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WorkshopGovernment & councilsSafety

Emergency tabletop exercise

120 minutes 8 blockspro Runs with Pro

Run a discussion-based emergency exercise: three timed injects, responses by role from every phone, a gap vote and an improvement plan with owners.

Use this template See inside

Free to open and edit. Running it live needs Pro, free for 14 days on every new account.

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Inject 1
First minutes: what first, who do you call?
Inject 2
First hour: what changes, what do you need?
Inject 3
Recovery: reopening, families, staff, media
Gaps in our plan
Where the plan, training or kit fell short

In short

A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based drill where a team talks through how it would respond to a realistic emergency scenario. This template runs it in two hours: a scenario briefing, three timed injects, responses by role from everyone's phone on a live board, a vote on the biggest gaps and an improvement plan with owners.
Time
2 hours
People
6 to 40
Board
3 injects + gaps, 3 dots each
Plan
Pro

Updated October 4, 2026

What's inside

The agenda

By the end of this meeting, we've tested our emergency plan against a realistic scenario and have an improvement plan with owners and dates.

120 min · 8 blocks, drawn to scale Fits exactly
  1. Welcome, objectives and ground rules, 10 minutes 10
  2. Scenario briefing: the starting situation, 8 minutes 8
  3. Injects 1 to 3: respond by role, 50 minutesBrainstorm 50
  4. Break, 10 minutes 10
  5. Dot-vote the biggest gaps, 6 minutes 6
  6. Gaps in plans, training and equipment, 16 minutes 16
  7. Improvement actions, owners and dates, 12 minutes 12
  8. Hotwash: how ready are we?, 8 minutes 8
0306090120 min
  1. +0′Welcome, objectives and ground rulesTip: State two or three objectives (for example: test lockdown communication, test reunification). No-fault: this tests the plan, not the people. Respond with the resources you'd really have.10 minInfo
  2. +10′Scenario briefing: the starting situationTip: Set the scene with time, place and conditions: '10:05 on a weekday, 340 people on site...'. Build the scenario on your own site and plan. Give a content warning if the scenario is distressing.8 minInfo
  3. +18′Injects 1 to 3: respond by roleTip: Reveal one inject every 15 to 17 minutes. For each: four minutes of silent responses from phones, then discussion. Ask: who decides? Who do you call? What does the plan say? What would you actually do?50 minBrainstorm
  4. +68′Break10 minBreak
  5. +78′Dot-vote the biggest gapsTip: Three dots each, on the gaps that would hurt most in a real event.6 minDiscuss
  6. +84′Gaps in plans, training and equipmentTip: For each top gap: what's missing, what fixing it takes, and who has the authority to fix it.16 minDiscuss
  7. +100′Improvement actions, owners and datesTip: These become the improvement plan in your after-action report.12 minDecide
  8. +112′Hotwash: how ready are we?One word for how ready we are8 minWrap-up

How to run it

  1. 1Write two or three objectives and three injects based on your own site and plan. Share the ground rules in the invite.
  2. 2Brief the scenario, then reveal one inject at a time. Players answer by role from their phones, then discuss.
  3. 3Dot-vote the gaps, work through the top ones and assign each improvement action an owner and a date.
  4. 4Use the summary as the start of your after-action report and improvement plan, and schedule the next exercise.

Questions people ask

What is a tabletop exercise?
A facilitated, discussion-based exercise where people with emergency roles talk through a scenario step by step. It tests plans, roles and communication without a full-scale drill.
What are some sample tabletop exercise scenarios?
Severe weather, a building fire, a power outage, flooding, a hazardous material spill, a medical emergency at an event, or an active threat on site. Pick the risks your own assessment ranks highest.
How do you run an active shooter tabletop exercise?
Focus on decisions and communication: how the alert goes out, lockdown, contacting police, and reunification with families. Warn participants in advance because the topic is distressing, and invite local law enforcement if you can.
Where can I find tabletop exercise templates?
In the US, FEMA's HSEEP guidance and CISA's free tabletop exercise packages are good starting points. This board and agenda give you the live session to run them in.

Run it with your group

pro
  • Ideas land on the board from every phone, then dot-vote
  • A timer for every block on the shared screen
  • Results, decisions and actions in the summary
Use this template

Free to open and edit. Running it live needs Pro, free for 14 days on every new account.

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