‘While Waiting For the Ambulance’ assignment

The aim of the study is to describe experiences of the ‘While Waiting for the Ambulance’ (WWFA) assignment, as described by home healthcare nurses (HHCNs). Since the early 1990s, municipal resources in Sweden, preferably firefighters, have been dispatched on WWFA. In order to further assist the local residents on an island in the southwest of Sweden, HHCNs have recently begun accompanying firefighters on WWFA. A reflective lifeworld approach was used for data analysis including in-depth interviews with eight HHCNs. When WWFA was established, the HHCNs experienced lack of clarity in where their responsibilities start and end. A split role is described, and there is a paradox in that the responders are meant to collaborate toward saving lives, when the assignment itself has a lack of collaborative structure. Ethical dilemmas and inner emotional worries led to the nurses expressing a need for support before, during and after WWFA.

Education in Disaster Management: What Do We Offer and What Do We Need? Proposing a New Global Program

OBJECTIVE

Although there is a significant willingness to respond to disasters, a review of post-event reports following incidents shows troubling repeated patterns with poorly integrated response activities and response managers inadequately trained for the requirements of disasters. This calls for a new overall approach in disaster management.

METHODS

An in-depth review of the education and training opportunities available to responders and disaster managers has been undertaken, as well as an extensive review of the educational competencies and their parent domains identified by subject matter experts as necessary for competent performance.

RESULTS

Seven domains of competency and competencies that should be mastered by disaster mangers were identified. This set of domains and individual competencies was utilized to define a new and evolving curriculum. In order to evaluate and assess the mastery of each competency, objectives were more widely defined as activities under specific topics, as the measurable elements of the curriculum, for each managerial level.

CONCLUSIONS

This program enables interagency cooperation and collaboration and could be used to increase and improve decision-makers' understanding of disaster managers' capabilities; at the strategic/tactical level to promote the knowledge and capability of the disaster managers themselves; and as continuing education or further career development for disaster managers at the operational level. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:854-873).