DON’T MUSSEL WITH IDAHO

TABLE TOP EXERCISE

PLAYERS HANDBOOK

PURPOSE The purpose of this handbook is to provide the exercise players with the information required for them to participate effectively in the DON’T MUSSEL WITH IDAHO Tabletop Exercise. This information will be discussed at the orientation prior to the start of exercise play with the participants free to ask questions concerning their roles, responsibilities and rules of exercise play. SCOPE The location of the exercise will be in the Lower Conference Room at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture; 2270 Old Penitentiary Rd. Boise, ID. Exercise play will begin on Thursday, 30 APR 2009 at 9:30 am and end at approximately 3:30 pm that same day as determined by the exercise facilitator. Exercise play could end prior to this should the exercise facilitator determine that:

o All objectives and performance criteria have been addressed; o An actual emergency incident occurs;

The exercise will be initiated with a presentation and a reading of the scenario narrative that describes the situation as it currently exists. Exercise play will address the emergency notification, response activities and plan for recovery should an invasive mussel find occur in Idaho. FOCUS As part of a national program, the Department of Homeland Security grants the State of Idaho funds to carry out exercises, this program is called the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). The HSEEP is designed to assist state and local governments with the development and implementation of a self-sustaining state exercise and evaluation program to assess and enhance all-hazard domestic preparedness, response and recovery efforts. Exercises are meant to improve operational readiness, reveal planning weaknesses and resource gaps, clarify roles and responsibilities, improve individual performance, and gain public recognition of the emergency services programs. Exercises with qualitative evaluations, help to provide emergency response agencies and their communities improved public safety and preparedness capabilities. Exercises are typically designed to test training, equipment, or plans and policies. We are here today to determine effectiveness, adequacy and applicability of existing plans, policies and procedures by analyzing State Code, agency guidelines and regulations, and Mutual Aid Agreements. This exercise should give participants greater familiarization with how we can improve our overall command and control procedures and coordination to better provide a unified command response. Think of this exercise as more of a meet and greet for our new working group vs. a test of individual capabilities.

This team, plus some, will be working together from this point forward so let’s get off to a solid start!

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EXERCISE OBJECTIVES Each exercise requires objectives that provide the foundation and guidance for exercise development. Objectives are designed to reflect the validity of response plans, procedures, systems, and provide the basis for exercise control, simulation, and evaluation. The following is a list of exercise objectives expected to be accomplished during the exercise: 1. Define proper notification protocols within federal, state and local agencies when an

invasive mussel find occurs within the State of Idaho.

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Coordinate local and state agency response tactics when the Columbia River Basin Rapid Response Plan has been activated.

3. Identify current shortfalls in local resources when containing or eradicating invasive mussels. If shortfalls are recognized locally, determine what state resources are necessary and when/how they should be requested.

4. Define roles and responsibilities of state agency leadership when addressing long-term invasive mussel containment and eradication.

5. Identify current shortfalls, conflicts or gaps in existing policies, plans, regulations and State Code that limit response and recovery efforts when an invasive mussel incident affects an Idaho waterbody.

CONCEPT OF PLAY The exercise will involve various federal, state and local agencies responding to a situation presented and messages delivered by a facilitator. The facilitator will monitor and guide the exercise in an orderly and timely manner towards achieving specific objectives. The activities of the exercise players will be monitored by the facilitator, two evaluators and a recorder who will record actions taken and observations made. The exercise scenario will require the notification of federal and state agencies of an invasive species “mussel find” in Idaho. This exercise will require participants to make definitive decisions about containment, eradication and recovery of the affected waterbody in accordance with the CRB Rapid Response Plan. Participants will also be asked to consider further prevention methodology to mitigate and prohibit the spread of mussels to other waterbodies.

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ASSUMPTIONS, ARTIFICIALITIES AND SIMULATIONS The assumptions, artificialities, and simulations applicable during the exercise are provided in the following paragraphs. Exercise Assumptions The following assumptions must be made in order to ensure the exercise is as realistic as possible. It is intended that exercise events will progress in a logical and realistic manner and that all exercise objectives will be achieved during exercise play.

o The term “participants” includes facilitator, recorder, and players. o Exercise participants are well versed in their own agency and department

response plans and procedures. All participants within their respective agency and department have established preparedness response plans and procedures in-place. These plans and procedures contain mitigation, response and recovery elements.

o Players will respond in accordance with existing plans, policies, and procedures. In the absence of appropriate written instructions, players will be expected to apply individual initiative to satisfy response and recovery requirements.

o Implementation of disaster response plans, policies, and procedures during the exercise will depict actions that would be expected to occur under actual response conditions and, therefore, will provide a sound basis for evaluation.

Exercise Artificialities It is recognized that the following artificialities and constraints will detract from realism; however, exercise participants should accept these artificialities as a means of facilitating accomplishment of exercise objectives.

o The exercise will be played in near-real time; however, to meet exercise objectives, some events may be accomplished by participants, before the exercise, and other events may be accelerated in time to ensure their consideration during play.

o Many alert, notification, initial activation, and emergency response procedures, as well as some early response actions, will not be a part of the exercise.

o Responses obtained by players from simulations may not be of the quality or detail available from the real organization or individual.

o Actions that require personnel or resource deployments to achieve an exercise objective will result in simulated movement of these assets during the exercise.

Exercise Simulation Simulation during this exercise is required to compensate for non-participating organizations, individuals, and field units that would actually be deployed in a real-world response. Although simulations may detract from exercise realism, they provide the means to facilitate exercise play and provide for the testing of exercise objectives and performance criteria. All persons, entities, response units and citizens of the community, as well as higher levels of government, will be represented by the exercise facilitator. During this tabletop exercise, no actual calls, messages, emails, etc. will be expected to occur by the players and will be simulated.

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SCENARIO NARRATIVE At 1000 on Thursday, April 30th 2009, Steve Wells from Portland State University contacted Idaho Department of Fish & Game to report that an Idaho sample tested positive for quagga mussel veligers. PLAYER PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBILITIES This section identifies the responsibilities of the players. Prior to the exercise, all players will be briefed on the scenario and the exercise rules of engagement. The timeline of the exercise will be as indicated below:

9:00 am 9:30 am 12:00 pm 1:00 pm 3:00 pm

Player Orientation

Exercise #1 LUNCH Exercise #2 Hotwash

Specifically, player responsibilities include:

o Act in a professional manner at all times; o Actively participate in the exercise; o Respond in accordance with existing plans, policies, and procedures; o Apply standard operating procedures and common sense methodology in the

absence of appropriate written instructions; and o Communicate with other players and facilitator as necessary.

REPORTING Any forms or other means of documentation completed by players during the exercise shall be given to the recorder at the end of the exercise. Players will also complete exercise critique forms to record their comments about actions, events, strengths, or weaknesses that are observed during the exercise. EXERCISE EVALUATION An Action Report (AAR) will be written to formally document the exercise and capture the performance of stated objectives. The AAR will serve as the tool to better prepare local responders and state agencies for preventing, containing and eradicating invasive mussels within and Idaho waterbody. Using the lessons learned from this tabletop exercise, we can develop an improvement plan and corrective actions for the appropriate agencies. ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS The following administrative support systems will be available for the exercise participants: Word processing, office supplies, whiteboards, and audiovisual equipment. The set-up of the room for the tabletop exercise will include agency name tents and refreshments for participants. If you need administrative support that isn’t immediately available, ask the facilitator for assistance.

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CONTAINMENT

Strategic/Tactical Option Analysis Recommendation (yes/no)

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ERADICATION

Strategic/Tactical Option Analysis Recommendation (yes/no)

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